The Blood Trials by N.E. Davenport

The Blood Trials (The Blood Gift Duology, #1)

by N.E. Davenport

Blending fantasy and science fiction, N. E. Davenport’s fast-paced, action-packed debut kicks off a duology of loyalty and rebellion, in which a young Black woman must survive deadly trials in a racist and misogynistic society to become an elite warrior.

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.

Reviewed by lessthelonely on

4 of 5 stars

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I'm going to be honest, I expected more from this book.

I think that what this book had quite a few great parts to it: Ikenna's characterization is great, there are a lot of great ideas put in place here (supernatural, technology, et cetera), the exploration of grief and the murder-mystery. However, I think that this was a mix of ideas that, by the time I finished the book, felt half-baked.

I could see many of the "reveals" coming from a mile away, and not in a way that is enticing, but merely saddening, because there was so much of the book to come. The only way to get away with being a little bit predictable is to tighten the readers' belts and make sure those reveals happen fast. However, that didn't happen, and the book's quite long arc on the trials dragged on for a while, and by the time we reach the fourth trial and you think you're in for a treat, it's not nearly as engaging as you'd think (in my opinion, Trial 3 should've been Trial 4).

I, however, enjoyed this book. But it felt like it tried to do too much: romance, "magic", technology, political intrigue, murder-mystery... but none of these parts were given the extra mile. Most of them felt like plot points, but especially the romance.

However, I very much enjoyed how adult the book managed to become. There was violence in this book I did not anticipate and I ate it the fuck up. So yeah! 4/5 stars.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 19 June, 2023: Finished reading
  • 19 June, 2023: Reviewed