Review of Blood for Honor

[OTrain Disene]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Blood for Honor" by Emma Lee Joy.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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Blood for Honor is a future dystopian novel by Emma Lee Joy. The novel is different in the sense that it does not centre around technology or Artificial Intelligence that has taken over the world. Instead, it centres around the dilapidated society that is divided amongst itself after a very devastating war. In the middle of it is one woman who has to bear it all on her back. This book infuses a lot of elements and genres that end up betraying it.

Iylara Vance is from a Blackthorn clan. After the Great War, a lot of things changed around the world. She does not know much, only that Blackthorn is at war with Charon, another clan. The book opens up with Iylara not knowing where her husband is. It is revealed that a lot of people, especially in her family, did not approve of her marriage from the beginning because her husband is a Charon-born but converted shortly after meeting her. The battle is in full swing outside, and Damian, Iylara’s brother, comes to rescue her to safety.

Iylara does not believe that her husband could have helped Charon gain access to the Blackthorn parameters. She believes he is loyal, so she does everything to find him and get to the bottom of this. But what she finds is chilling. The answer is not that simple. A lot of people from her clan and even her family die. She is then forced into the role of leadership that she wasn’t properly trained for. There seems to be another adversary who is more dangerous than Charon. Who is he? Why does Iylara keep having these blackouts? Is there more to this? Who can she trust?

The answers to these questions are scattered throughout this book. It is quite lengthy. Just when you find an answer to one question, another question arises that also needs to be answered. Before you know it, you are deep into the story that you have no choice but to read on and find out more. That’s how engaging this book was. At first, I thought it was a historical fantasy novel. It prides itself in minimum explanation. It lets you make sense of everything by yourself. So if you are not concentrating enough, you might find yourself losing out on important information.

I loved how the characters were well developed. From the beginning, Iylara was fully explained and described. I instantly connected with her. This enabled me to be intimate with her. The book is written in the first-person narrative that switches between Iylara and Jai, but it primarily sticks to Iylara. The book’s also divided into two parts, the first showing the war between Blackthorn and Charon, then the second on another adversary that is more powerful and dangerous. Iylara worked perfectly as a protagonist. She was not perfect. She had many faults that most times put her in bad situations. This showed her vulnerable side, which she compensated with bravery. She was stubborn and tenacious.

The book was not balanced by the narration and dialogue. If anything, it leaned more on the former than the latter. But this didn’t make it slow in anyway. The descriptions were minimum, only telling what needed to be told, the rest was left to the imagination of the reader. The dialogue brought out the characters’ depths, as everything was revealed through it. Mystery and suspense made sure the story had more to offer to the reader. I loved how steady the pace was in its quickness. It was upbeat, and there was no dull moment.

What I disliked was that a lot of characters died, and most of them died in the background. Their deaths ended up being ineffective in eliciting shock in me. This also became too convenient for Iylara in many ways. The Great War that destroyed everything was talked about in passing. For the war that shaped the world, it became unrealistic when it wasn’t given a thorough explanation to bring everything into perspective. Then book’s mixture of genres was just confusing.

I also think it would have worked best if the names of the two villains were swabbed. Carnegie should have swabbed names with Luther. Luther was stronger than Carnegie, but his name just didn’t reflect that. A couple of last pages, just before the epilogue, were too abrupt and raised more questions than answers, which is bad for a conclusion.

I detected a couple of errors, proving that it was professionally edited. With everything I said above taken into great consideration, I rate this book four out of five stars. I recommend it to people who love reading about characters with alter egos and those who love strong female protagonists. It is best suited for young adults.

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Blood for Honor
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[Smrithi Arun]

Your description of the book instantly made me think of Avatar. The plot sounds very interesting, but since there is war and a lot of violence involved, I'm not sure it'll be a great fit for me. Thanks for the detailed review!

[Fawmi FJumana]

Your description reminded me of a book with somewhat similar story, but in the paranormal genre. This sounds like a book that hooks the reader in deep. Though I don't like the ineffective deaths part, I would love to read this intriguing novel. Thank you for a detailed review.

[Hazel Mae Bagarinao]

I'm curious why a lot died in the end. Who will be left? And Iylara with a new role being forced without proper training is daunting. Who is this new adversary that's more dangerous than Charon? I'd like to find out. Your review is great!