Blood and Sand by C.V. Wyk – Review

Published: January 16, 2018

Publisher: Tor Teen

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction

Series: Blood and Sand #1

Pages: 320 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 4.5/5.0

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

FORGED IN BATTLE…
FROM THE DUST OF THE ARENA…
A LEGEND WILL RISE

The action-packed tale of a 17-year-old warrior princess and a handsome gladiator who dared take on the Roman Republic―and gave rise to the legend of Spartacus…

For teens who love strong female protagonists in their fantasy and historical fiction, Blood and Sand is a stirring, yet poignant tale of two slaves who dared take on an empire by talented debut author C. V. Wyk.

Roma Victrix. The Republic of Rome is on a relentless march to create an empire―an empire built on the backs of the conquered, brought back to Rome as slaves.

Attia was once destined to rule as the queen and swordmaiden of Thrace, the greatest warrior kingdom the world had seen since Sparta. Now she is a slave, given to Xanthus, the Champion of Rome, as a sign of his master’s favor. Enslaved as a child, Xanthus is the preeminent gladiator of his generation.

Against all odds, Attia and Xanthus form a tentative bond. A bond that will spark a rebellion. A rebellion that threatens to bring the Roman Republic to its end―and gives rise to the legend of Spartacus…

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As I read more and more books I’ve become somewhat wary of the YA genre and I think part of that is due to the incredible hype surrounding so many of the new releases. Bookstagrammers incessantly promote upcoming releases with their elegantly posed shots of coveted ARCs, cover reveals, snazzy portrayals of previous books and gushing posts about their love for the authors. Merely scrolling through these pictures and their accompanying blurbs has misled me into buying (or requesting) some genuinely awful books. Pretty covers and media hype can lie very easily which has made me try to be more discerning when requesting or accepting ARCs of not only YA, but adult SFF as well. This is one case where I’m really glad I jumped on the blog tour train when Tor Teen reached out to me with the offer of a Blood and Sand ARC.

It seems as if gladiators are having an upswing in literary popularity lately – they featured prominently in Godsgrave, The Valiant was a book about a female gladiator, and now Blood and Sand has joined the fun. The main character Attia isn’t a gladiator herself, but rather the now enslaved Maedi warrior princess who was given to the Champion of Rome as a gift. Xanthus (the Champion) is himself a slave, though because he brings glory and status to his owner, he has earned some luxuries not afforded to others. He’s surprisingly humble for one with such renown and I liked him almost instantly. I also liked Attia, though I thought she seemed a little too free to wander about and do whatever she liked to be a convincing slave. Though I’ve read that Roman household slaves often had the best living conditions of all Roman slaves, I feel as though the author still rounded off some of the harsh edges in this book. Perhaps it’s because it’s geared towards a YA audience?

I was actually really impressed with the storyline of Blood and Sand and would have to say it’s one of the better YA books I’ve read this year. When a book starts off with breaking legs, flying punches, and doomed flight through Rome, you know it’s going to be good. After this sudden and violent beginning, things slow down just a bit but in a good way. Attia and Xanthus are thrust together, neither wanting to be in the situation they’re in and after a while they come to terms with their situation and become friends. There was no insta-love, and while Attia was excellent in combat, she didn’t pick up the skills in 48 hours or less as seems to happen in many YA books. Hers were earned and she’s given a history to back this up – her people were warriors and she was to be their warrior queen.

Overall, Blood and Sand really impressed me with its quality of both characters and plot. It definitely retains some of the common YA tropes, but they aren’t so painfully obvious and are executed with a defter hand than many other authors seem to possess. Congrats to C.V. Wyk for writing a book that I would actually consider recommending to friends that don’t read young adult fantasy. Without a doubt, I’ll be looking forward to more information about the sequel and can’t wait to see where that journey takes us readers!