The Last Bloodcarver by Vanessa Lee

Sci-FiMystery

May 7

The Last Bloodcarver by Vanessa Le Book Cover with Publication Information and Star Rating

Synopsis

Nhika (POV Character) 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.

*Blurb taken from Goodreads

Review

Though this is blurbed like a fantasy, I read The Last Bloodcarver more as a light sci-fi. The author herself is a biologist (go, Lee!) and her knowledge shines through Nhika’s character. Bloodcarvers (heartsooths in Nhika’s culture) have an innate ability to connect physically with another via skin-to-skin contact. This allows them to heal in a manner that relies more on sensation than medical expertise, hence the lean towards fantasy. But science plays a large part of this novel through anatomy and physiology, as well as technology. (Don’t let this deter you if, like me, science was not your forteit. The terminology doesn’t detract from the text, nor does it get convoluted! Again, smooth prose by Lee.) Due to the emphasis on these components, and the way Nhika’s heartsoothing functioned, thinking of this as sci-fi helped me lean more into the plot. Also, there’s no other magic aside from heartsoothing. At least, in this first installment.

Lee did some fabulous things in this novel, namely the character development of her protagonist. Nhika feels well rounded. She’s an intelligent young woman who is a first-generation immigrant and refugee. Nhika navigates a multitude of personal obstacles, such as her lost heritage, racism, the death of her family due to illness, age, and work, the inability to make a living in Theumas, her dangerous existence as a heartsooth, and so much more. Nhika was real in a way so many FMCs fall short of, and Lee built this teen with a level of strength and resilience that I think many young women will admire. On top of her personal journey, Nhika also shows compassion for the aristocratic family she falls into cohorts with. She has opportunities to abandon them, but she stays. In fact, she returns to give them aid in the investigation of their father’s murder, knowing they may turn against her and cause her harm. Nhika has a fearlessness that stems from selflessness, and I mean that in the best of ways.

The world within this novel is quite extensive with a lot of history, but at no point did the backstory feel overwhelming. Lee organically weaves in the dynamic between the Theumans, the Yarongese, and Daltanny so that readers fully understand the political upheaval, as well as the societal strains among these peoples. While this first installment focuses heavily on Nhika herself, I think the next book will delve into more politics, and that does make me wary considering how ardently I felt about this character-driven plot. I don’t want to lose the emotional journey in favor of political intrigue. That being said, if Lee can meld both seamlessly, book 2 could be a powerhouse!

As a debut author, Lee came out the gates ready to give the world a fierce heroine full of heart and intelligence and empathy. I can’t wait to see what future works she has in store!

Critiques

This has a romantic subplot, and I wish it didn’t. The only thing that connects Nhika and Kochin is their heartsooth abilities. If they didn’t have this trait in common, I’m not certain what would be left for them to hang their feelings on. Their relationship would have been far stronger if Lee had made this friends-to-lovers as opposed to enemies-to-lovers. Then, we could have seen true feelings grow out of their connection of a shared heritage and rare abilities.

The Congmi household fell flat as secondary characters. While their personalities were distinct, I never felt invested in them or their plight. The only reason I did care about the murder of the Congmi patriarch is because Nhika cared. The emotional attachment to the siblings and Trin was missing. And whereas Nhika came off as intelligent, these three seemed to be here for ungainly plot devices whose lack of common sense forced Nhika into action.

NOT THE ENDING. I was honestly geared up for this to be a solid standalone debut. (Though, with the amount of world-building and political foreshadowing, I was prepared for a second installment.) I hate that this has been spread out into a duology. Now, that may have been the author’s intention from the beginning, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say the publisher wanted a two-book deal, therefore this became a duology with a blindside finale in the first installment. And I don’t mean that in a good way. As mentioned above, the relationship between Kochin and Nhika felt contrived. Therefore, the exclamations of love where meh. To have Nhika die at the end due tpo her love for Kochin, and in the most inane of ways, dropped my rating BIG TIME. Especially considering the fact that it’s the Congmi household that failed her time and again. I truly am excited to read Lee’s next projects, but I’m not certain I’m interested in finishing this one. I may just pretend that Nhika ended up being fine, that Dr. Santo got his comeuppance, and that our heroine rode off into the sunset with Kochin. End of story.

Content Note

Animal abuse and animal death perpetrated by minor characters and main characters.

Instances of guns being fired at main/minor characters with the intent to hinder or maim, and some instances are successful. Instances of guns being fired at main/minor characters with the intent to kill, and some of these instances are successful.

There is an on-page POV character death.

You can find more content warnings at the Trigger Warning Database.

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