Book Review of Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn (Non Spoiler)

Summary: 

"The shadows have risen, and the line is law.

All Bree wanted was to uncover the truth behind her mother’s death. So she infiltrated the Legendborn Order, a secret society descended from King Arthur’s knights—only to discover her own ancestral power. Now, Bree has become someone new:

A Medium. A Bloodcrafter. A Scion.

But the ancient war between demons and the Order is rising to a deadly peak. And Nick, the Legendborn boy Bree fell in love with, has been kidnapped.

Bree wants to fight, but the Regents who rule the Order won’t let her. To them, she is an unknown girl with unheard-of power, and as the living anchor for the spell that preserves the Legendborn cycle, she must be protected.

When the Regents reveal they will do whatever it takes to hide the war, Bree and her friends must go on the run to rescue Nick themselves. But enemies are everywhere, Bree’s powers are unpredictable and dangerous, and she can’t escape her growing attraction to Selwyn, the mage sworn to protect Nick until death.

If Bree has any hope of saving herself and the people she loves, she must learn to control her powers from the ancestors who wielded them first—without losing herself in the process."

Me when this synopsis dropped and my Legendborn Maniac Syndrome renewed itself

My Review: 

Wow, it's been a long but speedy 2 years since Legendborn first came out, and yet it's been on my mind consistently since I finished reading that arc for a book tour and now I'm back with a review for Bloodmarked after receiving a physical copy from the publishers. Thank you so much even though I was basically begging LOL. Also disclaimer! It may seem like I'm ranting at one point (about BreeSel mainly) but I'm just so passionate about this series (aka a BreeSel hater) that I like to go on and on about stuff that had me all up in twists! Not a bad thing, but Tracy is definitely playing with my emotions! I know she likes to be messy she not slick!

 

I really should've started Bloodmarked on a Friday evening or a Saturday morning, NOT  a Sunday evening like the fool I am. Please listen to me when I say that my brain was basically on hold until I finished this book, I can't even really remember the work days while I was in limbo waiting for this book. My brain truly went all of this is meaningless I have to get back to the book as soon as possible! 

But just know that while reading I cried! I laughed! I got mad! I had a shot! Or whatever Gwyneth Paltrow said.

 

So, this sequel starts off I believe about a month after Nick has been captured and Bree discovers that she is King Arthurs descendant. Soon after we get caught up to speed on some training she's been doing and failing at, the story starts to do a slow rolling down the hill situation aka new characters start to show, and these regent folks who we've heard about but haven't encountered yet are really making Bree's life EXTREMELY DIFFICULT.

The number of new characters I wanted to personally strangle! You really feel Bree's frustration in herself and her situation and not being able to be as strong as everyone else or skilled. BABY BREE YOU HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR MAYBE 2 MONTHS IT'S OKAY! The way everyone is trying to use Bree to their benefit instead of trying to help her get better was so hard to read.

My heart really hurt for this 16-year-old Black girl who just wants to make things right without much guidance or with guidance that has a price to pay. She also gets hurt a lot in the book and I literally cannot cope with her not being SAFE AND SOUND! The internal battles she was having with herself, the shame, the guilt, and the disregard for her own well-being were definitely a lot for her to go through. You will feel just as stressed reading alongside her as she goes on this journey.

"Hey, Google! Play The Prayer by Celine Dion and Andre Bocelli" seriously pray that these kids at least make it out of this series alive and in one piece. Mental trauma aside. (This was also played in Quest for Camelot hehe)

 

The majority of the story is spent in brand-new locations and that gives us the opportunity to learn new things about what other magical people who aren’t affiliated with the order think of them and how their practices and rules differ. I loved getting to spend more time with William and Alice through Bree. They make such a great support system for her, especially when she is trying to make rash decisions.

 

In the first half of Legendborn, I'm not gonna lie Alice got on my nerves but I would be in denial if I didn't act in a similar way sometimes with my own friends. But in Bloodmarked!! Oh boy, I loved Alice! That is my girl for real. She really brought the cozy friendship vibes with Bree, and I loved the smart comments she made or how observant she was and her own frustrations with their situations. Also, Alice is a bit of an instigator, and I thought those scenes were so funny. 

