Blog Tour Book Review + 3 Reasons to Read Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye

I’m thrilled to be on the Turn the Pages tour for BLOOD SCION, the brilliant new novel by Deborah Falaye! Follow THIS LINK to see the tour schedule and check out some of the other stops on this tour!

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About the Book:

Title: Blood Scion

Author: Deborah Falaye

Series: Blood Scion

Page Length: 432

Publication Date: March 8, 2022

Publisher: Harper Teen

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Mythology

Synopsis: This is what they deserve. They wanted me to be a monster. I will be the worst monster they ever created.

Fifteen-year-old Sloane can incinerate an enemy at will—she is a Scion, a descendant of the ancient Orisha gods.

Under the Lucis’ brutal rule, her identity means her death if her powers are discovered. But when she is forcibly conscripted into the Lucis army on her fifteenth birthday, Sloane sees a new opportunity: to overcome the bloody challenges of Lucis training, and destroy them from within.

Sloane rises through the ranks and gains strength but, in doing so, risks something greater: losing herself entirely, and becoming the very monster that she ahbors.

LINKS:   Goodreads   |    Harper Collins | Amazon | Book Depository

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My Review:

If I could give Blood Scion more than five stars, I would!!! I loved this dark and gripping read! It’s a ya military fantasy that follows one girl’s journey for survival, freedom, truth, and vengeance. This is the kind of book that pulls you in from the very first page. It is haunting and brutal but also has moments of hope and resilience, and I became so invested in Sloane’s journey that I didn’t want to put the book down.

Falaye is a gifted storyteller with a writing style that immerses the reader into the story with complex and compelling characters, a layered and unpredictable plot, and rich world-building steeped in Yoruba-Nigerian mythology, history, and folklore. This world came alive, from the small village where Sloane grew up to the island and facilities where Sloane and the others train, each setting is richly described and vivid.

Raised in a society that fears and persecutes anyone with powers, Sloane, a Scion who can incinerate her enemies, has spent her entire life hiding her ability. But when she is drafted and expected to join the Lucis army, Sloane is forced to train with the very people who would see her dead. Determined to use this position to her advantage, Sloane plans to infiltrate and take down the regime while also finding out what happened to her mother, who disappeared without a trace. However, can Sloane achieve her goals without turning into the monster the Lucis hope to create?

Sloane is a brilliant protagonist – layered and complex and so compelling. Her experiences are horrific and unfathomable, but Sloane is a survivor. She’s fierce and determined, and she never stops fighting. This is a girl who has been forced to hide parts of herself, and she knows little about her family’s past. Sloane learns so much about herself, her capabilities, her family, and what is important to her, and there are great messages about family, loyalty, friendship, and trust as Sloane meets new allies and enemies and faces her past.

The secondary characters are also dynamically developed and complex, and their stories are as heart-breaking and complicated as Sloane’s. Forced to make impossible and indescribable decisions, Sloane is one of many kids facing brutal, grueling, and traumatic life as a child soldier. Falaye depicts the terrible life children face when thrust into this hopeless situation, yet she also offers signs of hope. Determined and resilient, Sloane forms this little found family that helps each other as much as they can in a vicious and unforgiving world. Their interactions offer glimpses of hope, friendship, and possibility even as people try to strip their humanity away.

This is an exceptional debut novel. The story is well-paced, intense, action-packed, and layered, and the mythology and world-building are as compelling and richly developed as the characters. Plus, the themes are powerful and poignant and highlight difficult, disturbing, and relevant issues like the savagery of war, oppression, genocide, and the dehumanization of child soldiers. There are also many twists and turns and shocking revelations, and after that incredible ending, I can’t wait to read the next book!

Rating:

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3 Reasons to Read Blood Scion:

• The exceptional storytelling!! Falaye’s writing pulls the reader in from the very first page. It’s vivid, rich, and immersive.

• The deftly developed and layered characters. I became so invested in their stories, and I wanted to know more about Sloane’s friends, her mother, and even her enemies. Plus, there’s a lot of moral greyness in the characters, and Sloane never knows who she can trust. I was surprised by several characters and their actions!

• The influence of Yoruba-Nigerian history, mythology and folklore. Falaye’s passion for African literature and was inspired by Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe as well as many of the stories she heard as a child.

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About the Author:

Deborah Falaye is a Nigerian Canadian young adult author. She grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, where she spent her time devouring African Literature, pestering her grandma for folktales, and tricking her grandfather into watching Passions every night. When she’s not writing about fierce Black girls with bad-ass magic, she can be found obsessing over all things reality TV. Deborah currently lives in Toronto with her husband and their partner-in-crime yorkie, Major. Blood Scion is her first novel.