Book Review: Blood Sworn (Ashlords #2) by Scott Reintgen

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 400 pages
Author: Scott Reintgen
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: February 16th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Three cultures clash in all out war–against each other and against the gods–in the second book of this fantasy duology that’s sure to capture fans of The Hunger Games and An Ember in the Ashes.

The Races are over. War has begun.

Ashlord and Longhand armies battle for control of the Empire as Dividian rebels do their best to survive the crossfire. This is no longer a game. It’s life or death.

Adrian, Pippa, and Imelda each came out of the Races with questions about their role in the ongoing feud. The deeper they dig, the clearer it is that the hatred between their peoples has an origin point: the gods.

Their secrets are long-buried, but one disgruntled deity is ready to unveil the truth. Every whisper leads back to the underworld. What are the gods hiding there? As the sands of the Empire shift, these heroes will do everything they can to aim their people at the true enemy. But is it already too late?

I’M HERE FOR THE COVER.

Shamelessly read this duology based off of the covers because they’re GORGEOUS. Yes yes, I’ll also discuss the book too.

This one surprised me! Based off of how Ashlords went down I was imagining many scenaries for book two. And pretty much none of those happened. Blood Sworn turned in a different direction and plot then expected. I was confused at first if I was going to like it, but by the end was happy with how things worked out.

I love the multiple POV’s here. Getting an angle from each different group in the empire. This is a HIGH action book where every chapter something is going on. Whether fighting gods, kinsmen, or arguing over how to save the world. I really enjoyed this on audio and was able to keep pace with everything happening.

The romance was a bit of a let down. If you’re going to add it then it needs more than a few pages in the entire series dedicated to it. Otherwise the focus could be placed in other ways. It was cute at the end seeing some HEAs. Even if I wanted to see more of their connections throughout.

This duology wrapped up well. I don’t remember any specific things that were left too open-ended. Those got what was coming to them, and things seemed to be looking up at the end.

Overall audience notes: