Amazing,heart pumping action. A masterpiece. I love this high fantasy book. The world building the surprises that you don't see coming. The overall drama of it all. This is a well written work of art.

This book picks up right where book 1 left off. It is action packed and there’s never a dull moment. With that being said, that are some things I would have liked the author to go deeper with. For example, Ikenna’s dad, I want more backstory on the relationship with him and her mother. Also, I would have like to know more about why Selene betrayed Ikenna they way that she did. I felt a genuine friendship between them in book 1 and I see no remnants of that in this one. It’s like the entire friends was fake but n Selena’s end. Even with these small hiccups. I still enjoyed it and would recommend.

I waited so patiently for this book, and I can fully say this story answered all the questions/wrapped up the loose ends presented in the first. It was a fun a quick read and I thoroughly enjoyed. If you liked the first one, you'll definitely like this one as well.

I will say, this book is A LOT more fast paced than the first. It could easily have had several hundred more pages or been a trilogy, dealing with the blood emperor this book and the tribunes the next. <spoiler> Along those lines, the character development lacked a little bit for me.

Finally, and this is just a personal thing as a fan of grimdark fantasy, which the first book gave me a lot of, more important characters should have died in this book. The happy ending felt a bit forced, and starry-eyed to me </spoiler>

Ohh have mixed feelings about this, even though I really loved it.

What I liked:
- I enjoyed the overall themes of this book, it picked right back up from book one. The topics are so relevant to the world we live in today. I loved the found family theme and that love that can grow from finding your people. That really captured my heart. #Invictus
- Ikenna is still a badass main character. I loved her spunk and spice. She is always unapologetically herself even when it gets her in trouble. She is relatable in the sense that she feels so deeply.
- The majority of the characters in this book are really great. I thought they served a purpose and aided in pushing the plot forward. I also laughed so much because of their interactions.
- I loved the romance in this book. Book one did not focus on romance which I enjoyed we were invested in Ikenna's purpose and growth. But this book the romance had me giddy and smiling the whole time.
- I did enjoy the element of the gods and goddess and can't wait to see how that develops.
- Pacing was really great I never felt bored while reading this and really flew through it.
- The writing is so wonderful and makes for an easy and comfortable read.

What I did not like:
- Even though I love Ikenna, her journey with her gift was just unrealistic, it felt rushed because it had to be. There were no training or understanding on how to work with or deal with the expansion of her gift. Also, her calling Amaka so late for her gift was so frustrating.
- Although I love the gods and goddess plot line, I felt the introduction of them in this book was messy and unstructured. The first fight confrontation just happened and there was no build to it.
- I understand there is a bigger plot at play than freeing Ikenna's people. There had to be a transition but the way it happened with the Krashna at the end just didn't flow well it all seemed unrealistic again. How did a group of "kids" kill a god. A lot of things are not explained to the full extent so in a sense you are confused and wondering. For example, Ikenna's gold. We know she is Zenith and half god, but what does that mean in terms of her gift? We were introduced to what she could do at the end but it was useless against the god and still a question mark. Amaka explained how she became Zenith, but not what it means for her gift.
-The stitching aspect for the storyline was not explained well and the significance of it. Amaka explained it a little in the Cosmos space and Ajani as well, but they explained it without really saying anything.
- I understand explanation of the gods and goddess will come in book 3( also this was marketed as a duology, but its not), but I wish there was more of them in this book for context. I just felt confused.
- I do love a lot of the characters, but i do think character motivations could be cleaned up. I understand some are a mystery and will be revealed later but others just seemed muddled.
- I thought in some instances their was too much dialogue and I lost where the passage was going.

Overall a solid book and I still enjoyed it so much, I do recommend.

I devoured this book. The Blood Trials was my top read for 2022 and like any sequel, I worried that it wouldn’t hold up to the first book. I love Ikenna. I think she’s a relatable character and although sometimes, she lets her emotions get the best of her, I never stop rooting for her. I can’t wait to get my hands on the physical copy (thanks NetGalley for the ARC). NE Davenport is officially an auto buy author for me and I’ll read anything she writes.