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apagewithshay's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ucebanner's review against another edition
5.0
Toxic Bloodlines: Thicker than water is an excellent introduction to a beautifully crafted and interesting world. The pacing of the book and sprinkle of lore throughout the book keeps you wanting more. I binged half of the book in about a day and did what I typically do when I enjoy something so much...I stopped reading it because I didn't want it to be over (and somehow in my mind if I delayed finishing the book then I could enjoy it longer, which is ridiculous I know).
Starting out you clearly have a main character you focus on, but as the book goes on you are introduced to an amazing cast of characters that all have their own motivations, perspectives, strengths and weaknesses. I thoroughly enjoyed how relatable the author was able to write these characters without seeming "fan-servicey". It's refreshing to have a story in which characters are not perfect and they don't sail through adversity.
I can't recommend this book more and I am eager to dive into the rest of this series as it comes out!
*Bonus Points* Thank you for including a map of Seventh Heaven...I'm a sucker for a map in any fantasy novel!
Starting out you clearly have a main character you focus on, but as the book goes on you are introduced to an amazing cast of characters that all have their own motivations, perspectives, strengths and weaknesses. I thoroughly enjoyed how relatable the author was able to write these characters without seeming "fan-servicey". It's refreshing to have a story in which characters are not perfect and they don't sail through adversity.
I can't recommend this book more and I am eager to dive into the rest of this series as it comes out!
*Bonus Points* Thank you for including a map of Seventh Heaven...I'm a sucker for a map in any fantasy novel!
bookishpixie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Racism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
peepbabby's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Toxic Bloodlines is a YA Horror Fantasy, Coming of Age, novel. This is story about a small town named Seventh Heaven. Seventh Heaven gets hit by 3 meteorites in one night. This night ends in many casualties, a loss of power and then the strange appearance of powers in our FMC, Kimberly. Kimberly, who lives with her Auntie Aminah and Uncle Ahmed, start having some intense body pain and can just feel weird things happening within her. After an interesting encounter with an elderly white man, while on a date with her boyfriend, Arik, things for Kim just get more complicated and terrifying.
This is an amazing story full of action, questions, snarky teens, and honestly a very real reaction to what would happen if children were in charge of saving the world. there are hidden secrets and people who aren’t what they seem. I was instantly captivated. This author has such a unique writing style that you don’t even question because it’s done so well.
The monsters in this story are horrifying. Big yellow eyes will haunt me forever. There’s body horror. Moments of did you see that. This is a story that talks about the prejudices people see in their everyday lives. This is a story about the corruption of people we trust, then raising the question do I even trust anyone anymore?
This is an amazing story full of action, questions, snarky teens, and honestly a very real reaction to what would happen if children were in charge of saving the world. there are hidden secrets and people who aren’t what they seem. I was instantly captivated. This author has such a unique writing style that you don’t even question because it’s done so well.
The monsters in this story are horrifying. Big yellow eyes will haunt me forever. There’s body horror. Moments of did you see that. This is a story that talks about the prejudices people see in their everyday lives. This is a story about the corruption of people we trust, then raising the question do I even trust anyone anymore?
owlslibrary's review against another edition
fast-paced
5.0
The conversations, the imagery, the connection of the characters, the pacing omg
thebookishnerd_'s review against another edition
2.0
First of all, I want to say a huge thank you to the author who sent me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I’m truly grateful.
After reading other reviews I was excited to dive deep into this book. And as much as I wanted to love it, it wasn’t for me. If you want a fast-paced horror fantasy I definitely recommend giving it a shot. Especially since it’s on Kindle. There is constant action and complex lore that will leave you wondering where it all goes.
Though for me I will not be picking up the second book. I found the plot jumping from action to action quite jarring. Ossai would introduce an obstacle only to have the issue solved in the next chapter, which takes place weeks after the previous one. It felt like there were no stakes because it would be immediately fixed, or the characters wouldn’t take it seriously. Rather than have characters deal with consequences, they opt for an ill-timed joke that more often than not felt out of place.
For the most part, we follow Kimberly’s POV as she and her friends deal with disaster striking their town. You spend the majority of the story in her head until the halfway point, where it then switches between all of the characters constantly. This took some getting used to as I had to keep reminding myself which character’s head we were in. They all had the same voice and switched so often that it was hard to keep track. I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likeable, they were all one-dimensional and acted immature, even the adults. I would’ve liked them to be more thought out, and see how they achieved their goals. How Kim mastered her powers after some struggle. How Sara and Ian discovered all this information? Rather than have it briefly explained to move on to more action.
One thing I will say was handled well was the portrayal of bigotry in small towns. Most, if not all our main characters were BIPOC and the author was not afraid to show the racism and prejudice that they faced.
If you like an action-packed book filled with violence and snarky back-and-forth then this very well could be the book for you.
Thank you again to E.E.Ossai for sending me a free ARC
pmlibrary's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I’d like to start this review by thanking E.E Ossai for an arc of this book. I’ve been following the author on tiktok for a while, and have been meaning to read the book and was excited for the chance to get it!
Firstly, I’d like the say the plot of the book is really good. Upon starting the reading, it felt like a movie was playing out in my head — I genuinely could see this book becoming a good film to create, or a comic book, or any other type of visual art. It was a good writing technique to help open up the story and spoon feed me information about what was going on without overwhelming me!
Secondly, I’d like to point out that the only reason I didn’t give this book a higher rating was due to the technical writing. It’s possibly a personal preference, but the bolded words, in all caps, gave me a very novice level of technical writing from the author. If I were to give advice, I’d add more tags and details to *show* the characters’ emotions, rather than the font style doing it for you. There were also points I could tell there were issues with the editing, such as a word having “jj” as a typo in the beginning of it, and words capitalized that shouldn’t be — but the last rounds of edits should be able to catch such things and help that out.
Overall, 3 stars! If you like Stranger Things, I think you’d enjoy this book a whole lot:)
Firstly, I’d like the say the plot of the book is really good. Upon starting the reading, it felt like a movie was playing out in my head — I genuinely could see this book becoming a good film to create, or a comic book, or any other type of visual art. It was a good writing technique to help open up the story and spoon feed me information about what was going on without overwhelming me!
Secondly, I’d like to point out that the only reason I didn’t give this book a higher rating was due to the technical writing. It’s possibly a personal preference, but the bolded words, in all caps, gave me a very novice level of technical writing from the author. If I were to give advice, I’d add more tags and details to *show* the characters’ emotions, rather than the font style doing it for you. There were also points I could tell there were issues with the editing, such as a word having “jj” as a typo in the beginning of it, and words capitalized that shouldn’t be — but the last rounds of edits should be able to catch such things and help that out.
Overall, 3 stars! If you like Stranger Things, I think you’d enjoy this book a whole lot:)
morganl_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
magentabyfive's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5