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A review by readwithmesashamarie
Blood of the Sands by S.C. Grayson
3.0
Thank you so much to TheNerdFam for providing me with a gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was genuinely so excited when I submitted my application for an early copy of this novel. The premise of surviving in the desert, desert magic, and two sworn enemies learning that they might have more in common than they have differences, was enough to make me jump at this opportunity. It didn’t hurt that this cover is absolutely stunning, and made me want to dive into this story even more.
This story focuses a lot on the concept of ‘other’. We meet clans who live solely in the wild desert, surviving by any bloody means necessary, and attempting to thwart the desert’s cruel beasts and unpredictable nature. While on the edge of the desert a civilization has risen with crowned rulers who thrive on their relative safety from the elements and beasts, and who have little to no threat of scarcity. Each of our main characters, throughout the course of the story, comes to exist in both realities, allowing the reader to experience the turmoil of wanting to escape the desert’s harsh and unforgiving lifestyle, while realizing that it is ultimately the only place these characters truly feel at home.
Our main characters are both gifted with desert magic, and are understood to be the most powerful magical beings alive. Peripheral characters may exhibit a touch of magic that allows them to communicate (to an extent) with animals, or be more deadly in a battle. I really enjoyed getting to experience the different modalities of magic, and see how it manifested in each of our characters.
This story has a great focus on animal companions, which brought a lot of levity to situations that might have otherwise felt heavy and burdensome. While these companions are not always marked safe from survivable injuries, the author doesn’t intentionally harm them as a way to manipulate her characters or the audience, which I appreciated.
Despite enjoying so much of the overall plot, including the trials and twists regarding certain character’s lineage, the writing wasn’t a home run for me. Thinking back it’s hard to articulate why it didn’t work. I found myself skimming large portions of this book so I could fulfill my obligation of writing a review.
This had so many elements of things I would normally devour: animal companions, wild magic, slow burn enemies to lovers, war torn political landscapes. Unfortunately something fell flat, and perhaps felt a little too juvenile, when it came to the writing, pacing, and overall tone of the novel. Although it didn’t work for me I do think plenty of fantasy and romantasy readers will thoroughly enjoy this one. From the action sequences, slow burn romance, magic, unraveling history, and two very distinct settings, this story is undoubtedly an adventure.
I was genuinely so excited when I submitted my application for an early copy of this novel. The premise of surviving in the desert, desert magic, and two sworn enemies learning that they might have more in common than they have differences, was enough to make me jump at this opportunity. It didn’t hurt that this cover is absolutely stunning, and made me want to dive into this story even more.
This story focuses a lot on the concept of ‘other’. We meet clans who live solely in the wild desert, surviving by any bloody means necessary, and attempting to thwart the desert’s cruel beasts and unpredictable nature. While on the edge of the desert a civilization has risen with crowned rulers who thrive on their relative safety from the elements and beasts, and who have little to no threat of scarcity. Each of our main characters, throughout the course of the story, comes to exist in both realities, allowing the reader to experience the turmoil of wanting to escape the desert’s harsh and unforgiving lifestyle, while realizing that it is ultimately the only place these characters truly feel at home.
Our main characters are both gifted with desert magic, and are understood to be the most powerful magical beings alive. Peripheral characters may exhibit a touch of magic that allows them to communicate (to an extent) with animals, or be more deadly in a battle. I really enjoyed getting to experience the different modalities of magic, and see how it manifested in each of our characters.
This story has a great focus on animal companions, which brought a lot of levity to situations that might have otherwise felt heavy and burdensome. While these companions are not always marked safe from survivable injuries, the author doesn’t intentionally harm them as a way to manipulate her characters or the audience, which I appreciated.
Despite enjoying so much of the overall plot, including the trials and twists regarding certain character’s lineage, the writing wasn’t a home run for me. Thinking back it’s hard to articulate why it didn’t work. I found myself skimming large portions of this book so I could fulfill my obligation of writing a review.
This had so many elements of things I would normally devour: animal companions, wild magic, slow burn enemies to lovers, war torn political landscapes. Unfortunately something fell flat, and perhaps felt a little too juvenile, when it came to the writing, pacing, and overall tone of the novel. Although it didn’t work for me I do think plenty of fantasy and romantasy readers will thoroughly enjoy this one. From the action sequences, slow burn romance, magic, unraveling history, and two very distinct settings, this story is undoubtedly an adventure.