Blood Like Magic (Blood Like Magic, #1)

by Liselle Sambury

A rich, dark urban fantasy debut following a teen witch who is given a horrifying task: sacrificing her first love to save her family’s magic. The problem is, she’s never been in love—she’ll have to find the perfect guy before she can kill him.

After years of waiting for her Calling—a trial every witch must pass in order to come into their powers—the one thing Voya Thomas didn’t expect was to fail. When Voya’s ancestor gives her an unprecedented second chance to complete her Calling, she agrees—and then is horrified when her task is to kill her first love. And this time, failure means every Thomas witch will be stripped of their magic.

Voya is determined to save her family’s magic no matter the cost. The problem is, Voya has never been in love, so for her to succeed, she’ll first have to find the perfect guy—and fast. Fortunately, a genetic matchmaking program has just hit the market. Her plan is to join the program, fall in love, and complete her task before the deadline. What she doesn’t count on is being paired with the infuriating Luc—how can she fall in love with a guy who seemingly wants nothing to do with her?

With mounting pressure from her family, Voya is caught between her morality and her duty to her bloodline. If she wants to save their heritage and Luc, she’ll have to find something her ancestor wants more than blood. And in witchcraft, blood is everything.

• ISBN10: 1534465286
• ISBN13: 9781534465282
• Publish Date: 15 June 2021
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 8 February 2022
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 496
• Language: English

Reviews

[writehollydavis]

Loved this book! It felt unique and fresh among a lot of the YA fantasy out there lately. There were lots of things I didn't expect in the plot which kept me on my toes and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel!

[Inkslinger]

'Blood Like Magic' by Liselle Sambury follows the story of a young witch named Voya Thomas, who after years of waiting for her coming of age ritual.. a trial referred to as her Calling, ends up failing it.. and failing it spectacularly. When her ancestor gives her an unprecedented second chance.. she accepts.. only to find out it means she has to kill her first love or every Thomas witch will lose their magic.

 

Determined, not only to secure her own future, but more importantly.. to save her family's magic.. Voya has to quickly find the perfect guy to be her first love. Her plan? Sign up for the brand new genetic matchmaking program, fall in love, and complete her task before the big deadline.  

 

Unfortunately, she's paired with Luc.. an infuriating guy she does not hit it off with. Caught between her personal morals and her blood obligation, if she is going to save both her heritage and Luc, she has to find something her ancestor wants more than blood.  

 

Honestly, I really wanted to love this book. I was excited for it the moment I saw it. The premise is full of potential conflict and witchy happenings, what's not to love?

 

For me though, Voya is incredibly annoying. No, not just Voya.. the characters in general lack any real sense of depth, but since she's the protagonist.. most of our attention is obviously centered on her. What seems meant to be simple insecurity and indecision is presented in the whiniest, most self-involved package imaginable.

 

The Calling itself is an interesting concept, if a bit cringey in spots.. though that's only my personal discomfort. Regardless, it is refreshingly original and it's nice to see coming of age tied to physiological changes that are inherently feminine energy.  

 

Though modern society has gotten really obsessed with masculine virility (and there's nothing wrong with that either or any other option), it's important to note that many ancient civilizations worshipped heavily feminine gods. Therefore, in a story throwing back even a hundred years or so and focused on an age old theory like blood magic, it adds that extra something that seems to give the story a bit more kick.

 

There are definitely some things that are hard to read, but that's made more so because of the root of historical truth in them. Though the specific scene is fictional, obviously there are plenty of horrible actualities it could be drawn from.. and if possible that makes it even more difficult.  

 

Anyway, this book wasn't for me, but the writing is solid and the story is interesting. If you're sensitive to cruelty and violence, you might want to skip a couple of pages though. Otherwise, though I wasn't a fan.. if you like urban fantasy and stories about witches, give it a try.  

 

(I received this title as an ARC. All opinions are mine and freely given.)