My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Blood Scion

Author: Deborah Falaye

Format: ebook (borrowed)

Pages: 432

Publication Date: 3/8/22

Publisher: Harperteen

Categories: Young Adult, Dystopian, Military, Yoruba-Nigerian Mythology, Fantasy

This is what they deserve. They wanted me to be a monster. I will be the worst monster they ever created.

Fifteen-year-old Sloane can incinerate an enemy at will—she is a Scion, a descendant of the ancient Orisha gods.

Under the Lucis’ brutal rule, her identity means her death if her powers are discovered. But when she is forcibly conscripted into the Lucis army on her fifteenth birthday, Sloane sees a new opportunity: to overcome the bloody challenges of Lucis training, and destroy them from within.

Sloane rises through the ranks and gains strength but, in doing so, risks something greater: losing herself entirely, and becoming the very monster that she ahbors.

Following one girl’s journey of magic, injustice, power, and revenge, this deeply felt and emotionally charged debut from Deborah Falaye, inspired by Yoruba-Nigerian mythology, is a magnetic combination of A Song of Wraiths and Ruin and Daughter of Smoke and Bone that will utterly thrill and capture readers. 

Content Warning: Death, Murder, Violence, Mentions of Rape, Genocide, Sexual Assault, Racism, Colonialism, Self-Harm

I was so excited to be able to borrow this book on Overdrive right away that I pushed all other books aside to read it. I was not disappointed.

First, the cover is what made me want it in the first place. I may need to buy the hardcover one day (add that to my list of all hardcovers I want to buy 😅). And the synopsis was definitely intriguing!

This story is BRUTAL. It gave me The Poppy War and Hunger Games vibes. Sloane wants answers about her mother who went missing a few years ago but the only place she could find it was in the enemy camp. The enemy is the Lucis, who came to their lands, colonized and brutalized her people, committing genocide on anyone who had magic in them, anyone who were Scions like her. Sloane has suppressed and ignored her fire powers all her life, to stay safe, except for times she couldn’t control it which led to deadly consequences. But now she has been drafted to become a Lucis soldier and has a way to find the Book of Records that could give her answers about her mom’s disappearance.

This story gives you no chance to look away from violence. There are kids killing kids, soldiers assaulting girls, soldiers killing people, training that is abusive, punishment that is gruesome and Sloane’s anger and pain resonates in her every action.

I love learning more about the Yoruba-Nigerian mythology and becoming more familiar with their god! I loved learning some of the rituals and chants and the different powers each gods extended to a Scion.

As for the characters – Sloane is 15, but I felt like she was older than that. She acts older and even has a moment with a soldier older than her…so I kind of wish she was 19 instead of 15. But I guess she had to be younger because the point of young people being recruited to be killers. She’s not someone who has experience with knowing her power but she meets other recruits like Izara who helps her. I loved her found family/friendship with Izara, Jericho and Nazanin. But some of Sloane’s decisions were questionable, which made me frustrated – she’s a morally grey character because war has made her that way.

There is action, there is betrayal and the information Sloane learns about her mother really makes me want to read the sequel ASAP. The ending was quite a reveal and I need her to get revenge. Sloane is a like a phoenix rising from ashes! It was quite a powerful ending.

One warning if you read this book: don’t get too attached to the characters. This author has no qualms about killing them off. 😭 Also the heavy topics of genocide and colonialism are throughout the story – the fact that they make teens train to be soldiers to kill their own people is horrendous. But I like how it shows how war is sick and how when you think you’ve gotten rid of the person who started the war…there is someone else waiting in the wings for their turn and their war. When does it end really?

Why you should read it:

• it’s got Yoruba/Nigerian mythology
• it’s got a heist, action, betrayal – it’s a fast paced story
• writing flowed so well, easy to read and I read it in 2 days

Why you might not want to read it:

• you are assaulted with brutality throughout the book – see content warnings above

My Thoughts:

I sped through this one because I wanted to see Sloane grow and see if she could be the one to help take down the royals. It’s a fast paced story and I found that refreshing because I’ve been reading a bunch of books that felt a little too long. I love the mythology and the found family Sloane makes. It’s an absolutely brutal read that starts and ends with violence. But taking down rulers is not that easy and Sloane learns a hard lesson about trust and betrayal. There is a lot more story to tell in the next book and I’m looking forward to reading it!

📚 ~ Yolanda

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Quotes from the Book:

My world is only half of what it should be, and I am only half of what I really am. I cannot afford to be whole.

― Deborah Falaye, Blood Scion

We are not helpless; we are not broken. Despite what scars they leave behind, our bodies are our own. Everything we feel, everything we are, belongs to us and us alone. Yes, we are girls, but we are not prey.

― Deborah Falaye, Blood Scion

This life, this world, it changes you.”

― Deborah Falaye, Blood Scion

“Children of war are born from war, Sloane. And we are, both of us, a legacy of this ruined world.”

– Deborah Falaye, Blood Scion