Review of Tears and blood betrayal
Posted: 05 Jul 2025, 13:01
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Tears and blood betrayal" by V.S raven.]
Tears and Blood: Betrayal by V.S. Raven is an epic fantasy novel that follows multiple characters who are faced with different struggles that force them to rage against the societal order and themselves. It’s a novel that prioritises characters as they are each on different paths of discovery. Their paths sometimes come to join others’, creating a clash that puts everyone around them in danger. It’s long, with lovable characters, but it also carries with it flaws.
Venix Whitehill is the leader of Black Horns, an elite defence group of the Gaians. As a warrior, she’s feared by her enemies and envied by her troops. Her fame precedes her in her country. Her work speaks for itself. When she’s on a mission, it’s rare for her to fail. Besides being a warrior, she’s also the eldest sister of Vallary. Vallary is different from Venix. In that, she’s not a warrior, and at her young age, she is not showing signs that she would ever be anything like Venix. This creates a rift between the sisters and causes mental anguish in Vallary as she thinks of herself as a failure to herself and her family. But her friend Cloe doesn’t see her that way.
Cloe Greyollf isn’t a regular girl. She’s also an heir to the throne. Just like many, she looks up to Venix and wishes to be like her. But her friend Vall has challenges to be like her sister. Cloe tries to be there for Vall, but it’s not easy. As an heir, she is sometimes forced to take up some royal tasks that put her in contact with humans. That isn’t easy because the relationship between Gaians and humans is complex and complicated. It requires wisdom. Humans have an air of superiority about them when it comes to Gains, while the latter are more powerful and dangerous than they are. When Venix does something totally unimaginable, it leaves Vallary torn apart and Cloe confused. Will Vallary get her revenge? Why did Venix do what she did? What’s the role of humans in all of this? Will Cloe be up to the task?
As I have said from my opening paragraph, this was such a long novel, as most fantasy genres are. I loved the world it introduced, the world where everything hung on a thread; a single misstep could cause a war to break out between Gaians and humans. Both of these species had a long history between them that influenced their current decisions. This showed an excellent characterisation. The novel was told from multiple points of view, so it wasn’t easy to know who the main character was and who the supporting ones were. All of them were developed, and you knew their ambitions, their personalities, and their traits. The characters felt like real people.
I also liked the writing. From the first scene, it showed some urgency. I knew I was in for the ride just from reading it. The sentences were short and moved the story forward without dragging. The characters were introduced one by one, so I didn’t get them confused. The skill to not specify if they were villains or heroes put me on my toes. I had to tread carefully in fear of missing something. When one character did something unexpected, like what Venix did, it felt good because I knew things weren’t as they seemed. The relationship between Gaians was properly portrayed. Characters like Admiral Vox and Leanna were very smart and unpredictable. I didn’t know how Cloe and his father, King Orland, were going to handle them, if they could at all.
On the other side, the book had its flaws, one of them being the narration. At first, I knew that ‘Gaian’ was the term for a non-human species. This was evident in their superhuman abilities, like sense, agility, flexibility, strength, and power. However, on many occasions, when it was only Gaians on the scene, the narration would mention the term, which was a bit off-putting because in that context, it made it seem like it wasn’t a term of a species but of nobility, rank, or race. You don’t mention ‘human’ on the scene where it’s obviously humans appearing on it, unless the term carries another meaning. Another dislike was the ending. For a book of this length, it wasn’t rewarding. I felt like there was no payoff for sticking around 'til the end. But that's subjective.
I also saw many errors, especially in the last part of the book. This diluted the quality of the book. For that, I rate it four out of five stars. I think it was a good book, with likes and dislikes matching each other. So I recommend it to people who love fantasy and action novels.
******
Tears and blood betrayal
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Tears and Blood: Betrayal by V.S. Raven is an epic fantasy novel that follows multiple characters who are faced with different struggles that force them to rage against the societal order and themselves. It’s a novel that prioritises characters as they are each on different paths of discovery. Their paths sometimes come to join others’, creating a clash that puts everyone around them in danger. It’s long, with lovable characters, but it also carries with it flaws.
Venix Whitehill is the leader of Black Horns, an elite defence group of the Gaians. As a warrior, she’s feared by her enemies and envied by her troops. Her fame precedes her in her country. Her work speaks for itself. When she’s on a mission, it’s rare for her to fail. Besides being a warrior, she’s also the eldest sister of Vallary. Vallary is different from Venix. In that, she’s not a warrior, and at her young age, she is not showing signs that she would ever be anything like Venix. This creates a rift between the sisters and causes mental anguish in Vallary as she thinks of herself as a failure to herself and her family. But her friend Cloe doesn’t see her that way.
Cloe Greyollf isn’t a regular girl. She’s also an heir to the throne. Just like many, she looks up to Venix and wishes to be like her. But her friend Vall has challenges to be like her sister. Cloe tries to be there for Vall, but it’s not easy. As an heir, she is sometimes forced to take up some royal tasks that put her in contact with humans. That isn’t easy because the relationship between Gaians and humans is complex and complicated. It requires wisdom. Humans have an air of superiority about them when it comes to Gains, while the latter are more powerful and dangerous than they are. When Venix does something totally unimaginable, it leaves Vallary torn apart and Cloe confused. Will Vallary get her revenge? Why did Venix do what she did? What’s the role of humans in all of this? Will Cloe be up to the task?
As I have said from my opening paragraph, this was such a long novel, as most fantasy genres are. I loved the world it introduced, the world where everything hung on a thread; a single misstep could cause a war to break out between Gaians and humans. Both of these species had a long history between them that influenced their current decisions. This showed an excellent characterisation. The novel was told from multiple points of view, so it wasn’t easy to know who the main character was and who the supporting ones were. All of them were developed, and you knew their ambitions, their personalities, and their traits. The characters felt like real people.
I also liked the writing. From the first scene, it showed some urgency. I knew I was in for the ride just from reading it. The sentences were short and moved the story forward without dragging. The characters were introduced one by one, so I didn’t get them confused. The skill to not specify if they were villains or heroes put me on my toes. I had to tread carefully in fear of missing something. When one character did something unexpected, like what Venix did, it felt good because I knew things weren’t as they seemed. The relationship between Gaians was properly portrayed. Characters like Admiral Vox and Leanna were very smart and unpredictable. I didn’t know how Cloe and his father, King Orland, were going to handle them, if they could at all.
On the other side, the book had its flaws, one of them being the narration. At first, I knew that ‘Gaian’ was the term for a non-human species. This was evident in their superhuman abilities, like sense, agility, flexibility, strength, and power. However, on many occasions, when it was only Gaians on the scene, the narration would mention the term, which was a bit off-putting because in that context, it made it seem like it wasn’t a term of a species but of nobility, rank, or race. You don’t mention ‘human’ on the scene where it’s obviously humans appearing on it, unless the term carries another meaning. Another dislike was the ending. For a book of this length, it wasn’t rewarding. I felt like there was no payoff for sticking around 'til the end. But that's subjective.
I also saw many errors, especially in the last part of the book. This diluted the quality of the book. For that, I rate it four out of five stars. I think it was a good book, with likes and dislikes matching each other. So I recommend it to people who love fantasy and action novels.
******
Tears and blood betrayal
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon