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imds's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
awkwardimagination's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Kidnapping and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Murder
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Colonisation
smokeyphynix's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racism, Rape, and Abandonment
vengsoul's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racism, Violence, Blood, and Classism
Moderate: Cursing
abookwormspov's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- 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
BLOODMARKED is about grief and reconciliation, building some thing new out of the ashes of what was. It's a tale of power and legacy, how people choose whether to continue in the paths that are handed to them or to try and make something better and new. Itās also a story of intimacy and trust, particularly between Bree and her loved ones.
One of my favorite worldbuilding aspects is the way Bree gets an opportunity to delve more into Rootcraft as a community practice, expressed in a particular way through her, but also continuing to emphasize that she's not alone. LEGENDBORN is in many ways about her entering an almost entirely white space and figuring out how to exist under their rules, while in BLOODMARKED she is gradually figuring out where she fits into a larger Black community of Rootcrafters. The Legendborn Council members seek to confine and control her, seeing her blackness as an impediment or something they have to deal with in pursuit of their own aims. For most of the book sheās on the run, constantly on the news with her friends and hours, never quite feeling safe and desperately needing somewhere to land. She's trying to stay ahead of the racist institution which wants to use her while pretending that they and their ancestors didn't do anything wrong.
Alice really gets to shine, or at least have much more of a role now that she knows whatās going on with Bree and can be part of the main action. Iām also very happy with how much William is around. I love books with a beleaguered medic who knows that almost none of his instructions will be followed by the heroes who keep getting injured and only barely making it out alive. I particularly love the arc of Breeās dynamic with Sel. Their relationship has always been complicated, but by having Nick be elsewhere for most of the book there is room for the two of them to work out a lot of stuff even while his presence is still felt.
As a sequel, BLOODMARKED directly addresses the revelation from LEGENDBORN that Bree is a scion of Arthur. Thereās a mostly new storyline related to machinations by the council, trying to exploit Bree while simultaneously ignoring or at least downplaying the implications of her existence. Iām not sure whether anything is fully introduced and resolved, but the way that most of the book takes place away from campus means that this has an entirely different (though complementary) feeling from LEGENDBORN. There are frank discussions of the fact that many of Bree's ancestors were enslaved, that a particular one of them was raped by a descendent of Arthur, leading to his power in Bree's veins. As a series, The Legendborn Cycle is about how racism in the past has impacts on the present, how the path to get here matters for what we do in the present. When people and institutions continue to benefit from racism in the past, they have incentives in the present to perpetuate inequalities, as well as to be overtly racist when their power allows them to get away with it. Bree's very existence forces the Legendborn to deal with their racist past, and then some of them choose to deal with it by helping her, breaking that cycle, while others do everything in their power to bury her and pretend that nothing bad ever happened.
This isnāt the last book in the series, and thereās a development towards the end which specifically sets up a new paradigm in the next book. Except for a very short section towards the end, Bree is the narrator and her voice is consistent with her style in LEGENDBORN. The story is self contained enough that it would mostly make sense, even if someone hasnāt read the first book. It does a pretty good job of explaining backstory as it becomes relevant and generally avoid potentially confusing infodumps while getting the reader up to speed.
The ending is excellent! The final section upsets the status quo in a variety of ways, some of which are terrible for various characters and their plans, but all of which were narratively interesting and unexpected to me. I definitely didnāt expect some of the decisions made right at the end, and I look forward to how those will be handled in the next book.
Graphic: Death, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Minor: Self harm, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
jenny_librarian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
I was rooting for a triad the whole freaking book, and I gotta say this author had me worrying multiple time this would be yet another clichĆ© love ātriangleā. I really hope wherever she decides to go next with the characters breaks that boundary and allows us to get the beautiful triad we deserve (all romantic or romance and QPR, I donāt care. As long as we *get* it!)
If you think book one delved into Black trauma, I got some news for youā¦ Tracy Deonn took what she included in Legendborn and dialed it to 11. It is BRUTAL, so make sure to check the triggers.
Iām excited for the next book, but Iām worried about all the feelings sheāll make us go through šµāš«
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, War, and Classism
Minor: Rape and Grief
tahsintries's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Racism, Rape, Slavery, and Grief
Moderate: Confinement, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
kaybob_0708's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Rape
keya_caivalur's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Mental illness, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, War, and Classism