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jessy4550's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved this book. THere was some twists I didn't expect.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Blood, Death, Body horror, Child death, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Cursing, Torture, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Medical trauma, and Self harm
Minor: Alcohol, Confinement, Alcoholism, and Kidnapping
rachrreads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Every generation the Blood Veil hits the town of Ilvernath. Seven families are trapped in this curse, but only one wins the prize. Each family names a champion to fight in a tournament to the death. The last champion standing wins full control of the high magick for their family until the next Blood Moon rises.
No one outside of these seven families knows about it—well that is until this year. Someone has released a tell-all book about the families and the history of the tournament. Now all the champions are put in the spotlight and tourists are drawn to the town of Ilvernath for the upcoming tournament. This newfound publicity has given each of the families insight into the others. It also has caused quite a stir—some are intrigued by the tournament, some think of them as monsters.
This book is told from 4 of the 7 champions perspectives. I love multiple POV books as they provide insight you never get from a singular POV.
One criticism I have about this book is that I found myself only caring about Alistair. I found the other characters to lack personality or depth. Yeah we get it you want to win, but what else? Yeah the Lowe’s always win and you think their cruel— okay? Alistair was thought to be the monster by everyone, but his character is so much deeper than that. I loved seeing his character arc through the tournament.
Another criticism I have is that the last 10% of the book felt rushed. I felt like too much happened in those last few chapters and a lot of the character development I had seen was thrown out the window. The ending was also super predictable, which was a let down.
Overall I really loved the build up of the tournament as well as the writing from multiple POVs. I’m really excited to read book 2, even though I didn’t like the way the plot turned.
ALSO TO MY THG FANS— THERE ARE EVERLARK PARALLELS!! MY EVERLARK HEART ♥️ I would definitely recommend picking this one up just for that
Every generation the Blood Veil hits the town of Ilvernath. Seven families are trapped in this curse, but only one wins the prize. Each family names a champion to fight in a tournament to the death. The last champion standing wins full control of the high magick for their family until the next Blood Moon rises.
No one outside of these seven families knows about it—well that is until this year. Someone has released a tell-all book about the families and the history of the tournament. Now all the champions are put in the spotlight and tourists are drawn to the town of Ilvernath for the upcoming tournament. This newfound publicity has given each of the families insight into the others. It also has caused quite a stir—some are intrigued by the tournament, some think of them as monsters.
This book is told from 4 of the 7 champions perspectives. I love multiple POV books as they provide insight you never get from a singular POV.
One criticism I have about this book is that I found myself only caring about Alistair. I found the other characters to lack personality or depth. Yeah we get it you want to win, but what else? Yeah the Lowe’s always win and you think their cruel— okay? Alistair was thought to be the monster by everyone, but his character is so much deeper than that. I loved seeing his character arc through the tournament.
Another criticism I have is that the last 10% of the book felt rushed. I felt like too much happened in those last few chapters and a lot of the character development I had seen was thrown out the window. The ending was also super predictable, which was a let down.
Overall I really loved the build up of the tournament as well as the writing from multiple POVs. I’m really excited to read book 2, even though I didn’t like the way the plot turned.
ALSO TO MY THG FANS— THERE ARE EVERLARK PARALLELS!! MY EVERLARK HEART ♥️ I would definitely recommend picking this one up just for that
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Alcohol, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Violence
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