Blood Scion

– Deborah Falaye –

Harper Teen

Published 8 March 2022

♥♥♥♥

 

Blood Scion is a hard-hitting, epic fantasy novel that doesn’t pull its punches. At all. Parts of this book left me feeling sick, and there is no shying away from the cruelty these characters must face. It also leaves the reader with no question as to why our protagonist must make the choices she does and how hard she has to fight for justice and even just a glimmer of hope for a better future.

Sloane must hide what she is at all costs. If the Lucis or their vicious Nightwalkers discover that she is a Scion her fate will be death, along with the death of all her loved ones. Ever since her mother disappeared, she knows the Nightwalkers are to blame, she just needs to prove it. But when she is drafted into the Lucis army, she must do unthinkable things to survive. As she works her way through the training and makes new alliances, she must come closer to finding out the truth of who she is and what she stands for. And in a kill or be-killed world, it’s hard to know who to trust.

The book is grounded in African culture and mythology, specifically Yoruba-Nigerian mythology. The world building is done gradually but there is no shortage of beautiful words, names, locations and cultural groups that give this book such an authenticity. The writing is beautiful. Each word has been carefully selected and it took me a long time to read this book because I needed to savour each sentence (and also recover after each next horrible event!).

If the author’s goal was to show the reader just how desperately horrible the main character’s circumstances are, to push us to the utter depths of despair, she does that right from chapter one. There is no denying that all is not right in this world. Murder, killings, rape, torture of men, women and children. Honestly the trigger warning are going to be plentiful, so I’m recommending this for the very mature end of YA.

Readers who enjoy dark fantasy will enjoy this epic novel.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.

More information

Category: Young adult fiction.

Genre: Fantasy

Themes: Magic,  family, Yoruba-Nigerian mythology, mythology, drafting, army, African culture, betrayal.

Reading age guide: Ages 14 and up.

Advisory: References to rape and sexual assault. Sex scene, fade to black with limited details. Strong, frequent and detailed violence – murder, death, injury, killing. Occasional coarse language, f*** (1), pi** (3), bit** (7).

Published: 8 March 2022 by HarperTeen

Format: Hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook. 432 pages.

ISBN: 9780062954046

Find it on Goodreads