Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn - Review
Review SnapShot:
⚠️ NOTE THIS WILL CONTAIN LEGENDBORN SPOILERS⚠️
What mood is this right for: You’ve found your power and now you’re ready to do something with it.
Length: 561 Pages
Source: Purchased From Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh NC
Where to Buy:
Bloodmarked- Affiliate Link - Legendborn Cycle Books 1 -3 -Affiliate Link - Quail Ridge books - Free with a trial of audible
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ infinity
1 Sentence Summary: A stunning follow up to Legendborn where Bree must navigate her new-found powers, gather her friends, save Nick, and takedown who ever she needs to in the process.
My Thoughts:
First and foremost. **Steps onto soapbox*
If I read one more review calling Bree “immature” I am will lose my mind. She is 16. This is a young adult novel. Of course she’s immature—she’s supposed to be! The way some readers will give 5 stars to 22 year old Violet( Iron Flame) for literally stomping her feet and complaining for 500 pages but will criticize the decisions of a 16 year old Black girl are “too immature”.
If you don’t like YA, if you cannot think about the main character as a different age than you, then please for the love of God stop reading YA and leaving bad reviews.
**steps casually down off soapbox, exhales, and calmly says* Let’s get into Bloodmarked now….
We meet Bree in the aftermath of Excalibur and her discovery that she is the Scion of Arthur. She’s facing a multifaceted war. with the Order trying to control her, the Regents undermining her, the Demons, and within herself as she attempts to balance both her Rootcraft and her Bloodcraft powers. Where Legendborn is very much about her initiation into these magical worlds, Bloodmarked is much more about tearing the systems down. It’s about addressing the legacy placed on your shoulders. It’s about grief, identity, and finding yourself outside both generational and institutional trauma.
In the Author’s Note, Deonn explains that she wanted to delve into the notion of being the “first” Black girl in a family to pass certain milestones and accomplishments. While there is power in that there is also weight and stress. This really does bleed through Bree’s story and is captured perfectly throughout the book.
My spoiler free recommendation should be obvious by now, absolutely read this book if you’re looking for complex world building layered with themes that will not leave you.
⚠️ Spoilers Below ⚠️
Bloodmarked is really about tearing down the system from within. All my raves about Legendborn really do continue throughout this book. We learn so much more about the history of both Bloodcraft and Rootcraft. The worldbuilding is absolutely incredible through out the entire series but as a bit of a history nerd, I love whatever book in a series is going to give me every ounce of detail in how we go tho this
Bree’s is really coming to age in this story and we spend a lot of time rolling our eyes at her impulsive choices. To me, this is what makes her so believable as a teenage character. So many times in young adult that’s written from an adult perspective we see characters making choices that no 16 year old would comprehend. While Bree has circumstances in her life that make her seem older or more mature than her peers, she’s still only 16. We don’t just do this to characters, we do this in real life as well, a “mature for their age” teen makes a reckless decision the adults in the room act like the world is ending. People do not realize the pressure you feel to be perfect when you are that teen. It’s ironic to then see this play out in actual reviews of the book.
The love triangle is sharp. There is something about this trio that just has you feeling like a giddy high school girl reading these books. But it’s also the exploration into Nick figuring out how to be a better ally and Selwyn having to learn first how to deal with his own literal demon before being able to actually be with anyone. The triangle is abruptly severed as Selwyn Kane falls deeper into descent and burns through his last defenses.
The ending was powerful. With Nick running up the hill trying to stop her, Bree makes a deal with Erebus to send Selwyn to his mother for healing and she disappears with Erebus severing her connection with not just Arthur but also Vera. Going back to the point above, this story is really about Bree reclaiming her identity outside of any trauma.
That ending left me longing for Oathbound. If you read this far, hopefully that means you’ve already read Bloodmarked and I love to continue this conversation with you down in the comments.
