Reviews tagging 'Death'

Blood Heir by Amélie Wen Zhao

17 reviews

singalana's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

2.5

This book has a great concept: a crown princess, accused of treason, has to work together with a crime lord to prove her innocence. The people in this world are divided into two categories: those who have no magic, and those who have magic - an affinity to a certain element. The main character - Ana - has no idea what life is like for those living with magic in her kingdom, and how her chosen companion, conman named Ransom Quicktongue plays into this status quo.

The main characters are exactly as you would expect them to be: a wilful princess and a silver-tongued criminal. As the story progresses, we get more and more glimpses into the past that shaped these characters into who they are today. Other than the two main characters, there’s a host of other characters, who all have a role to play in the story.

The story started strong with an interesting, action-packet setup. Unfortunately, I soon became tired of the structure of action packed chapters followed by slower chapters about the characters’ past. That was not the only thing I grew weary of, since these two can’t seem to stay out of trouble for two seconds. The author tried to pack so much action and so much emotion into every possible scene, especially towards the end, that it became tiresome.

I’m afraid that despite the interesting concept, the story tried to do way too much and piled on obstacle after obstacle. With better pacing and allowing the characters more time to breathe in the present timeline, this story could have been improved.

Content Warnings

r1vana's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Demons were not the creatures to be feared the most.

Humans were.pg.435

I enjoyed this book, the beginning started off strong. It was really interesting. But then it got dragged a little. And since it’s a trilogy, I feel like it’s just gonna be longer.

We get to see a female lead that is strong but makes irrational actions due to her anger, stress, grief, et cetera. Sometimes, it is understandable but I wished she would think. Which makes her a very complex character.

Her story is pretty much like ‘Anastasia’. Being framed of murdering her father, she ran away due to her blood affinities. And being framed for it. I mean her name is Anastacya…From my PoV, Ana was a morally grey character that from a very young age, has been pushed away from her father, from her people due to her powers. Only her older brother was by her side and when she was framed for her father’s death, the only thing she could do is run away and one day come back to get the throne back:

“Perhaps monsters never meant to hurt others, either. Perhaps monsters didn't even know they were monsters.” Pg.25

Then there is Ramson. I wasn’t really into his character. He was flirting out of nowhere. I wished there were more pov of his because I lot of them where part of his past(childhood, trauma; bullying, abuse…). He wanted to betray her but in the next, he seems protective of her…: Something about him changed when he was with Ana. The darkness, the scheming, the cold calculation in him faded, repealing faint traces of what he'd once been. A boy in love with the ocean.

A boy who'd wanted to sail the seas forever, with the sun warming his back and the waves lapping at his hands. He’d forgotten about this boy, one who'd had big dreams and foolish hopes and had been good.

The boy who'd become the smallest sliver of hope. But what good was goodness itself, when the world was ruled by the cruel? Pg.215

He never expected to care for Ana who was once a pawn to him: “He'd known for some time now, felt the irrepressible tug on his chest toward her. With each smile, each frown, each word, she'd drawn him in, slowly, irrevocably. And that slow, smoldering flame had roared to life beneath a winter sky of snow, glowing brighter than anything else in his life. She was the bearing to his compass, the dawn that his ship had been chasing for so long over an empty horizon.

My heart is my compass. Pg.360.

Spoiler

the death of May and Luka really hit me. I really liked May and it saddens me that she was killed. I love how she was really skeptical of Ramson: The child grabbed the pail of snow and slipped into the wash closet. She turned and, glaring at Ramson, drew a finger across her neck before slamming the door shut. Pg.65 and Luka. He wasn’t as present as May but the fact that he loved his sister dearly and they both weren’t able to reunite…

“Life isn't going to be all happiness and wonder. We have to take what we are given, and fight like hell to make it better.”

Content Warnings

reka111's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

But perhaps all monsters were heroes in their own eyes.

The review contains spoilers!!!

It's unbelievable that just a few days have passed since the New Year, and with two sufferings and three books later, I had my first 5-star (now 4.75) read of the year. Maybe it's just because I didn't like the previous two or because yesterday I was nicer than usual, but this book earned the perfect word from me now.

───────────────────

Ana was a very lovable Morally grey protagonist (she reminded me a bit of Adelina Amouteru from The Young Elites). Maybe I'm the only one and the first one who deeply sympathizes with her (because monsters are just wounded gods and they need love too) and I don't blame her at all for her actions. She was so young, so damn young to handle her power and no one helped her when she silently begged for it, she was simply left in the dark. She lost everything and everyone she loved, so it's no wonder that the only thing she knew for a long time was fear. In fact, there is nothing good or bad about her, she is more complex than that, because she jumps between the two sides and stands where she needs to depending on the moment.
Of course she had mistakes (for example, too naive and impulsive) and of course she made bad decisions, but that's exactly what makes her character so real!

Ramson didn't impress me that much at first, but I loved him in the end. Basically, he left me in doubt more than the other characters, because I never really knew when he was being serious and when he wasn't, regardless, I loved his jokes, he made me laugh even when everything seemed so dark. His past is so tragic just like Ana's, he never deserved what happened to him. I loved that he was so mysterious and that he gradually questioned his belief in goodness as we got further into the story. He was so diverse that he simply could not be classified anywhere. And he named his snowhawk after Fisher and this was the moment when I fell in love with him, when I gave him my soul (and this was also the moment when I started to cry, but that's just icing on the cake).

The other characters:

Linn grew very close to my heart during this short time and I like her very much, and her past is something terribly interesting, I can't wait to get to know her better. I hope she survived (and I'm already sure she did) and I hope she gets back to that guard, because I smell enemies to lovers in the air between them.
A part of my soul died with Luka, I believed so much that he could survive, so-so much! I hope he found the peace he deserved.
I haven't gotten to know Yuri enough to decide if I like him or not, but I'm definitely with him.
May, my little May, was so young and so innocent, she still had her life ahead of her!

I wouldn't really say it was love story, but there was very few of it. Ana and Ramson's relationship is mostly exhausted by teasing, tender moments and mistrust, but they have potential and I'm sure that in the next books they will understand each other and accept each other as they are. They really tried and are trying to care for each other.

I really liked the place itself; a snowy kingdom full of magic and magical creatures based on Russia? I'm here for it! This book was characterized by a superbly constructed magic system and politics, everything was in the right amount. I would very much like to get to know the remote areas as well, because they can certainly be very interesting.

This book was full of twists and hidden messages for the next books. I just loved it, nobody and nothing was what it seemed.

The plot was easy to follow (although there was a bit of flashbacks) and the writing was wonderful. I liked that each character is different and driven by different goals, that they have flaws and that they are so lifelike. If you want a dark, exciting, magical story with a touch of romance, I recommend you to visit this world!

Content Warnings

xerlynz_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This book was great but there were aspects of it that made me give it a 3.5.

Content Warnings

ghostlyprince's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

lexihworth's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

abookishwasp's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

Content Warnings

sqacedvst's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Content Warnings

gingerale06's review

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adventurous challenging emotional 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

4.75

Content Warnings

valenpolack's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

5.0

This book is so good I'm speechless.

The character development, the world building, Ramson, everything wass just... *chef's kiss*

Can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the series.

P.S: Ramson is the newest love of my life and I'm not complaining.

Content Warnings

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