Review: The Bloodforged by Erin Lindsey plus GIVEAWAY for The Bloodbound and The Bloodforged

The epic saga that started in The Bloodbound continues…
As war between Alden and Oridia intensifies, King Erik must defend his kingdom from treachery and enemies on all sides—but the greatest danger lurks closer to home…
When the war began, Lady Alix Black played a minor role, scouting at the edge of the king’s retinue in relative anonymity. Though she’s once again facing an attacking Oridian force determined to destroy all she holds dear, she is now bodyguard to the king and wife to the prince.
Still, she is unprepared for what the revival of the war will mean. Erik is willing to take drastic measures to defend his domain, even if it means sending Prince Liam into a deadly web of intrigue and traveling into the perilous wild lands of Harram himself.
Only the biggest threat to the kingdom might be one that neither Alix nor Erik could have imagined, or prepared for…

For those that have not yet read book 1: I encourage you to go read my review for The Bloodbound, and enter the giveaway below where you can win a copy of *both* books.  I also recommend skipping this review as while it is spoiler free for The Bloodforged, it does contain spoilers for The Bloodbound.

The Bloodforged carries the series further into conflict and gives the reader another fun and exciting adventure as this series continues to be a captivating and fun page turner that flies by. There are challenges that are physical, political and strategic. There are moments of romance and heartbreak. The whole book almost seems to be an emotional rollercoaster as the characters are desperate and driven to extremes to try and survive and stop this war.

This book does have a decidedly darker tone to it than the first. It also does not have quite as strong of a romance aspect. I mean, don’t get me wrong, there is still some romance and a couple of heated moments between characters, but it takes more of a side seat in this compared with the strong love triangle that was in the first book. This allows the book to get more into the war, it also makes room for a few new characters. While I really enjoyed the romance in the first book, I will admit I also enjoyed it not being as prominent in this book. 

The story in The Bloodforged challenges many characters to step out of their comfort zones and to step up their game for the sake of, well, everyone. Alden is on the verge of collapse and new obstacles and stumbling points seem to appear every day. And in addition to that, each character also has something on the personal front they need to adjust to.

Alix is now in the foreign position of having Liam outrank her. Liam has to adjust from being bastard, with no one even aware that he is a royal bastard, to a recognized prince, and heir to the throne. With that comes way more responsibility and expectation. Erik struggles to see Alix as his sister in law instead of the love that could have been. All of this keeps the reader connected to the characters which is great because as with the first book, this one is also very character driven.

Rig, Alix’s brother, is commander general and facing impossible odds.  I really enjoyed Rig’s sections, he is a great character that we didn’t see much of in the first book and quickly jumped right in with my favorites. Every section with him was exciting, full of strategy, intrigue and laced with a bit of humor as well. Like Liam, Rig is just really, really easy to like.

I will mention that this book definitely leaves more conflict open than the first. I just don’t think that it felt quite as neatly closed as the The Bloodbound. That said, this is a series, to me this is to be expected. I actually enjoy when there are story arcs carried over from one book to another, and I felt there was enough closure for me. So, this is not a complaint, more of an observation as I  know others are more sensitive and I could tell before finishing the book that there would have to be some points left unresolved. For me these are story points I am happy to come back and read book 3 when it is available! And I feel like there’s still unresolved parts because so much happened! Really, this book is almost relentless in the trials and tribulations it puts its characters through. It’s hard to take a breath that’s not a breath of desperation! But I mean that in the best way, it was an intense read that grips the reader to the very end (and likely beyond).

I find this series to be well written, fun and satisfying. It is just generally an enjoyable read that you makes you feel good. It is very much an escapist style read, so while it may not be pushing new boundaries in the literary world, it gives readers the type of story that probably made them love reading in the first place. I think we all love to read stories like this from time to time.

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