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A review by jasperdotpdf
Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
3.5
After I finished Bloodmarked I almost immediately gave it 5 stars as a knee-jerk reaction, however now that a few days have passed I can't in good conscience give it 5 stars because there's a lot of things I found issue with. Despite this, I was so incredibly invested in Bloodmarked and the ending hat me mouth agape shaking this book at the sky. I was glued to the pages and had anyone seen my reactions to reading this they would've taken me for an insane person. So all of the things to follow retrospetively weigh down my opinion of Bloodmarked, especially from an objective standpoint. That doesn't mean I didn't love reading this.
Most of the gripes I had with the first book persisted if not worsened in this one, the biggest of which being the worldbuilding.
There is a lot going on, and the attempt to knit together Arthurian legend with a story about grief and the consequences of colonialism and slavery in America continued to not work for me. While both concepts on their own are really interesting, their combinated execution ended up being a bit bloated at best and far-fetched and convoluted at worst. While the presence of these themes is very distinctly a big part of this novel, it isn't always clear where they're pointing the reader, which was especially noticeable in how the magic system was set up.
Once again I felt like Rootcraft was supposed to be something for Bree to learn from. A practice intrinsically connected to balance, to giving and taking, to ancestral veneration. Yet the way Root manifested in Bree was basically the same concept as the way Aether is tied to the bloodlines of the Scions. It feels like Bree is constantly presented with opportunities to connect with her ancestry and her culture, but she consistently favours the Order, which is throughout both books basically colonizer magic. There's a review I read that describes Bree's relationships with other Black characters as transactional, and I have to agree. Her relationships with Mariah and Patricia are much more shallow than the ones she develops with characters from the Order, and oftentimes motivated by the desire to control her Root in order to become more powerful. (view spoiler)
It really isn't clear whether the story is supposed to be about Bree learning about the corruption of the Order and finding her way back to the type of magic her ancestors practiced, or whether it's about Bree learning to rid herself of generational trauma and refusing to be the "weapon" for the anger of her ancestors. Both themes are included in the books, but never sufficiently explored nor is the dichotomy between them addressed.
At every turn I got the feeling that the way the book is written consistently favours allowing Bree to be an epic "chosen one" protagonist and the Order. In Deonn's defense it is admittedly difficult to write about a character "choosing" the practice of magic that is so tied to balance—a give and take—over the one that lends itself much better to acquiring the type of power Bree would need in a novel as high stakes and action-packed as Legendborn. However, this is part of why I feel the way the worldbuilding, the magic system and Bree's connection to them just doesn't work. The needs of the epic fantasy novel Deonn tried to write play tug'o'war with the entire narrative premise of Rootcraft, leading to the latter to fall flat and the former to become contrivedly convoluted.
It feels like the magic systems served more as a means to the end of realising the story Deonn wanted to take, and their integrity as practices and the commentary they add on certain issues came second.
In general, there were a lot of times where I felt like the book/plot backed the Characters into a corner in order to justify certain reactions or storylines. (view spoiler) Parts of the book just didn't feel organic, which did impact my enjoyment of it.
But like I said in the beginning of this review and my review for Legendborn, Tracy Deonn did an amazing job of getting me to care about the characters, and I just had so much fun reading this, so this sits at a 3.5⭐ for me.
Most of the gripes I had with the first book persisted if not worsened in this one, the biggest of which being the worldbuilding.
There is a lot going on, and the attempt to knit together Arthurian legend with a story about grief and the consequences of colonialism and slavery in America continued to not work for me. While both concepts on their own are really interesting, their combinated execution ended up being a bit bloated at best and far-fetched and convoluted at worst. While the presence of these themes is very distinctly a big part of this novel, it isn't always clear where they're pointing the reader, which was especially noticeable in how the magic system was set up.
Once again I felt like Rootcraft was supposed to be something for Bree to learn from. A practice intrinsically connected to balance, to giving and taking, to ancestral veneration. Yet the way Root manifested in Bree was basically the same concept as the way Aether is tied to the bloodlines of the Scions. It feels like Bree is constantly presented with opportunities to connect with her ancestry and her culture, but she consistently favours the Order, which is throughout both books basically colonizer magic. There's a review I read that describes Bree's relationships with other Black characters as transactional, and I have to agree. Her relationships with Mariah and Patricia are much more shallow than the ones she develops with characters from the Order, and oftentimes motivated by the desire to control her Root in order to become more powerful. (view spoiler)
It really isn't clear whether the story is supposed to be about Bree learning about the corruption of the Order and finding her way back to the type of magic her ancestors practiced, or whether it's about Bree learning to rid herself of generational trauma and refusing to be the "weapon" for the anger of her ancestors. Both themes are included in the books, but never sufficiently explored nor is the dichotomy between them addressed.
At every turn I got the feeling that the way the book is written consistently favours allowing Bree to be an epic "chosen one" protagonist and the Order. In Deonn's defense it is admittedly difficult to write about a character "choosing" the practice of magic that is so tied to balance—a give and take—over the one that lends itself much better to acquiring the type of power Bree would need in a novel as high stakes and action-packed as Legendborn. However, this is part of why I feel the way the worldbuilding, the magic system and Bree's connection to them just doesn't work. The needs of the epic fantasy novel Deonn tried to write play tug'o'war with the entire narrative premise of Rootcraft, leading to the latter to fall flat and the former to become contrivedly convoluted.
It feels like the magic systems served more as a means to the end of realising the story Deonn wanted to take, and their integrity as practices and the commentary they add on certain issues came second.
In general, there were a lot of times where I felt like the book/plot backed the Characters into a corner in order to justify certain reactions or storylines. (view spoiler) Parts of the book just didn't feel organic, which did impact my enjoyment of it.
But like I said in the beginning of this review and my review for Legendborn, Tracy Deonn did an amazing job of getting me to care about the characters, and I just had so much fun reading this, so this sits at a 3.5⭐ for me.