Oh yeah, this one was really good. The setting was so neat! I can't wait til this comes in my Owlcrate. I love the cover too, it fits the aesthetic of the book very well.

Let me just start off by saying I loved this science and magic fusion. There's very much a basis of anatomy mixed with this idea of magic influencing our body and I could not get over it. I loved how seamless it felt, but also how the world Le creates builds on this magic. The magic not only makes touch dangerous: one touch being enough to weaponize one's body against itself. It creates this almost barrier of contact which allows people to push us away. To keep us at distance and be afraid of contact. At the same time, I loved the differences between Bloodcarver and Heartsooth. Not only in their applications, but also the ways that the society around Nhika, but also how these terms and images, illusions and perceptions, have been perpetuated by a society of fear and prejudice.

Ever since I first heard about this book, I knew I had to read it. I’m always up for uplifting Vietnamese voices, especially in YA, and I was particularly excited to find out about this Vietnamese-inspired fantasy!

Nhika is a bloodcarver, someone who can alter human biology and whose magic is vilified. She makes a living as a healer, secretly using her powers to treat people. When she’s caught one day by underground thugs, she’s sold to an aristocratic family who wants her to use her families to save the only witness to their father’s murder. As she spends more time with them though, she discovers deadly secrets amidst this mystery—especially with Ven Kochin, a physician’s assistant, popping up everywhere she turns.

I particularly loved the diasporic aspect of this book, which I feel like we don’t get to see much in YA fantasy. After the deaths of her grandmother and her mother, Nhika has no connections to her heritage. The only thing she’s held onto is her heartsoothing magic, although even then, her knowledge of the extent of her magic is very limited. She clings to what she can, though, and I completely related to her complex feelings about how deeply she wants to know more about her own culture without the means to do so.

Meanwhile, Kochin has more knowledge of their shared heritage, but he’s had to hide those parts of himself in a country that hates bloodcarvers. He and Nhika can’t help but be drawn to each other, even though he’s trying to keep her at an arm’s length to keep her safe.

I will say that I thought the romance was a little too fast-paced to me, just because I don’t think it had as much development as it could have. That being said though, the ending was so good and I can’t wait to read the sequel. If you’re in the market for the start of a thrilling duology with Vietnamese inspiration, you should definitely pick up The Last Bloodcarver!

Thank you so much to Macmillan Children's and NetGalley for this ARC of The Last Bloodcarver in exchange for an honest review. This book caught my eye just prowling through NetGalley's YA section and I'm so glad NetGalley gave me the chance to read this book before publication. This Viet-inspired world was lush, the magic a crafty and deft blend of science fiction and fantasy, and a plot that sucks you in and chugs along towards the finish line. I think these elements were well done, but it was the characters that left quite a bit to be desired. I didn't feel particularly connected to Nhika and I thought this would get better when I got to her romance with Kochin but that's where the flatness of the characters was most obvious. I believe this is a sequel, though, so I will be tuning into where this story goes!

3.75 stars

This fits The Diverse Baseline February Prompt C: A book by a BIPOC author with found family.

4.5 stars rounded up!

My friend, Ren, said she really liked this arc, so I was pretty excited to read it.

And let me tell you, it didn't disappoint! While the reveals were pretty obvious (nothing really surprised me, but YMMV), this was still a fun read.

One caveat though, it's been a few days since I've finished the arc, and I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending, which is why this isn't a perfect 5 stars.

I love how Nhika feels like a real, fully-fleshed out character instead of the typical strong female YA Chosen One trope. (I mean, she's technically a Chosen One, but it isn't in-your-face or mentioned all of the time to the point of exhaustion.) She's a very young adult, and she reads like one too. The choices she makes are reasonable for someone who grew up as part of a minority group whose family sought refuge in a neutral country when their homeland was ravaged by a colonizing nation.

For a YA novel, I think it does a really great job touching on issues such as classism (Nhika's life in poverty before the Congmis employ her), Othering (Nhika's Yarongese features, which separates her from the people of Theumas), and the diaspora experience (Nhika vs. Kochin's experiences as a mixed Yarongese person, plus their different schools of heartsoothing).

I hope we get to explore more of the world's geopolitics in the second book. We get enough to understand the situation with Nhika's people and the countries at large, but nothing more.

The novel does a really great job when it comes to Nhika's generational trauma. While she was born in Theumas, her mother and grandmother were originally from Yarong, which was colonized by Daltanny.

Her generational trauma and Yarongese diaspora experiences are clearly expressed in her yearning for a homeland she's never seen before or been to, and her desire to learn heartsoothing from a proper teacher. Her grandmother only had old textbooks to teach her with, and when Nhika is exposed to Theuman medicine and research, she realizes that her knowledge is sorely lacking. And since her people were murdered in a genocide, this knowledge is lost forever.

