Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher
In the lands of Candour, the Talisman threaten the authority of the Council with their growing indoctrination of the masses based on their rigid, oppressive interpretation of the Claim; a text orally transmitted from generation to generation, which they have appropriated in order to gain power. Tasked by the Council to fight this is Arian, aided by companion Sinnia and young boy Wafa, who must find the Bloodprint, legendary manuscript the Claim is based on, in order to stop the Talisman and re-establish the truth.
The Bloodprint throws you in at the deep end from the start, as you're right in with the action. I was immediately curious about the world and how everything worked and eager to learn more. I was pulled in immediately. I loved the writing...the descriptions where beautiful and the book as a whole...the prose was just brilliant!
Arian and Sinnia are the first two characters we meet and they're totally badass. They're such strong, female characters and it was really nice to see that in a fantasy book. Especially as they live in a world where that's not exactly prized, shall we say. They where certainly memorable, and I could root for them from the beginning, although I think Arian is my favourite. I'm so curious about her and I want to know more about her!
There's other characters too, I have a ship for Arian thanks to one of the male characters! The Prince is an entirely different story, I actually kind of liked him, shady as he was. This book proved I'm a terrible judge of character.
The book blends magic and religion together in such an interesting way and really sends a strong political message. There's obviously been a lot of research for this book and it's clear throughout. I was really impressed with all the work that's gone in to it and how detailed it is without being overly stuffy, if that makes sense?
It did take me a little while to get in to it, like I was immediately hooked in because of the opening scenes, but there where a few places where my attention did wander and I was struggling forward until it got to more of the fast paced bits. Towards the end, things really ramp up and there where some brilliant plot twists that have certainly changed the game for the next book, I did see one plot twist coming, but I'm intrigued to see how it will play out. There where also a few repetitive bits that made reading a bit slow and difficult.
All in all, this is an interesting and brilliantly written read. Some of the male characters are a bit meh, but the female characters are very well brought to life. The world is interesting and familiar, and the book has a message that's in need of being heard. Sure it had a couple of bits that made it a bit of a slog at one point or two, buuuttt things really pick up towards the end!
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