William!! My sweet healer boy!! His constant advice and wisdom while dealing with his own mental anguish really makes me love him even more. He's truly one of those characters you just want to see win alongside the main character. You get to see from a distance his quiet suffering and I can only hope that we found out more about how it affects him. And his skills in both healing and fighting when he needs to are unmatched!! He is that guy.

Asha, are you going to talk about the guy that's actually on the cover with Bree?

 

……I suppose I have to! Just Kidding! …or am I. Selwyn Kane! Did he apologize to Bree for trying to kill her in the first book? Yes in his own way for sure. Personally, I need tears, snot, and 30 lashes too but I hold on to grudges! But boy does he get put through  A LOT of pain as well! This is truly a running theme in this series. We got to learn and see a lot more of him in this book. His constant struggle to convey his emotions, his insecurities in his ability to protect others close to him, and his internal battle to stay whole and himself. Also, we learn a little more about the hardships he's had to go through and how complicated his bond is with Nick but I feel like there could’ve been some more mentioned about that. Which we may see in the bonus chapter Tracy is releasing with the exclusive edition.

 I will say this about Sel, he may not be my favorite but he does have layers to him and he's not necessarily a simple or straightforward character to understand. He doesn’t always say what's on his mind and he would rather yell and get pissed than tell people how he's feeling. He's extremely moody and I know some of the gurls eat that up…..I'm not one of them but good for y'all! He frustrated me a lot. I felt like at times he constantly took his anger and annoyance out on the wrong people, one of those people being Bree. I also think he's a bit of a hypocrite in some ways on how he reacted to situations or things he said, but we all can be! I do think he had everyone's best interest in mind despite acting like he doesn't and I know he is extremely loyal to his friends. Although it was really funny to see him and Alice butt heads. She's like me for real.

 

Now Nick! I enjoyed reading about him in Legendborn and although they are trying to rescue him you don't get to see much of him or at least not as much as I would've liked! But that's the thing with love triangles it's a little hard to make it a balanced effort for all parties involved. Every love interest needs their time to make a mark in readers' minds or hearts and how can you do that with both evenly split……with a cover with the other love interest on there? I'm not a fool! I prepared myself for it. But back to what we do get to see! He's definitely going through it just like the other characters, but we don't get that same development because we know it's happened but we don't get to see other moments because it has from Bree's perspective. I can’t imagine the mental turmoil he may be going through during this and after…some stuff happens. There are a few characters throwing glares his way and I was like explain this?? I'm still very hopeful for what the future may hold for his character and the parts he will play in the next book.

I'm a romance girl so I'm gonna loop back to the love triangle stuff! 

Now I hate love triangles I don't like having to pick sides or teams, it makes MY CHEST TIGHT. I just want there to be one love interest or if it is poly for that to already be in the works before I have to feel like I'm picking sides. If you didn't know already team Nick…. like that isn't already obvious! So, if you've already seen what I've said above then you know BreeSel stans got well fed in this book.

And I was willing to see if the scenes between them would sway me or have me conflicted on who I wanted to see Bree end up with, but it didn't really, if anything it had me writing in my arc like a burn book. It also made me jealous! Incredibly so! Some moments were really intense and intimate and I couldn’t help rolling my eyes at stuff, I don't care if it makes me sound petty because I better get my lick back in the next book! I am so serious. It was like the type of rolling eyes where you’re like “really right in front of my salad?!”

But even after all of what I've read, I don't want Sel to be the endgame love interest for Bree. I really don't! I just don’t get the same warm gooey feelings I got with BreeNick. I believe that both Nick and Sel are in-depth characters and have layers to the way they react and handle their emotions but at the end of the day the way Nick has supported and believed Bree from the start?? The unwavering support he gives her for her ideas and thoughts?? And just for Sel to finally get the big picture and be on board NOW. 

