Publisher: Extasy Books
Read in: English
Review copy format: epub
The courage of a warrior is a must on their new path, or they’ll never grasp their happily ever after.
Blurb
Just when eighteen-year-old Billy Redsky believes he’s holding his happily ever after in the palm of his hand, he must practice what he’s learned in ceremony to face two more tests—share with the world his love for René, and let go of the past.
But that’s not so easy. René is terrified of exposing their secret to anyone but his family. As for Billy’s brother, he has no intention of changing his criminal ways.
Only a miracle can help Billy reach his final destination on the “red road” his Ojibway ancestors once walked. For his dream to come true, he must look deep inside himself and trust the creator he follows.
"Real Warriors" is the fourth volume in the "When We Were Young" series by Maggie Blackbird, one of YA's best and most ambitious series. The author once again showed us that she understands young people, their problems and is able to perfectly create young characters whose experiences, emotions and problems are a good reflection of what young people are struggling with in the real world. It should be mentioned that although Billy and René belong to the Ojibway tribe, many of their problems are very universal, which will allow each reader to see themselves in them. In this case, the "red road" Billy follows and the one chosen by René are also of great importance. After all, each of us has to decide sooner or later whether we want to follow the path of our ancestors, or whether we prefer to choose some other path. Some of these roads will be more demanding than others, more or less fair, open to people and their differences.
I think in this volume one of the really important and worth writing about topics is René's fear of revealing his feelings for Billy to people outside of his family. After all, when you overcome the first obstacle on the path to complete honesty with yourself and the world - that is, telling your family the truth about your feelings towards another person - it is time to come out of hiding and show your true self to others, to the world. And this is what can be the most stressful and difficult. After all, we can never be sure whether people will welcome us with open arms, and this is undoubtedly stressful. Especially when we can lose someone we care about or something we've worked hard for. Honesty with the world is like Russian roulette and not everyone wants to take part in it. However, René has no choice as he is put in a very difficult position, because his fear stands in the way of Billy's "red road". All those things make René's dilemmas really valuable for the readers, regardless of their age.
In "Real Warriors" the theme of Billy's family returns once again, which still constitutes a very important element of this novel and its value. Our hero has already broken out of the very difficult family situation he was in, and "came out of the closet" as a child from a pathological family. But now he has to come to terms with the past that he can't change, but which has changed him. If we analyze all the emotions we feel, we can easily come to the conclusion that the most vivid and difficult to forget are those with negative overtones, such as anger or even hatred, bitterness, a sense of betrayal. No wonder Billy finds it quite a challenge to come to terms with what has happened to him. Especially when the person guilty of his misfortune is not going to change. I think that today, when this world is so full of hate and lacks empathy, Billy's case will be even more important to the readers. After all, we can be hurt not only by the family, but also by friends from class, school or neighborhood, but this does not make it easier to forgive, forget, and live on.
To sum up, "Real Warriors" is another great, intelligent volume in this great series, which I really highly recommend to everyone, especially young adults. This novel is not only interesting to read, but it's also filled with important topics, substantial message and it's a signpost for those who will find a piece of themselves in the main characters of the series. In short, I highly recommend "Real Warriors" to you. You just have to read this story.
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Here's some more about:
When We Were Young series by Maggie Blackbird
I thought I saved you, but maybe you saved me too.
Series Blurb
At their Ojibway community, Billy Redsky, a drug-dealing punk, and René Oshawee, the chief’s haughty son, must walk the “red road” to finally confront their biggest fears: conquering the self-imposed obstacles in their path, if they are to have what they long for above anything else—to finally be together.
The stories need to be read in order. None of the books are standalones.
