N.E. Davenport

3.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I will burn the world down, I promise Reed and myself. I will annihilate the world for him, for us, for the team if it comes to that.

Picking up where The Blood Trials ended, this continues the story of Ikenna and her quest to avenge her grandfather while also fighting for her nation. This is a duology, you can't just dive in here as you'd miss how the chess game started. It's a scifi fantasy world with war, gods, magic, and power hungry individuals. Ikenna's grandfather was a Legatus for Mareen, she finds out that he was murdered by other tribunals and this sets her off on becoming a Praetorian (Mareen fighting elite) to get access to investigate who was behind the murder. In book one, enemies and friends were made and lost and it ended with Ikenna being made to, slash, deciding to go on her own, along with five other friends she made along the way. She knows who was behind her grandfather's murder, and for the most part, has gotten her revenge, but now it's about once again trying to put a stop to The Blood Emperor.

We're literal children of war, born and bred to fight. To do battle. So that's what we do, and we take the punches that come with it and keep going. Children of war don't have the freedom, or the luxury, to do anything else.

The first was very fast paced, this started off giving Ikenna and Reed, a Praetorian who trained her in the Blood Trials and her grandfather's protege, a breathing moment to explore and define their developing romance. I appreciated this pause to sit with the characters more and how Reed calms and centers Ikenna. Ikenna has a lot of rage from her grandfather's betrayal, the racist and sexist society of Mareen, and just general stress and conditioning that comes from a society at war. Her feeling and not swallowing her rage endured her to me and added some thrilling get it action but it also crosses over into frustration at her not stopping and thinking for a moment. I would have liked to have seen more growth from Ikenna here, it made her character seem childish as times, especially later in the story when Ajani comes in and you compare and contrast the characters.

As if in answer, my nausea ticks up as I wonder: What did the goddess do to me? What precisely did Amaka make me evolve into? What does becoming her Chosen and Blood Daughter entail?

The alluded to danger of the Blood Emperor from the first comes into play here, as he's actually gathered some allies and is attacking Mareen. Ikenna and her friends get taken by some Accacians (Blood Emperor's people) and brought to the Emperor's second in command, Ajani. This starts off another journey of plans to defeat the Emperor and who can't they trust and who can they, as Ajani comes to Ikenna with a plan to kill the Emperor. This whole plot was intriguing and had just enough of suspense to keep me on my toes as Ajani stays mysterious enough to wonder if Ikenna can trust him.

But what I can do as long as I've got breath left to breathe and blood in my body is what I've always done best: fight.

Ajani comes to Ikenna because he thinks she is the only one who can kill the Emperor, he's heard about the gold in her blood. Questions I had in the first about Ikenna's magic get answered here and the Gods fantasy part of the duology gets flushed out more. There's more explanation of how the Pantheon gods were chased out of Ikenna's world but how they can still bestow gifts on people, like Ikenna. We get to meet the God of War and Ikenna's patreon goddess and learn the gods have their own whole story going on in the background to Ikenna's world. This storyline was fascinating to me but, as you can tell, there was a lot going on in this book, probably too much. I do think some could have been cut out, like Ikenna traveling to a Queen to get an ally. I liked the Queen character and her story but that thread never really got utilized and in the end, only made the story feel cluttered as it took away from other more interesting or important threads.

I'm a warrior first and foremost. We all are. Always have been. Always will be.
So let's warrior the fuck out.

The built up and looming danger of the Blood Emperor makes his appearance halfway through the book but by 70% Ikenna pretty much dealt with it and I ended up being a little disappointed by how it felt too here and gone (a little of The Night King from GOT feelings). The last thirty percent deals with and reveals if Ikenna's trust was misplaced in Ajani, the future of Mareen, and a new looming threat. Ikenna also had to take on another opponent and I thought this was rushed even more than the Blood Emperor.

We will do this because we love one another.

The Blood Gift gave me more of the world flushing out I was missing in the beginning and I'm definitely fascinated by the Gods aspect of it. I cheer on Ikenna's warrior attitude but do get frustrated when her rage has her blinded to reason and would like character experience and maturity to show growth. With a new enemy on the horizon, a frenemie in the wind, and a country to stabilize, Ikenna and her crew definitely have material for a new adventure.… (altro)

3.5 stars

"I am Verne Amari's granddaughter. I won't break."

You really have to hit the ground running to keep up with this story. It's got magic, gods, wars, scifi, fantasy mish mashed all into a New Adult tone. You only get a sense of the world through the characters mentioning things, no solid grounding explanation to the structure of this world.

