Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Bloodlaced

SERIES:  Youkai Bloodlines

AUTHOR:  Courtney Maguire

PUBLISHER:  City Owl Press

LENGTH:  314 pages

RELEASE DATE:  September 29, 2020

BLURB:

Kanjin hardly view their servants as human. Even less so when they are different.

Asagi is different. Both a man and a woman.

In the wake of his failure to protect a boy he saw as a son from their abusive master, Asagi is sold into the house of a young nobleman, Mahiro, who is the opposite of everything Asagi has ever known—gentle, kind, and generous.

Mahiro bonds with Asagi and their friendship blooms into a deep and profound love. But when Asagi is poisoned out of jealousy, Mahiro reveals himself to be youkai, a demon who feeds on blood, and he has no choice but to turn Asagi to save his life.

Asagi awakes reborn, strong, and eternally youthful. But the price for Asagi’s new life is high.

The blood of the innocent.

Just as Asagi’s trust in Mahiro falters, the boy he failed to protect, now a man, reappears.

New master, same threat.

With both a literal and proverbial monster at the door, Asagi must decide what it means to be human to protect what he loves most.

Content Warnings: physical abuse, sexual abuse (off-page), self-harm, blood, graphic violence

If you like Bella Forrest, P. C. Cast, AJ Tipton, or Anne Rice, you will love this beautiful dark paranormal fantasy romance.

REVIEW:

Asagi is a slave who has been sold a number of times.  Asagi is beautiful and tends to present as a woman, but is neither man nor woman – or maybe both.  This has made him a target.  When this story opens, he’s sold to a cruel new master along with a young boy, Tsukito, whose mother has recently died.  The master is cruel but Asagi does whatever possible to try to keep Tsukito from being noticed and punished.  When Asagi is asked to serve the master things go from bad to worse.  He’s abused by the master particularly cruelly after he notices that his closest guard has taken an interest in Asagi.  Of course this does not end well and try as he might, Asagi cannot keep the wolf at bay forever.  When he becomes ill and cannot fulfill his duties, then the master looks elsewhere in the way that will inflict the most pain on Asagi.

Eventually Asagi is sold to another master, Mahiro.  He’s so dumb and hollow at this point, that he doesn’t even really notice what’s happened  But the new master appears to be kind and thoughtful and caring.  But Asagi is so broken from the constant betrayal and abuse that he cannot trust in Mahiro and he’s not comfortable with their relationship.  There is also another servant in the house that Mahiro is close to and adores him.  When Mahiro’s attentions turn to Asagi, jealousy looms large and causes an event that forces Mahiro to make a decision to save Asagi’s life.  But it’s not the same life now.

To say that Asagi isn’t pleased with the turn of events is an understatement.  He’s been turned into a monster that he did not want to be.  He makes mistakes.  He rebels against Mahiro.  But he does eventually try to adapt.  Eventually he is reunited with Tsukito in a most unexpected way.  But he cannot undo what has happened and though he fights for a different life and future, there are things that he can’t control and forces at play that will force a recconning with what he’s become.

What a surprise this book was!  I picked this up from another reviewer and this normally would not be the type of book that I would choose t0 either read or review.  But I’m really glad that I did.  It was so different than anything else I’ve read in some time.  The complexity of not just the characters themselves, but of their relationship I found to be quite intriguing.  That’s not to saw that there is not a LOT of heartbreak in this story.  It’s far from what I would categorize as a standard romance, but it did have a lot of romantic elements and a romantic arc for our main character Asagi.  I will admit that the story started off a bit slow for me.  I will admit that I’m not very well versed in the Japanese feudal time period or Japanese culture in general, so I needed to stop and refer to the author’s provided glossary quite a bit.  But once I got going, the story was really gripping.

The evolution of Asagi from powerless and abused slave to somewhat independent and  powerful youkai and the price that is paid for that transformation is really the heart of this book.  There are other more universal themes explored in this story as well.  These include what does it mean to be human?  Why do those who are perceived to be different tend to be feared and targets of abuse and violence?  What is one willing to sacrifice to protect another?  What is one willing to give up for love?  How far would one go to save one person?  Should one make decision for another that will forever alter the future particularly if that decision meets the need of the decision make but not necessarily the one whose future is changed?  I was totally wrapped up in this story and though there is a lot of sadness, I am anxiously awaiting the next part of Asagi’s story. Highly recommended!

RATING: 

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