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tomnoor's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, Self harm, and Blood
Minor: Police brutality and Terminal illness
jacksons_books_and_music's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Slavery, and Terminal illness
Minor: Transphobia and Colonisation
yvonne_cl's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Slavery, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Racism, Medical content, Terminal illness, Grief, Addiction, Abandonment, Torture, Police brutality, Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Infidelity, Gun violence, and Eating disorder
queer_bookwyrm's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury is book one of the Blood Like Magic series. This book was so much more than I expected! Sambury blends urban fantasy magic with science fiction/speculative fiction. We have witches, we have robots, we have trans, bi, gay, and demiromantic rep. There is so much good stuff packed into these pages!
We follow Voya (I'm a sucker for V names) as she comes of age as a witch during her calling. The Thomas witches have been around for generations and each witch goes through a task they have to pass in order to become a full witch and to receive their specific magical gift. Usually the task is as simple as choosing between two things, but the ancestor who gives Voya her task breaks the rules and gives her, what she and her family think, is an impossible task: Find her first love, and destroy them.
Voya struggles throughout the book with making choices. She has a hard time making choices that don't affect anyone and now she has to make a choice that will end with someone dying. This was a great theme for a coming of age novel. Voya has to learn to trust herself, as does her family, to make this choice. It was a little annoying at times to see how indecisive Voya was about everything, but I think that is because I also struggle with making decisions. The curse of overthinking everything to the point that you're too paralyzed to make any decision at all. The main theme here is that not choosing anything is also a choice, and it may not have the outcome we want.
I loved that Sambury discusses different types of love and doesn't put them in a hierarchy with romantic love on top. Platonic love is a big price of this story. We also get some great speculation on what it could look like in the future for it to be safer for BIPOC and trans people while also examining the effects of colonialism, slavery, and racism that weave throughout past and future.
There were so many good messages here about being okay with your body taking up space. People with big hips and butts unite! We also get a very Star Trek like message about not tampering with immortality and science (see ST:TOS Miri and countless other episodes). I also found it hilarious that we got the most Canadian villain ever. He apologized for raising his voice for crying out loud 😂.
If this hasn't convinced you to read this series, idk what will. Now I have to anxiously wait for Blood Like Fate.
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Slavery, Self harm, Eating disorder, and Terminal illness
Minor: Addiction, Gun violence, Drug abuse, and Police brutality
foreverbookwandering's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Slavery, Violence, and Child death
Minor: Terminal illness
bedtimesandbooks's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Slavery, Child death, Murder, Violence, Torture, Addiction, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racism, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Terminal illness