Here's a quote that really spoke to me:

"Surely, he didn't see heartsoothing the same way she did, because how could he? How could he understand that it was her connection to her lost family, a culture she’d never had the privilege of truly knowing? How could he know how it felt to soothe, to connect to someone so intimately, not a mere substitute for empathy but a step above it? How could he see that it was not some magic she could switch on and off at whim, but a permanent fixture of her identity?"

Quote taken from the arc and might be subject to change.

While I appreciate the similarities and contrasts between Nhika and Kochin, and their romance wasn't the worst thing I've ever read lol, I'm still not entirely sold on the ending. No spoilers, but since this is a duology, I'm hoping for more Nhika in the second book. Kochin's all right, I guess.

Anyway, Vanessa Le is a new author that I'm excited to read more of! I'm very eager to read the second book and anything else that she writes.

Thank you to Roaring Brook Press and NetGalley for this arc.

Great book. I love the magic and story lines, the connection between characters. Definitely enjoyed it.

We definitely need more of these Vietnamese mythology retellings. A solid read. Happy to add to our collection.

I am obsessed with this world and story, especially the way it addresses the opposing pulls so many diaspora kids feel to hide what makes them different in order to blend in and survive while also wanting to find a way to share the love and pride they have for their culture with a society that all too often seems only capable of either fearing and hating them for their differences or coveting and abusing them for those same things. I also loved the way heartsoothing toes the line between art and science and the story made it easy to see that the potential was there for it to be the perfect complement to augment the modern, rigorously science-based medicine trusted by the technocratic city of Theumas, if only the people of Theumas would give it a real chance instead of reviling it as untrustworthy, inferior, and dangerous. My one complaint is that while I think Nhika and Ven's sudden romance could have made perfect sense, especially on Nhika's side given her desperation for connection, the way it was written still just felt rushed in terms of development. However, I'm never big on the romance plotlines and the romance here felt secondary in this story anyway (despite the ending which I saw as being less about their romantic relationship anyway and more about Nhika's lack of strong ties to the living and determination to leave a legacy of heartsoothing she and her ancestors could be proud of), and the pieces of Nhika and Ven that stood out most to me were not related to their relationship to each other, but their relationships to heartsoothing. I'm looking forward to seeing how that develops and grows as the story continues, and I am dying to read the sequel (in part because I'm excited to learn more about Kochin's perspective in things and it seems like we'll probably get that in book 2!!) and can't wait to see what else Le writes after this series as well! There is some violence and a bit of gore as this book is quite action-packed and the fantasy world's history of genocide is addressed, but the romance is very PG, and I'd highly recommend this one for middle school up.

Where do i begin. I think my favorite thing about this book is the magic system, medicine and magic blend is absolutist intriguing. The writing was beautiful and I love the development of Nhiika and found it to feel so real. I really loved this book, i was engaged and fully captivated by the story. Thank you Vanessa Le for an amazing book. I will say, the ending fell a little flat for me but overall this book was a great read.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillian children’s publishing for this ARC.

I feel like there’s been a lot of exciting new Asian fantasy stories coming out this spring, and this one was definitely high on my TBR list, as I’m even less familiar with Vietnamese mythology than Chinese, Japanes, or Korean. The cover art is also very unique and intriguing, and I thought the main character’s magical trait of manipulating human biology had a lot of promise. I also love murder mysteries, so I was excited to see how well these two genres would be blended together. And, well, it was all pretty good!

What first stood out to me was the lush and descriptive style of writing the author employed. The story starts out fairly quickly as far as plot and pacing go, but I was still able to picture the details of this world and character. This felt like a fully realized, fully peopled fantasy world, complete with a culture that felt distinctive and elaborate. Of course, central to the story were Nhika’s bloodcarving abilities, and this detailed style of writing helped to truly flesh out how this power worked. Many fantasy stories devolve to fairly simplistic explanations of their magical elements, but here I felt like we were given a true insiders-look into Nhika’s magic. This felt important as it helped the reader understand why an ability that could be so useful to humanity could also be seen as something to fear and hate.

I also really liked Nhika’s character and the arc she has in this book. Through her eyes, we see the experiences of a diaspora character, a young woman who finds herself in a world that no longer feels like her own. Even more interesting, her experiences as an outsider who does not fit within this world were mirrored in the other main character Kochin who experiences a similar disconnect. But while this disconnection and “out-of-place-ness” might be similar between them, their experiences and views of how they fit (or don’t fit) within this world are very different.

