Review Wednesday: Blood & Betrayls
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š¤ Review Wednesday: Blood & Betrayal by Jeanette Rose & Alexis Rune š¤
Genre: Dark Academia Fantasy
Rating: āļøāļøāļøāļø (4 stars)
Spice: š¶š¶š¶ (3 chilies)
What. A. Ride.
My Kindle told me this beast was 1027 pages. The physical copy? About 701 pagesābut with smaller print and medium-sized pages, so donāt let that fool you. Itās a hefty book either way, and it goes there fast.
Weāre dropped right into a layered, shadowy world where supernatural beings walk the halls of an elite academy. Angels, demons, berserkers, sorcerers, fae, Valkyrie, shifters, vampiresāyou name it, itās probably lurking around the next corner. The worldbuilding is ambitious, and somehow, it balances the chaos just enough to keep it from spinning out of control. Itās intense, itās dark, and itās very much a vibe.
Now, hereās where I wavered a bit: the romance. Itās spicy, intense, and takes up a lot of space. Thereās a mutual love bombing energy between the leads that honestly pushed the mystery and broader plot to the side more than I expected. At times, it felt like the romantic tension filled in pages where I was really craving clarity or deeper motive building. Some characters made huge entrances and then disappeared for chapters. I kept waiting for threads to come togetherāand a few didābut I still had so many unanswered questions by the end.
That said, I still really enjoyed the ride. The pacing kept me hooked. I didnāt want to put it down, even when I was side-eyeing certain scenes or wondering where a character had run off to. And the ending? Absolute chaos. That cliffhanger hit like a truck. I genuinely wasnāt prepared for itāthere werenāt many clues to lead me thereāand now I need Book 2 immediately.
If youāre in the mood for something dramatic, moody, supernatural, and just the right amount of unhinged, Blood & Betrayal delivers. Itās a messy, emotional, adrenaline-filled read that still has me thinking.