I finished The Blood Trials and am 100% obsessed. Talk about a book where the premise hooked me and then kept me reading. I loved the world, the characters, and the action! Keep reading this book review for my full thoughts.
Summary
It’s all about blood.
The blood spilled between the Republic of Mareen and the armies of the Blood Emperor long ago. The blood gifts of Mareen’s deadliest enemies. The blood that runs through the elite War Houses of Mareen, the rulers of the Tribunal dedicated to keeping the republic alive.
The blood of the former Legatus, Verne Amari, murdered.
For his granddaughter, Ikenna, the only thing steady in her life was the man who had saved Mareen. The man who had trained her in secret, not just in martial skills, but in harnessing the blood gift that coursed through her.
Who trained her to keep that a secret.
But now there are too many secrets, and with her grandfather assassinated, Ikenna knows two things: that only someone on the Tribunal could have ordered his death, and that only a Praetorian Guard could have carried out that order.
Bent on revenge as much as discovering the truth, Ikenna pledges herself to the Praetorian Trials–a brutal initiation that only a quarter of the aspirants survive. She subjects herself to the racism directed against her half-Khanaian heritage and the misogyny of a society that cherishes progeny over prodigy, all while hiding a power that–if found out–would subject her to execution…or worse. Ikenna is willing to risk it all because she needs to find out who murdered her grandfather…and then she needs to kill them.
Mareen has been at peace for a long time…
Ikenna joining the Praetorians is about to change all that.
Magic and technology converge in the first part of this stunning debut duology, where loyalty to oneself–and one’s blood–is more important than anything.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
TW: racism, torture, assault
The Blood Trials is a book that I would recommend to everyone. If the idea of a magical and deadly competition didn’t pique your interest, it’s also a book that explores privilege and racism in this speculative fiction world. We love a vengeful MC and Ikenna delivers. What starts off as a quest to bring her grandfather’s murderers to justice, ends up exposing corruption in every corner. The action of the book made it impossible for me to stop reading.
There is betrayal and manipulation from the start as she races against the clock. And by the time you get to the ending, I will be here to listen to your shrieking! Because it took me a few days to stop reeling. At the same time, The Blood Trials deeply exposes elitism, nepotism, and racism. The ways that competition is used as a guise to perpetuate these actions. All the death from outside and within. How tradition can uphold problematic institutions.
And the ways people use it as an excuse for their inaction. The Blood Trials begins with a society which tries to teach those their ‘place’. Because they want us to stay in them, to never dream upwards and – if we do – to only do it the way they want to. I could go on and on about how much I adored the themes in The Blood Trials. But also Ikenna is a compassionate, clever, and resilient heroine. She feels like she has to handle all her burdens alone especially in her quest.
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And my heart broke many times for her. I can’t figure out which element is my favorite in The Blood Trials. The characters, action, and themes all weave a story that captivated and held on to me. If you love adult speculative fiction and a determined heroine who must make difficult choices, then The Blood Trials is for you. Find The Blood Trials on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org & The Book Depository.