That said, this is one of those rare circumstances where I feel like the story might have been better without any romance at all. I liked both of these characters, but frankly, by the time the romance really started to amp up, I’d forgotten that was even the direction it was heading. These two were very definitely enemies for much of the time, so the change of tone when it came, did feel a bit strange. It was also rather sudden, not feeling nearly as developed as many of the other aspects of the story.

Overall, this was a great debut novel! I had some quibbles here and there with the way the romance was developed, but the writing and world-building were strong and promise of great things to come from this author in the future!

Rating 8: Rich and vivid worldbuilding combined with a compelling vision of the diaspora experience created a fantastic debut all around!

(Link will go live on The Library Ladies on March 22)

"Love is the most twisted curse of them all"- Satoru Gojo

The Last Bloodcarver is a dark fantasy debut that had me hooked from page one. Based on Vietnamese culture and the medical-based magic system, we follow the main character Nhika as she can alter human biology through her touch. However, she's one of the last people with this ability as it's been passed down through her family lineage and practically wiped out due to the colonization and massacre of her culture's homeland. Brought into one of the city's most aristocratic families with the hopes of healing the witness of their father's death, Nhika is exposed to the deep secrets of the city and the power she holds in herself.

This book had me up and reading what would happen next, especially as Nhika navigates what it means to make meaningful connections and slowly break down the wall she's created. Le highlights the different relationships that Nhika creates, both romantically and platonically.

Now what got me the most while reading The Last Bloodcarver was the way Le discusses the diaspora experiences, especially for those whose family and culture have been colonized and driven from their homeland. As the daughter of a Cambodian refugee, the feelings both Nhika and Kochin have towards their heritage and culture are too familiar to me. Reading The Last Bloodcarver makes me see the thoughts I have and the power I have to still honor my ancestors and carry our legacies.

The Last Bloodcarver's ending still has me reeling. This book has altered my brain chemistry (wink wink). I can't wait to have a finished copy and see what the sequel will bring.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance read of this title. The opinions contained are my own.

The cover was what originally drew me to this book, and I’m so glad it did. I loved the melding of magic and biology in this world!

The characters are lovable, though not as fleshed out as I want. I feel like I could read more details about this world for a long time. I can only hope she will have more.

All in all a quick read with just a little slow section in the middle. Definitely will be recommending to my fantasy reading friends.

An incredible story combining science and magic in a way I've never seen. With a subplot revolving around the subversion of indigenous culture set against an alternate history high-tech world, this book kept me guessing up until the end. Excellent characters who are not necessarily likable, but you still want to know if they are going to be okay in the end. Totally unique and one of the upcoming releases I'm most looking forward to this year.

I have extremely mixed feelings about this one. Despite its somewhat slow pacing, I absolutely loved most of this book--the complexity of what it means the be a bloodcarver/heartsooth, the found family elements, the fascinating world, the wonderfully accurate biological details. This is a powerful book with a compelling main character.

But! That ending! It made me want to slam the book against the wall, and not in a good way--because with an ending like that, I don't see how the sequel could possibly be as appealing when ****spoilers**** the book ends with losing the character I found most compelling.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and setup for this. The magic system is really interesting and unique — almost a combination of magic and biology. For the first 20%, I thought I would give it 4 or 4.5 stars. But around the halfway point, it started to take a turn I didn’t like. It felt too insta-lovey and I really, really disliked the ending. But the writing was good, so I’ll definitely give this author another try when she writes another book!

This was a great fantasy murder mystery!
3.5 stars, round to 4!

I wish we had seen more world building because this world has the absolute potential to be AMAZING.

The pacing was overall pretty decent, and while I did find myself interested in the story, the book was a tad on the predictable side. Had the author spent a bit more time exploring other side characters, this likely wouldn't have been the case though. Our main character didn't really interact with any of the other possible suspects at all, so when it came down to the big reveal, there was no surprise.

This is still a solid YA story, and I'd recommend it to any YA Fantasy/murder mystery fans!

Very interesting concept and a promising start for a debut author. Looking forward to what Le writes next.

A smart and imaginative novel that has good pace and character development. The ending left me ready to know how the story will continue.

Looking for good YA read alouds with diverse characters/authors that uniquely approach magic/fantasy in a novel way--this book is excellent! The cover is stunning. The characters are fantastically written. The idea of heartsoothing/bloodcarving is fascinating. I am still thinking about the ending and hoping there may be a sequel!!! An excellent addition to any YA collection! Highly recommend for fans of Marie Lu, Xiran Jay Zhao, and Rin Chupeco.

I wanted to enjoy this book. The magic and world were really interesting but the plot was a little too all over the place and I felt the pacing was inconsistent. I kept finding myself getting bored with the plot whenever it slowed down.