It's all told from a first person pov from Ikenna, a nineteen year old who's grandfather just died. Racism and sexism are prevalent in this world and therefore mentioned, acknowledged, and raged against. Ikenna's that her grandfather, who was born of Mareen (dominantly white country) and Khanaian (dominantly Black country) parents and was a Tribunal because of how he won the war for Mareen, didn't just die of a heartattack but was assassinated. This motivates her to go through the Trials, a Hunger Game-ish, SEAL Hell Week like war games that weed out/kill the weak for the strong so they can go on to become Praetorian Guards. Ikenna wants to become a Praetorian so she can get closer to the people in charge and find out who gave the orders for her grandfather to be killed.

The bulk of the story is the Trials and Ikenna trying to fight through her act first think later rage and discern friend from foe. The first 70% read super fast as you're just trying to keep up with Ikenna and hope for her survival. The last bit ends the trials and then more of the world politics comes into play and it really slowed the story down for me as I still wasn't fully immersed into the world and the moving bits now coming into play.

Ikenna's also dealing with Blood Magic, it's apparently a power bestowed upon people by the Gods, but the Blood Emperor is who Mareen fought the war against (Ikenna's grandfather won the war for them but his daughter, Ikenna's mother was killed by the emperor). So, Ikenna is trying to hide this part of herself to not be killed as assumed a traitor.

There's, obviously, a lot of moving parts and elements, but having most of the story centered around Ikenna helped, it was when the outside world that hadn't been flushed out too clearly came in, that I struggled.

This ends on a cliffhanger and I'm going to dive right into the second because I'm very curious to see how it all ends up. If you can handle some worldbuilding pushed to the side, want some scifi and fantasy elements, a step above YA, and want to see a lead character not hold back their anger/rage (it did get frustrating at times as I wanted Ikenna to stop, take a breathe, and think), then this would be a hold onto your butts one to pick up.… (altro)

3.5


This def felt older than YA - a lot of violence, sex and drinking.
I did enjoy this book except for one thing which brought down the rating and that was that the trials to become. Praetorian meant that most ppl were killed - are you seriously telling me that when you are on the brink of war that it’s smarter to literally slaughter HUNDREDS of smart qualified applicants rather than say just failing them and moving them to your regular army?!! Recruits shouldn’t be killed violently just because they failed to do 400 burpees - just flunk them and demote them. I just couldn’t get past this senseless waste of not only life but their own soldiers.… (altro)

The Blood Gift by N. E. Davenport is everything I want in a story, let alone a sequel. There is the epic story, goddess-bestowed powers, and a battle of wits and weapons with a demigod. The novel could not be more ambitious. Thankfully, Ms. Davenport's execution is flawless, and I loved reading the end of this duology.

Ikenna Amari is my favorite type of heroine. She is cocky but talented enough to back up her boasts. Ikenna is also loyal to a fault, determined, and stubborn. Plus, she is such a smartass, and I love smartasses. Most importantly, Ikenna is angry, something I appreciate and understand. She represents every woman, especially women of color, forced to fight for every freedom and justice they have. The fight never ends, and Ikenna is there to continue the battle against misogyny and racism. Reading about Ikenna's anger and thirst for revenge is cathartic because she does things to her oppressors that we can only continue to dream about.

As with the first book, The Blood Gift is bloody and dark. Ikenna and her fellow rogue squad members kill without hesitation. The demigod is ruthless and cold-blooded in his approach to warfare. The Blood Gift is not for the squeamish. I love the violence because it means that Ikenna and her friends are taking action in the fight for the planet. They are fighting for what is right in the only manner they know how. I wish it were always that easy.

Not that what Ikenna and the squad experience is easy. They are put through the proverbial ringer not just once but multiple times. Ikenna, in particular, faces test after test to gain the tiniest advantage. She proves herself time and again, not only that she is capable of achieving her very ambitious goals but also that she will never break her promises.

For all its brutality, The Blood Gift is outstanding. I will never tire of Ikenna, her snarkiness, and her badassery. The rest of her squad is just as enjoyable for their loyalty, commitment to the mission and each other, and their willingness to fight on behalf of those who cannot. Ikenna's revenge quest is nasty in every sense, but I find it so therapeutic to see the bad guys get what they deserve. I hope this is not the last we will see of Ikenna and her friends, but if it is, I cannot wait to see what Ms. Davenport has in store for us next!… (altro)