Bloodmarked

[cornerofmadness]

Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


My only regret here was how long it took me to get to this book and that I couldn't finish it in a day or two (because what is time?) No fears of the sophomore slump in book 2 of the Legendborn and this propels Deonn to one of my favorite writers. This book could be a masterclass in how to write characters with imperfections/makes mistakes without them looking like idiots. How many times have we read a book where the character does something idiotic in order to advance the plot? Here the mistakes made feel right, like something that would happen.

I also very much liked the way race was handled in this especially as it's presented as a spectrum from unconscious bias to outright racism (other PoC fantasies I've read have made every white character from the 10th level of hell which on one hand I get but on the other is as problematic as doing the same to every character of color) Bree does not shy away from how she ended up a Scion of Arthur and shines a light on the rape and abuse of enslaved people. This also leans heavy into the rootcrafters and their history. It felt like Bree's story accomplished that.

Bree, Sel, William and Alice make up the bulk of the action as Nicholas is in hiding. The Machiavellian plotting of the Regents and some of the Legendborn was so good and so infuriating at the same time. Bree is not the Scion some of them want and much like with the Slayers in the Buffyverse, the best way to get the one you DO want, you need to take out the current title holders which is why Bree is on the run and Nicholas is in hiding.

We also meet Valec a true 50/50 % demon/human cambion (unlike most of the Merlins who are diluted) and he and his side story shed light on some of the flaws of the Round Table crew and again we see much more of the Rootcrafters. While Bree is trying to learn to control her powers, Sel is beginning to succumb to his own.

And then we have Arthur who, like many a powerful man, is not about to let some woman stand in his way. Bree is unique. Through her he has hopes like he has never had in any other Scion before her giving Bree yet another front on which she must fight.

We learn more about her own line of descent on her mother's side and what these women went through and what price has been paid, what price Bree has yet to pay and what it means to be Bloodmarked.

It's hard to boil down a nearly 600 page book into a short review especially without spoiling things. There is a twist at the end that works out masterfully and the open ending also works (which is saying a lot as I don't normally like them) The main thorough line does wrap up and I can't wait to see where this all takes us. Very much looking forward to a return trip with Bree and her friends.



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Third Shift Society, Vol. One

[cornerofmadness]

Third Shift Society, Vol. One by Meredith Moriarty

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was a lucky find at the library as I don't get Webtoon (because I'd probably get nothing done if I did) and I enjoyed. Is it anything truly new in the urban fantasy, Buffy/Supernatural sort of genre? No, not really but that doesn't mean it wasn't fun.

Ellie is just your average girl in the city who lost her job and then runs across a pumpkin headed man in an alley battling a monster. Compelled to help (as Ellie is pretty sweet), she learns she has psychic powers and when Ichabod i.e. the Pumpkinhead offers her a job, she says yes. The job is relatively a simple one, they investigate places of supernatural disturbances.

She doesn't nearly as many questions about all this as I might have liked and Ichabod dodges the one she did ask (why is your head a pumpkin). We have them dealing with ghosts from immurement, spiritual snakes things, bug men, demons and a surprise visit from someone who looks a lot like Alice in Wonderland.

Ellie does do the one thing Ichabod asked her not to: to go solo on a case and naturally it goes not as well as she'd like. Vol 2 will probably be dealing with the consequences of that choice.

I like Ellie, Ichabod and Simon (Ichabod's friend and supernatural doctor). I'm looking forward to more of this. The art is excellent as well.



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