About the book
The tantalizing romance of These Violent Delights meets the mechanical wonders of Cinder in The Last Bloodcarver , the first in a two-book debut – with a riveting medical magic system and lush Vietnam-inspired fantasy world.
Nhika is a bloodcarver. A cold-hearted, ruthless being who can alter human biology with just a touch. In the industrial city of Theumas, she is seen not as a healer, but a monster that kills for pleasure.
When Nhika is caught using her bloodcarving abilities during a sham medical appointment, she’s captured by underground thugs and sold to an aristocratic family to heal the last witness of their father’s murder.
But as Nhika delves deeper into their investigation amidst the glitz of Theumas’ wealthiest district, she begins to notice parallels between this job and her own dark past. And when she meets an alluring yet entitled physician’s aide, Ven Kochin, she’s forced to question the true intent behind this murder. In a society that outcasts her, Kochin seems drawn to her…though he takes every chance he gets to push her out of his opulent world.
When Nhika discovers that Kochin is not who he claims to be, and that there is an evil dwelling in Theumas that runs much deeper than the murder of one man, she must decide where her heart, and her allegiance, truly lie. And – if she’s willing to become the dreaded bloodcarver Theumas fears to save herself and the ones she’s vowed to protect.
My thoughts
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
When I came across this title on NetGalley, I was really intrigued by the premise, the Vietnamese-inspired world, and how the sci-fi elements would look like, and I have to say that The Last Bloodcarver exceeded all my expectations and beyond. It is true to its audience (YA) and has a very exciting, original worldbuilding, but more than anything, it has a message filled with nuances and complex feelings that I find both necessary and mesmerizing.
The book is told by Nhika’s perspective. Nhika is a bloodcarver, though her people call themselves as heartsooths. Nhika is truly ruthless and a no non-sense kind of character. She is a survivor who has hardened herself in order to go on living, a person who has lost touch with the essence of her heritage because the world has forced her to choose between that and survival. Nhika is a thrilling and interesting character because she’s so self-aware, painfully so. She’s curious but not enough to make wrong, senseless decisions based on that. She’s practical and competent, which is my cryptonite in characters.
I loved how the author portrayed Nhika’s complex feelings and how torn she is. We often see in fantasy “the last” etc and a mc who fights for survival, but The Last Bloodcarver is very different from all those novels because this one delves into the person’s divided personality. Being a heartsooth is outlawed and seen as an evil, vile thing to be, and yet, others use them for their own purposes. And while Nhika embraces that part of her, she doesn’t think she’s worthy of it because she has tainted it with how she’s used it so far, or rather, how her circumstances have forced her to use it. Her magic is an innate part of her, and yet, other characters will ask her to either stop using it to gain a better life or use it for their interests. But how do we stop being ourselves? How do we stop being the descendants of our ancestors? How do we forget our heritage and history? The author portrayed and reflected these themes so beautifully, so painfully. There’s even a deep meaning into how they call themselves and how the world calls them, a correlation between the essence of what they are and how the world perceives them. Every detail has a nuance, a meaning, a context in this book, and it’s honest. Brutally and heartbreakingly honest.
The author also explores being seen as “other” in a place that had welcomed refugees when the neighboring land was violently stolen and colonized by people who weren’t satisfied with stealing their land but also wanted to annihilate them. And if that’s not a timely theme, I don’t know what is….
It is about been understood and been seen, and I felt for Nhika and Kochin so much. Two sides of the same coin. One who’s never been understood and one who’s been horrifyingly used. One who grew into this violent and brutal world and one who was thrown into it. One who revers their magic and one who’s looking for their way back to it.
How the author weaves intriguing worldbuilding, different characters of all kinds of backgrounds, compelling voice, and important and heartbreaking themes is beyond me. I plead you to read this book.
This is no ordinary YA fantasy. If you want to read a book with a deeper meaning, honesty, and nuance, then you must read The Last Bloodcarver. I cannot wait for the sequel because that ending killed me!
*If you enjoyed the k-drama Gyeongseong Creature, you’ll like this one!
Athena Freya 