Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

66 reviews

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective medium-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

4.0

Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the sequel to Legendborn and the second book in the series of the same name.

Selwyn Kane is EVERYTHING and honestly the primary reason I enjoyed this book as much as I did. Overall, I’d say this one suffered from a bit of a sophomore slump—I wasn’t as connected to or engaged with the plot, and I was a bit frustrated with some of the characters’ decisions and with the ending overall.

But SEL. When I latch on to a fictional character I never let them go, and Sel is absolutely mine now. I urgently need more books in this series specifically because I urgently need more of him.

Overall, even with some mild criticisms, I do enjoy this series and think the world and magic system here is so interesting! I highly recommend these books for anyone who enjoys older-YA fantasy, and particularly fantasy with diverse rep and Arthurian inspiration!

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: Arthurian legend; Welsh terms of endearment (IYKYK); Black Girl Magic (literally)

CW: Blood/injury/violence; grief; racism and sexism; discussions of slavery

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Confinement, Death, Racism, Sexism, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Violence

Moderate: Grief and Slavery

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

sahramahtab's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

This sequel did not disappoint! I could barely put it down and with each page turned I fell in love with the characters more. And that ending? Did not see the plot twist coming at all. Can’t wait to read the next book and hopefully get to enjoy more Selwyn and Bree interactions!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Rape, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Confinement

nabecker13's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Death of parent, Gore, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Body horror, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Colonisation, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Rape, Violence, and Forced institutionalization

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

I was pretty meh about Legendborn but HOOOOOOO BOY this was so good I’m foaming at the mouth for book 3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Violence

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, War, Death of parent, Grief, and Slavery

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Car accident, Abandonment, Medical content, Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Rape, and Vomit

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Confinement, Classism, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Colonisation, Pregnancy, Misogyny, and Rape

miles's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, and Medical content

Moderate: Rape, Death, and Car accident

disneydamsel1's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

allichuckran's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, Racism, Rape, Blood, Colonisation, Sexism, Violence, and War

gabriella_'s review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book has almost everything. Structures of oppression, intergenerational trauma, grief, romance, war, friendship conflicts, learned bigotry & privilege, and governmental conspiracy. It scratches any itch you have from Harry Potter, Maximum Ride, and The Hunger Games all rolled into one. Shit, it even satisfies the Warriors cat series fans too. It does all this will surpassing all of these series. Wish I had this when I was a younger, more voracious reader.

Tracy Deonn one-ups herself in this sequel book. This book further expands on characterizing her central cast while also giving other (more background) characters a chance in the limelight. She developed a core ensemble cast that feels compelling and stand-alone. This book made me cry, especially when

Spoiler

Bree talks with her mother

- Bloodmarked is raw and real. Bree is one of my favorite series protagonists I’ve ever read. She feels so real. I love reading about a protagonist who is strong, really strong, and in more than just a physical (or even girlboss) way. She has grit and emotional stamina and she’s navigating through systems rigged against her. 

More random things I love about this book that didn’t seem to have a place for me to write them in this review: 

• The rest of the cast - especially Selwyn - tugs at my heartstrings. 
• Tracy Deonn’s dream sequences are an amazing exploration of themes that are relevant later in the book and offer a refreshing way to engage with old magic.
• The descriptive settings!! 
• The use of LANGUAGE. Ugh. CARIAD!
• The men in this book have a “written by a woman” charm. Well, the men that matter do, at least.

I love the way this author lays the groundwork for future plot twists - she has a gift for finding a way to keep the reader on their toes without insulting their intelligence AND while still making the twists believable. Some you can see coming - but that’s a credit to her foreshadowing. 

I just want to keep gushing about this book because honestly it left me soooo hungry for the next book in this series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Slavery, Blood, Body horror, Death, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Grief, Physical abuse, Stalking, War, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Child death, Classism, Cultural appropriation, and Torture

awkwardimagination's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad 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

5.0

🫠🫠 I thought Legendborn burnt me out,,, at least I had the second book waiting for me. Now I have to wait for the third for some indeterminate amount of time.

The amount of pain and trauma every single character has gone through in this book is absurd. Just bc the first one had more deaths doesn't make this one any better. 

Because this is the second book all the characters are coming into their own more and becoming more loveable.

I'm still not onboard the Sel and Bree train, I wish they would be platonic like Will and Bree, but they are well written I'll give them that.

I'm looking forward to the next book, I need to know how this turns out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood, Rape, Violence, Sexism, Torture, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Medical trauma, Racism, and Grief

Minor: Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Car accident, Child abuse, and Death