Book Review: The Blood Spell by C. J. Redwine
The Blood Spell
by C. J. Redwine
Blurb: Blue de la Cour has her life planned: hide the magic in her blood and continue trying to turn metal into gold so she can help her city’s homeless. But when her father is murdered and a cruel but powerful woman claims custody of Blue and her property, one wrong move could expose her—and doom her once and for all. The only one who can help? The boy she’s loathed since childhood: Prince Kellan.
Kellan Renard, crown prince of Balavata, is walking a thin line between political success and devastating violence. Newly returned from boarding school, he must find a bride among the kingdom’s head families and announce his betrothal—but escalating violence among the families makes the search nearly impossible. He’s surprised to discover that the one person who makes him feel like he can breathe is Blue, the girl who once ruined all his best adventures.
When mysterious forces lead to disappearances throughout Balavata, Blue and Kellan must work together to find the truth. What they discover will lead them to the darkest reaches of the kingdom, and to the most painful moments of their pasts.
When romance is forbidden and evil is rising, can Blue save those she loves, even if it costs her everything?
Cover Review: I adore this cover. It's so pretty and jeweled looking, while giving you a great hint as to which fairytale this is based on. I'm especially in love with the pumpkin's stem.
Plot: This was a great story and it broke my heart in many ways. The plot itself was interesting from start to finish, as it's kind of a mystery story and a Cinderella re-telling at the same time. All the classic Cinderella elements are there- a fairy godmother, glass slippers, a ball with a handsome prince- but done in a new and exciting way.
Characters: Our first POV character is Bleu, who is also our Cinderella. She was an interesting protagonist, having a bit of magic herself and being a bit of a stickler for rules. She deals with a lot of grief throughout the novel, and finds a lot of comfort in the last person she'd expect.
Our other main POV character, Prince Kellan. On the surface, he's fun-loving boy who enjoys dangerous pranks. But underneath, he's hurting just as much as Bleu. They were both so broken, but learned to heal through each other.
Other than them, we have the evil step-mother, who was a great mirror to Bleu's character, equal parts understandable and horribly evil. My favorite secondary character had to be Kellan's little sister, who was dumb and used sign language.
World: As with the previous Ravenspire Chronicles, it takes place in a new one of the lands that C. J. Redwine has built. This kingdom is filled with a lot of fear after a blood wraith terrorized them years ago and now hate anyone with magic. It's an interesting world and there are some easter eggs to previous books I loved.
Other: The two other things I'd like to say are 1) I liked how her magic system in this kingdom had strong rules. People only had specialties, like Bleu being able to bind things. and 2) WHERE IS MY HANSEL AND GRETEL BOOK PLEASE AND THANK YOU. They've made an appearance in every book and still don't have one of their own.
Rating: 5 stars
Have you read this book? Are you more of a rule follower or a rule flouter? Tell me in the comments.
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