Bloodguard by Cecy Robson (ARC Review)

Title: Bloodguard
Author: Cecy Robson
Type: Fiction
Genre: Adult, Romantasy
Publisher: Red Tower Books
Date published: October 8, 2024

A complimentary physical copy was kindly provided by Kaye Publicity and Red Tower Books in exchange for an honest review.

Everything in the Kingdom of Arrow is a lie.

Leith of Grey thought coming to this new land and volunteering to fight in the gladiator arena—vicious, bloodthirsty tournaments where only the strongest survive—would earn him enough gold to save his dying sister. He thought there was nothing left to lose.

He was wrong—and they took everything. His hope. His freedom. His very humanity.

All Leith has left is his battle-scarred body, fueled by rage and hardened from years of fighting for the right to live another day.

Then Leith meets Maeve, an elven royal who is everything he despises. Everything he should hate. Until the alluring princess offers him the one thing he needs most: a chance to win the coveted title of Bloodguard—and his freedom.

But in a kingdom built on secrets and lies, hope doesn’t come cheap.

Nor will his ultimate revenge…

⤖ My Review ⬻

As much as I’d wanted to read books with gladiators before, I just hadn’t gotten around to it until I picked up Bloodguard. Perhaps what really drew me in was that this book had gladiators in a fantasy setting? That combo felt unique and full of potential—and Cecy Robson definitely delivered. I ended up caring about both the world and the characters quite a bit.

The synopsis did not prepare me for the amount of detail the author put into the world! There was an impressive amount—countries, cultures, politics. Everything felt very flushed out! I appreciated that Robson trusted the reader to keep up, and I never felt like the worldbuilding was info-dumped. Instead, it unfolded naturally as the story progressed. I thought that I would get bored of all the background info and want to focus more on the romance aspect of things, but I never found this to be the case.

Everything in Bloodguard was interwoven beautifully. The romance complemented the political and emotional arcs without overpowering them. That said, the pacing on the romance felt a little off to me—but it didn’t bother me so much because I was so into the rest of the elements of the story.

Goodreads says Bloodguard is the first book in a series but nothing has been announced yet about any other book or books. I would be very happy if at least one other book came out that’s set in this world! There’s still so much more I’d love to explore, and I can only hope Cecy Robson takes us back into her realm sometime very soon.