In my head I think to myself did Sel see how Bree made Nick feel and just wanted to experience that for himself? Would he have ever glanced her way if she wasn't King Arthurs's scion? I don’t feel the same confidence in Sel's romantic feelings for Bree as I did for Nick's. Sel's insecurities don't make me believe that anything between them would be healthy, well not without some serious work on Sel's side (I'm sorry I'm not one of the gworls who likes the love interests who tries to jump the main character LOL). 

As for Bree because she is the main recipient of all this affection, I genuinely think the constant stress and physical and emotional labor that she experienced in this book pushed her to seek comfort where she could and in someone who already gives her tingles, who has proclaimed to do everything to protect her! Don’t get me started on that cariad stuff in the last book. If someone were tryna kill me for a majority of the first book and then started working with me and making moves on me while they knew I was dating someone else, I'd swing on them (not really but I'd be like did this boy just bump his head). That line would’ve been more impactful to me if it was used more than halfway through Bloodmarked.

 

Now back to the other stuff in the book!

 

There are quite a few new characters! Some of them will make you want to pull their eyes out and let vultures feed on them while dipping their feet in acids and others you will enjoy how they make the story more interesting and wanna be friends with them or just have mutual friends cause they're kinda crazy. Some of my new favs are def Rootcraft related and even merlin-related.

 

Some of the stuff with Arthur?? Holy Shit. I did not see coming! But also, those parts were so interesting! Kinda made me want to rewatch Quest for Camelot. Even though the only connecting theme is Excalibur and round table.

Some of the Rootcraft-related scenes between Bree and her ancestors reminded me of how sometimes in Black and POC families there is this fear of sticking out or trying to walk your own path because no one before you did and I think it was really interesting that Bree decided to make her own path without any help after all the frustration she went through. While knowing there would be no one from her predecessors that could be like I also had Arthur call on me.

 

The fight scenes still eat! Tracy is in her literal writing bag with the pace and action! The way she ends each chapter no matter how long or short. She really is coming into her own with her writing style. Also, some of the new ways magic was used in this or the way it was described was so interesting and I ate it up.

 

There are some moments where the word Betrayal was used and I was like I'm not sure if that counts as Betrayal but I'm going to assume since Bree hasn't developed her frontal lobe that some of these instances seem like it to her, especially with all the pressure she is under.

 

This whole book feels like Bree is trying to go forward and get better but she's stuck in place and not making progress. Which I think fits the pace very well because if she was already being super good at everything I would be like huh?? And she still feels very much like a teen in this book! While reading I felt like an older sibling that wanted to shake her and hug her tight in the next scene. But oh boy is she probably gonna have to grow up even quicker than planned.  Bree is so cool though and so so smart! Despite making rash decisions or not always thinking completely through the consequences of how things might play out she's so badass and the way she fights back in this whole book really just made me love her more....I still wanna shake her tho!

Also lots of scenes of her being like I understand what you mean and other characters being like "Gurl no you don't" and her being like "well damn okay never mind!" was so funny to me.

 

The way the last 10%(or 15% chile idk) of the book went down. Oh lord my stomach just about fell out of my ass but the whole book had me stressed! Can we have a minute to blink! Tracy said no keep those eyes OPEN and ears LISTENING! 

Overall, I gave this a 4-star! It was really good, and I was engaged the whole time and there wasn't a boring or dull moment. The magical elements were fulfilling for me! Bree is still trying to stay true to herself! The supporting cast are all in depth and well-rounded characters separate from Bree! The DEMONS?! The new characters stressing me out or making me love them! But since romance is still quite a large part of the book (for me at least) and I was more frustrated with it, I didn't give it a 5 star. And that's the thing with Love Triangles: not all readers can be happy with those moments, it's expected. Also of course this book is a stepping stone until shit really REALLY HITS THE FAN AAAAHH!! Anyway, Bree is THAT gurl!! William we will get you that hot towel and massage appointment soon! Alice please also braid my hair for me too and let's be sassy together! Nick we will get you some more screentime! Sel we will get you some more respect from me!! BreeNick 4 Lyfers!! And the end had me like okay Legendborn gang let's get IT!

 What are you expecting to happen in Bloodmarked? Some guesses or theories. I definitely had a few!

Thank you to the Publishers for sending me this book! This review is all my own.