[CW: onscreen & offscreen rape, threat of sexual assault, intense violence, brief scene of slavery]Welcome to Navaleth, a young kingdom built on a graveyard of secrets, ruled by a monarchy descended from the gods, and run by a society recovering from a bloody, ruthless war against an ancient enemy. Now meet Quiver, whose internal struggles pull him further away from his people’s traditions, drawing him closer to becoming an outsider. And Sarah, a bright, beautiful young woman, travels the world for her father’s business until her world takes a turn for the worse. Then there is Trevor, who has never left his home of Robins-Port, a trading village that shuns him for things beyond his control. Francis, second only to the king, herald of the church, is a charismatic visionary who has a knack for uncovering ancient secrets. And finally, Alric, a war veteran, who struggles to find a peaceful future, unable to escape his violent past. Witness the beginning of the end as an ancient prophecy begins to unwind, directing our characters toward a dark future that they will inevitably share … until the very end.
Bloodlines by K.R. Gangi is a book that really took me by surprise. It has a chance to become a semifinalist. It’s a relatively medium–slow paced book in my opinion. There are different plotlines woven throughout, told through different perspectives as hinted at in the blurb above. I wouldn’t say there’s an enormous cast of characters per se, but it’s definitely bigger than average. And yet everyone felt distinct. No one seemed like a carbon copy of another, which made distinguishing between the different people relatively easy for such a large cast. We also got to see the points of view from all sides, which I thought was really interesting.
But I do want to talk about an elephant in the room. I’d say this is a pretty grimdark book. And you’ll notice that one of the content warnings I gave was for onscreen rape. And honestly? I very nearly DNF’d this book after that scene. Because of course a grimdark book has to include a passage like that (/s). And you know what? I’m happy I decided to give it more of a chance. I thought it handled the aftereffects very well. No fridging and no “well that happened, I guess.” She is deeply affected by it without becoming a suddenly blank character with nothing else about her. Really, I was impressed with how the book handled it.
Something I appreciated in this book was that things actually had consequences. An entire village was essentially murdered, and it deeply affects the few who survived. The intense violence is not normal in this world. We see that in how the characters react and even in the quieter moments. And to me the quieter moments really help to make this book what it is. One of my favorite aspects was reading about the different relationships the characters had. We see friendships, pining, uncle/nephew, mentor/student, group dynamics…there’s a range. It made the book so much more enjoyable to read than had it just been “murder murder death gore” in my opinion.
It’s a big book, but it’s hard to talk about because a lot of what happens is really more about how the characters react to everything. I think some people might find the pacing too slow for their liking, feeling like nothing is happening. I can see that for sure. But for me the pacing felt steady. There was always worldbuilding or character development if not plot development or action. The distribution of the different perspectives was interesting because it didn’t follow a set pattern. I liked that. I do wish that Quiver’s chapters were a bit more evenly distributed, though. For a lot of the book, they felt like, “Oh wait I almost forgot about him!” I could also see the intense amount of violence being a turnoff for some people.
Bloodlines is a book that manages to find a balance between the quiet and the intense. It’s not a happy book. And it’s one I almost gave up on. But in the end it’s one I’m happy I decided to finish. As with all books, it’s not for everyone. But for me it’s one I’d recommend at least giving a try.
Our other SPFBO 7 reviews:
- Finnian’s Fiddle by Chandler Groover
- Breakaway by Dezarea Dunn
- Red Harvest Moon by Miles Hurt
- A Change of Blood by G.P. Gabriel
Check out our SPFBO 7 intro post here.
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