Name: Merel Vanempten's review of Red Blood by Kaitlyn Legaspi
Item: Red Blood
Rating: 5
Author: Merel Vanempten

Kaitlyn Legaspi

There are two kinds of people in this world: the bound and unbound. The unbound are born with unnatural, inhuman abilities. While having powers may come with its perks, to be unbound is to be cursed. Unbound individuals are treated as freaks, yet despite this, they hold the highest positions in the government: the Card Holders of the fifty-two domains. When her domain's Card Holder dies, unbound seventeen-year-old Neela Blydes is forced to participate in a tournament to find the unbound most worthy of leading the Queen of Hearts Domain. But the tournament isn't as glorious as it seems. It's a tournament that herds unique unbound called Specialists into deadly combat, a tournament where winning by default is nonexistent and killing is permitted. As Neela progresses through the rounds with her life on the line, she forges new alliances and encounters dangerous unbound adversaries. Among them is a white-haired man with crimson eyes. Dangerously familiar crimson eyes.

Red Blood

Merel Vanempten

Some books from lesser known others can suck badly, not this one though. I loved this book from the beginning until the ending. The fun thing is that there is little actual world building, which makes you meet this world throughout the book. I could also really place myself in the main character, she is just so relatable with her though and soft sides. I also adore those brother-sister relationships, it's just so pure and sometimes those kind of relationships can seem a bit forced but that wasn’t the case between Neela and Jacen. This book also has some slowburn romance in it and I’m just gonna say it IT IS THE CUTEST EVERRR!!!! Btw I reallyyyyy need an Amil in my life. As many of you know I'm not a native English speaker and the language in this book was easy enough for me to easily read through it and that's something that I can really appreciate. The author also works with flashbacks (in dreams) which really help you understand the backgroundstory! Another thing that I love in books are those mentor kinda characters and I’m telling you Brochan is one of the best mentor characters I’ve ever read about. I'm really curious about books that may follow this series because it has so much potential!! This just proves AGAIN that you should really read some lesser known books because they can be soooo good and they just really deserve some more hype. The book gave me some Hunger Games meets Throne of Glass meets The Darkest minds vibes too ( I don't know if that’s just me though😂). Be prepared though the ending made me litteraly cry outloud 😅😂
 SPOILER: if you've read this book pleaseee help me BECAUSE HOW ARE WE GONNA CALL THIS SHIP??? neelamil???? ameela????? amileela???? I NEED ANSWERSSSSSS

Kerri McDonald

“Let’s see, to me I guess [the stars] represent the souls of those we’ve lost. Well, the souls of the good people, at least.”
“What happens to the souls of the bad people then?”
“They become part of the darkness the stars shine so brightly against, their punishment being hidden from the eyes of the living humans below.”

Before I jump into this, I wanted to thank the author, Kaitlyn Legaspi, for sending me a free e-book in exchange for an honest review. I had a fun time and it was definitely appreciated! Now, let’s dive in.

Red Blood is the start to a new YA fantasy series that features a young woman named Neela. Neela lives in a world where there are two types of people: bound and unbound. Bound are your every day citizens, living every day lives. But the unbound are people that have incredible powers, like the ability to move at super speeds or produce flames. Neela is an unbound who uses her powers as a vigilante in the slums of the domain she lives in. Because unbound are often treated like no more than animals and Neela is determined to fight back. Then her entire world is turned upside down when the current Queen of Cards, the ruler of Neela’s domain, dies and there is to be a competition between all unbound with multiple powers to see who will replace her. Now, she is fighting for a place that she’s always viewed as corrupt to make sure it doesn’t fall into the hands of someone far more sinister.

I think my favorite aspect of this book was the action. This was such an exciting beginning to a new fantasy series! There were parts of this story that had me absolutely breathless! I thought the pacing was fantastic. There is never a dull moment in this story, even when there isn’t any fighting going on. Gotta love a high stakes tale with assassins and superpowers! Kaitlyn Legaspi has created a wonderfully unique world in this story, as well. There’s a lot of moving pieces to it and I felt like I couldn’t quite get a grasp on it all, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have a good time learning about it! This is world that is centered around a deck of cards, with fifty two different domains, so there’s a lot going on. On top of that, there are so many different types of unbound powers that it took a second to wrap my head around it. But I think the author does a good job of feeding us information as the story unfolds. I just wanted more!

The characters are also a great aspect of this story. Neela is a fantastic main character! She’s tough, she’s smart, and she has a level of sass that I loved. She doesn’t always make the best decisions, but what seventeen year old does? I enjoyed the fact that she was flawed and had a softer side that we got to see as the story progressed. I will say that she was the most layered and developed character of the crew. Though I enjoyed the other characters we meet throughout the story, they felt like caricatures that were there to support Neela’s story arc. They didn’t feel as fleshed out to me, though I still found myself caring for them. What can I say, I’m a sucker for the found family trope 🤷🏾‍♀️ The amount of times that we got descriptions of hair/eye color for all of the characters, however, was a tad excessive. Still, I have a firm picture of all of them in my mind and that’s not a bad thing!

Final thoughts: This was such a fun, fast-paced story that had me on the edge of my seat! Though I got a bit lost in the world-building and some of the characters felt a little flat, I still found myself enjoying the overall story. I flew through this book, which is always a good sign! I think, for the start of a new YA fantasy, this is a solid beginning. If you’re a fan of complex worlds, with an interesting magic system, a wonderfully crafted main character, and the found family trope (*chef’s kiss*), I think you would enjoy Red Blood!

Merel Vanempten &
Red Blood by Kaitlyn Legaspi

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Merel Vanempten &Red Blood by Kaitlyn Legaspi

Reviews

Join the club

Merel Vanempten &
Red Blood by Kaitlyn Legaspi