BOOK DETAILS
RECENT RELEASE - BOOK 4
Book Title: Real Warriors
Author: Maggie Blackbird
Publisher: Extasy Books
Length: 77 760 words/273 pages
Release Date: August 13, 2021
Genres: New Adult, multicultural, contemporary, LGBT romance
Tropes: First Time, Embracing Your Culture,
Themes: Coming out, coming of age, forgiveness
Heat Rating: 3 flames
Read an excerpt from Real Warriors here
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BOOK 3
Book Title: Knight Moves
Publisher: Extasy Books
Length: 75,000 words/269 pages
Release Date: April 16, 2021
Genre/s: Young Adult, New Adult, multicultural, contemporary, LGBT romance
Trope/s: Break His Heart to Save Him; Long Distance Love’ Tortured Heroes; Family Disapproval; Friends to lovers
Themes: Coming out, coming of age, forgiveness
Heat Rating: 2 flames
Although they’re torn apart, they still hold a piece of each other’s heart.
Blurb
After receiving his grade twelve diploma and marking his eighteenth birthday, René Oshawee cannot fight the temptation seventeen-year-old high school junior Billy Redsky blatantly offers now that what they share has become taboo.
When their secret romance is blown into the open, Billy’s foster parents send René to Toronto to complete the last of his schooling under the supervision of a family friend, leaving Billy behind at their Ojibway community.
Now Billy and René must make the biggest decision of their lives—fight for the true love they know they’ll never find with anyone else, or go their separate ways.
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BOOK 2
Book Title: Toy Soldiers
Publisher: Extasy Books
Cover Artist: Martine Jardin
Length: 70,349 words/244 pages
Release Date: October 2, 2020
Genres: Young Adult, multicultural, contemporary, LGBT romance
Tropes: Friends to Lovers; Forbidden Love; First Love; Betrayal
Themes: Coming of age, self-discovery
Heat Rating: 1 flame
Once a thief, always a thief, and if he can’t win the heart of the boy he loves, he’ll steal it.
Blurb
Billy Redsky’s made one of his biggest dreams come true, but there’s a problem. Even though the boy he loves is mere footsteps across the hall from his bedroom, they might as well live a country apart because claiming René Oshawee’s heart is more difficult than Billy anticipates.
Much to Billy’s disgust, René can’t accept his true self, so he’s incapable of loving someone else. And all he cares about is living a life the chief and his wife foresee for their youngest son.
If Billy is to finally have what he truly desires, he must stop René from running away from who he really is and face the man in the mirror, or what they share will never blossom into true love.
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BOOK 1
Book Title: Two Princes
Author: Maggie Blackbird
Publisher: Extasy Books
Cover Artist: Martine Jardin
Length: 67 345 words/235 pages
Release Date: Friday, June 12, 2020
Genres: Young Adult, multicultural, contemporary, LGBT romance
Tropes: Rich boy, poor boy; Popular boy, outcast; musician and artist
Heat Rating: 1 flame
Themes: Coming of age, self-discovery
To win over the chief’s haughty son, a drug-dealing punk from a dysfunctional family must risk the only two things he has: his reputation and freedom.
Blurb
Billy Redsky, a rebellious punk who loves art and nature, is saddled with a welfare-leeching, alcoholic mother and criminal older brother who are the joke of their Ojibway community. Sick and tired of being perceived as a loser, Billy deals drugs for his older brother to earn quick money. He hopes if he buys a dirt bike, he’ll finally impress the chief’s popular and aloof son, René Oshawee.
When the two are forced to serve detention together, a friendship blooms, but much to Billy’s frustration, René keeps putting him on ice. To make his biggest dream come true if he finally wants to call René his own, Billy must make a huge decision that could cost him everything.
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About the Author
An Ojibway from Northwestern Ontario, Maggie resides in the country with her husband and their fur babies, two beautiful Alaskan Malamutes. When she’s not writing, she can be found pulling weeds in the flower beds, mowing the huge lawn, walking the Mals deep in the bush, teeing up a ball at the golf course, fishing in the boat for walleye, or sitting on the deck at her sister’s house, making more wonderful memories with the people she loves most.
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Thank you very much for hosting me. And thank you very much for the kind review. I'm glad you enjoyed the final book and the whole series. :)
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