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A review by little_miss_darkness
Blood Feast by Vela Roth
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
There's a new war on the horizon, and Hesperines need to shed antiquated customs to remind themselves why they are the heretics in the first place.
Cassia is finally a Hesperine! I can't believe it took her almost eight full books before she finally accepted the Gift. I was beginning to think Vela is going to stretch this until the end of the series. Speaking of which, while I have loved that the series stretched this long, I am beginning to think that it may be stretched too far already. This should have either ended already or this should have been the last book (it's not, and I'm obviously going to stick with it until the end, but I can't help but complain, sorry).
Cassia shines as a Hesperine. The one thing I do hate is that Roth has decided to keep her in the "oh I don't want any more power, I love that the Collector took most of my magic away, I don't need to be more powerful" BS. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that Lio is more than willing to fight for her power and insists she is not a bad person for wanting it and that the power won't necessarily corrupt her. We need more male love interests like that, even when their female counterparts have only been allowed to have the female power of the household and the loom their entire lives.
So much happens in this book, I finally feel like we have picked up the pace. The Eight Circle decides to arm themselves and go errant while Orthros wants to arrest them because the broke the law against weapons. They call themselves the Black Roses - a little nod to both Hespera and Cassia's power. Solia is the queen of Tenebra (finally) but needs to fight to keep her throne and her people safe. Monsoon and her are still pretending they don't need each other - they should just get over themselves and give in FFS. Miranda is an evil Gift Collector hunting the errant Black Roses while they run around Tenebra awakening the old Lustra magic.
I won't say any spoilers, but there is a major reveal of the Collector - his name, and even in the end, what is his end goal and why he's been so adamant about getting Cassia to help him work toward his goals. It was both incredibly surprising, but also kind of strangely making sense and expecting? I don't know, I guess you'll have to figure it out for yourselves.
I do hope we get to see Rudhira and Nike find their Graces before the end. They have definitely waited long enough. And of course, I keep thinking Methu is still alive and being held captive by the Aithuorian Circle, and we'll see him - if he is, the author is keeping it well under wraps, but I keep hoping.
Here's to hoping the next book is released soon!
Cassia is finally a Hesperine! I can't believe it took her almost eight full books before she finally accepted the Gift. I was beginning to think Vela is going to stretch this until the end of the series. Speaking of which, while I have loved that the series stretched this long, I am beginning to think that it may be stretched too far already. This should have either ended already or this should have been the last book (it's not, and I'm obviously going to stick with it until the end, but I can't help but complain, sorry).
Cassia shines as a Hesperine. The one thing I do hate is that Roth has decided to keep her in the "oh I don't want any more power, I love that the Collector took most of my magic away, I don't need to be more powerful" BS. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that Lio is more than willing to fight for her power and insists she is not a bad person for wanting it and that the power won't necessarily corrupt her. We need more male love interests like that, even when their female counterparts have only been allowed to have the female power of the household and the loom their entire lives.
So much happens in this book, I finally feel like we have picked up the pace. The Eight Circle decides to arm themselves and go errant while Orthros wants to arrest them because the broke the law against weapons. They call themselves the Black Roses - a little nod to both Hespera and Cassia's power. Solia is the queen of Tenebra (finally) but needs to fight to keep her throne and her people safe. Monsoon and her are still pretending they don't need each other - they should just get over themselves and give in FFS. Miranda is an evil Gift Collector hunting the errant Black Roses while they run around Tenebra awakening the old Lustra magic.
I won't say any spoilers, but there is a major reveal of the Collector - his name, and even in the end, what is his end goal and why he's been so adamant about getting Cassia to help him work toward his goals. It was both incredibly surprising, but also kind of strangely making sense and expecting? I don't know, I guess you'll have to figure it out for yourselves.
I do hope we get to see Rudhira and Nike find their Graces before the end. They have definitely waited long enough. And of course, I keep thinking Methu is still alive and being held captive by the Aithuorian Circle, and we'll see him - if he is, the author is keeping it well under wraps, but I keep hoping.
Here's to hoping the next book is released soon!