A review by fuunosenshi
Blood Price by Vela Roth
2.0
It felt too long. The first half of the book, nothing magical happens. And when it does, all the tension dissapears because Hesperines are basically Mary-Sues, so all their problems are solved easily. The battles are oh so boring when they are using magic, and since their human enemies can't move at the same speed as them (at least I assumed that was what happened), they chat while under attack. The author says the liegehounds are dangerous, but in the "battle" with them they do nothing, so they don't feel like a threat.
There's mention of Iskhyra's "quest", but we never know what it is, and it never brings anything to the story, yet is continuously brought up. The "Gifting" is supposedly a highly emotional moment but all that happens is we go back some days and read about the events that happened. The events described in Maerea's "gifting" were things we already knew from Alceus's perspective and added nothing to the story. And when they start giving alternate names to sexual organs it was absolutely akward.
The whole Hesperine culture seemed interesting, though, and the prose gave a historical vibe that not many authors can pull off.
There's mention of Iskhyra's "quest", but we never know what it is, and it never brings anything to the story, yet is continuously brought up. The "Gifting" is supposedly a highly emotional moment but all that happens is we go back some days and read about the events that happened. The events described in Maerea's "gifting" were things we already knew from Alceus's perspective and added nothing to the story. And when they start giving alternate names to sexual organs it was absolutely akward.
The whole Hesperine culture seemed interesting, though, and the prose gave a historical vibe that not many authors can pull off.