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A review by charliauthor
The Blood Gift by N.E. Davenport
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Finally finished and while I enjoyed this immensely, the latter part of this let it down a lot but as I was invested in the characters enough, i was able to get through.
Ikenna is very marmite in that you either love her or hate her. For me, I loved her. Even when she was very annoying and yes, a bit too rash, in a world of books with FMCs who talk the talk but dont walk the walk, Ikenna was a breath of fresh air. She was angry, she was strong, she was sexy, she has a hot boyfriend but doesnt let this define her. Ikenna is a great example of an FMC who takes noones shit for good reason but is also able to back it up. Yes, she has powers and while this book is about those powers and why she has them, she doesnt rely on them for her personality. She is strong with her without them, they dont define her and i love that about her.
Where this book and even book 1 has issues is that the dialogue is too wordy and scenes are drawn out unnecessarily. This particular book could have finished a lot earlier if not for Ikenna constantly going on about how bad she was and what she was going to do to her enemies. Coupled with there being 4/5 main villains for her to defeat, having the 'final' battle 5 times, let down the stakes for me in a big way. To have so much wordy dialogue woven in and around those battles made the latter half very tedious which is why it took so long for me to get through it.
However, the scenes themselves ie the fighting, the smut, the worldbuilding, the characters were absolutely awesome and i had such a great time. I would have liked more time with the rest of Ikenna's squad as it seemed to only be Reed, Dannica and Rossi who had extended backstory but when they were on page, they were so funny and sweet. a true band of brothers type vibe.
Generally, i enjoyed this book/series and love it simply for being different. The sci fi/fantasy blend, the action scenes, the romance that doesnt overshadow the plot, the bad ass FMC who is actually bad ass, i loved that the author did more than just lore inspired Gods. Yes, there was oppression in this which was the base of the fight but Ikenna was downtrodden because of it. She wasnt less because of the bigotry around her. She made it make her strong in a way that didnt feel like pageantry.
I really enjoyed this and want more people to read it.
Ikenna is very marmite in that you either love her or hate her. For me, I loved her. Even when she was very annoying and yes, a bit too rash, in a world of books with FMCs who talk the talk but dont walk the walk, Ikenna was a breath of fresh air. She was angry, she was strong, she was sexy, she has a hot boyfriend but doesnt let this define her. Ikenna is a great example of an FMC who takes noones shit for good reason but is also able to back it up. Yes, she has powers and while this book is about those powers and why she has them, she doesnt rely on them for her personality. She is strong with her without them, they dont define her and i love that about her.
Where this book and even book 1 has issues is that the dialogue is too wordy and scenes are drawn out unnecessarily. This particular book could have finished a lot earlier if not for Ikenna constantly going on about how bad she was and what she was going to do to her enemies. Coupled with there being 4/5 main villains for her to defeat, having the 'final' battle 5 times, let down the stakes for me in a big way. To have so much wordy dialogue woven in and around those battles made the latter half very tedious which is why it took so long for me to get through it.
However, the scenes themselves ie the fighting, the smut, the worldbuilding, the characters were absolutely awesome and i had such a great time. I would have liked more time with the rest of Ikenna's squad as it seemed to only be Reed, Dannica and Rossi who had extended backstory but when they were on page, they were so funny and sweet. a true band of brothers type vibe.
Generally, i enjoyed this book/series and love it simply for being different. The sci fi/fantasy blend, the action scenes, the romance that doesnt overshadow the plot, the bad ass FMC who is actually bad ass, i loved that the author did more than just lore inspired Gods. Yes, there was oppression in this which was the base of the fight but Ikenna was downtrodden because of it. She wasnt less because of the bigotry around her. She made it make her strong in a way that didnt feel like pageantry.
I really enjoyed this and want more people to read it.