Bloodleaf (Bloodleaf #1) By Crystal Smith [Review]

RELEASE DATE: March 12th 2019
AUTHOR: Crystal Smith
GENRE: Young-Adult,  Fantasy,  Adventure.
PUBLISHER: HMH Books for Young Readers
SUMMARY:

Princess Aurelia is a prisoner to her crown and the heir that nobody wants. Surrounded by spirits and banned from using her blood-magic, Aurelia flees her country after a devastating assassination attempt. To escape her fate, Aurelia disguises herself as a commoner in a new land and discovers a happiness her crown has never allowed. As she forges new bonds and perfects her magic, she begins to fall for a man who is forbidden to rule beside her.

But the ghosts that haunt Aurelia refuse to abandon her, and she finds herself succumbing to their call as they expose a nefarious plot that only she can defeat. Will she be forced to choose between the weight of the crown and the freedom of her new life?

 

Before reading this book, I’ve heard some mixed reviews about it but I’m glad that I still gave it a try because I absolutely loved it! Crystal Smith’s debut novel is an imaginative retelling of the Grimm Fairy tale “The Goose Girl”. I’m not familiar with the original Goose Girl fairytale but I really enjoyed reading this book. It was quite an engaging read filled with action, adventure, romance, mystery, and magic. I loved the fictional world the author has created. It was very creative and imaginative. Also loved the stunning cover and all the little details in it.

Princess Aurelia of Renalt has been born with magic in her veins but in her kingdom performing blood-magic is forbidden. If anyone caught using blood magic or doing anything related to it, they’ll be brought to the tribunal who’ll pass their final judgement which is death. Because of her power, Princess Aurelia becomes prisoner in her kingdom and Palace. She’s destined to be wed to her enemy kingdom’s heir and during her journey she gets attacked. After nearly escaping an assassination attempt, Aurelia flees to the city of Alchev to fulfill her destiny. She disguises herself as a commoner in a new land to avoid her enemy and starts to enjoy her new freedom where she could freely practice her magic without fearing about the tribunal. She makes new friends and falls for a boy who’s forbidden to rule beside her. When she becomes aware of a evil plot that could destroy the city of Alchev, Aurelia’s decides to help catch the mysterious killer before it’s too late.

I loved Aurelia aka Emilie! She’s pretty tough and a brave protagonist. She goes through a lot of hardships in this book but she never faltered and always stood strong. I quite enjoyed her character growth throughout. Well, coming to Zan. He was totally swoon worthy. He’s not a total perfection but it’s what makes him unique. I absolutely adored the relationship between Aurelia and Zan. I wish there was more heart to heart interaction between them because the sudden confession took me by surprise. I liked Kellan, Aurelia’s best friend and also her personal guard. He was pretty sweet and caring. I would love to know more about him. I also liked Aurelia’s little brother Conrad. I really enjoyed enjoyed their sibling relationship. Nathaniel and Kate didn’t played much part but they’re still a nice addition to the plot. Coming to my least favorite, I didn’t liked Toris. He’s smart, very much cunning, and a Pain in the ass. I don’t know what to say about his daughter who used to be Aurelia’s friend. I didn’t cared much about her character because she was barely there in the plot.

The plot was engaging throughout! Although I predicted some of the major twists pretty early, I still enjoyed the whole journey. The story was quite addicting! I literally flew through the pages and before I knew it, I’ve finished the book. The pacing was perfect. The writing was exquisite. For a debut, it was really good. The whole book was told in Aurelia’s first person POV but I wish we also had Zan’s POV.  The world building was great. I loved the City of Alchev and its magical wall that protects the city from the intruders. The magical system was great. I really liked the Bloodleaf concept, It was really interesting.

Overall, it was a great read! This book has some cliches which I don’t deny but it still worked out well for me and I will look forward to the next book.

Recommend it?

This book is not a total perfection but I still recommend you guys to pick it up.

MY RATING:

[4/5 Stars]

So, What do you think of this book? Have you read it yet? Do you Plan to read it?
Please feel free to comment below!

See You In The Next Post and Have a Great Day! 🙂