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laurajeangrace's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Colonisation, War, Vomit, Violence, Racism, Xenophobia, Death, and Confinement
Moderate: Medical content, Sexual assault, and Rape
risaleel's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Colonisation, Racism, Religious bigotry, Trafficking, War, Death, Police brutality, Xenophobia, and Violence
Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Addiction, Blood, Confinement, and Physical abuse
Minor: Alcohol, Gore, Vomit, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Animal death
solenekeleroux's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: War, Colonisation, Confinement, Blood, Murder, Slavery, Kidnapping, Racism, Violence, Death, and Gun violence
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Ableism, and Torture
vivavia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Medical trauma, Murder, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Blood, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Bullying, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Violence, Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Confinement, and Slavery
alexalily's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Classism, Medical content, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Violence, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Gore, Police brutality, Slavery, and War
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Torture, and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Excrement, Self harm, Vomit, Cursing, and Child abuse
leaflit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Blood, Racism, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Colonisation, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Alcohol, Child abuse, Genocide, Medical content, Outing, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness
griffinthief's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Chronic illness, Cursing, Blood, Emotional abuse, Grief, War, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Vomit, Torture, Classism, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality
Moderate: Ableism and Suicide
theirgracegrace's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Abandonment, Cursing, Death, Confinement, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Excrement, Alcoholism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Violence, War, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Stalking, Torture, and Sexual assault
Minor: Cultural appropriation and Pregnancy
tahsintries's review
4.5
Graphic: Colonisation
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death of parent, Child death, Confinement, and Racism
Minor: Rape
elwirax's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
"You’ll have to fight for one side or the other. Why not fight for the side that gives you freedom?”
“Because I can fight for the side that’s winning.”
“We pray for rain,” Touraine said. “No.” Jaghotai squeezed Touraine’s arm tightly. “Be the rain.”
The unbroken was a rather slow paced book of which I had to start the first 100 pages 3 times before I finally got into it. Despite this, it was a wonderful tale of political intrigue with prime focus on racism and colonialism interwoven into a culturally rich world influenced by French, Algerian and Moroccan relations.
I want to start off by commenting on the main characters. Touraine was an interesting character to follow- not the most likeable but her way of thinking as a colonised person was disturbing to read about to say the least. By the end she developed and grew yet, I really wanted to like her more.Touraine was a messy character and although I can't complain too much as this showed her complexity and struggles, she couldn't make up her mind and never seemed to make the right decisions which caused unnecessary turmoil and death. I had much of the same issues with Luca but found her the most unlikeable as she never showed an ounce of growth and progressively got worse. It's important to allow character to make mistakes even if they'll ultimately have terrible consequences and let them have morally grey intents especially in a setting with so much conflict. Yet, to some extent it made me feel distant from these characters as at points I couldn't grasp why they would act in the ways they did as they'd suddenly change their core beliefs. I appreciated Touraine's complex relationship with her mother and liked many of the side characters, unfortunately, they didn't recieve nearly as much development as Touraine and Luca which made their motives fall flat at times.
One of the main reasons I decided to pick up The Unbroken was because of the sapphic romance. Unfortunately, I was dissapointed by the romance between Touraine and Luca partly because there wasn't any development and mostly because it was a coloniser- colonised romance which I wasn't aware of when starting the book. This wasn't too detrimental to my enjoyment as it wasn't meant to be the main plot point nor something to really be romanticised.
The feeling of being distant from the characters and the world building world is partially attributed to the writing style. There was a lot of telling rather than showing particularly at the start and some of the dialogue seemed rather juvenile. However, this seemed to gradually get better throughout the course of the book and for a debut I can't fault it too much.
Additionally, there were times in the second half where it would say or suggest that a character is dead but then they weren't which I just found a bit confusing. I couldn't keep up with who was actually dead and who wasn't because it seemed to contradict itself. I also thought that there were scenes (particularly in the last 10%) that were a bit too convenient so the ending seemed contrived and rushed.
Lastly, I would like to comment on the religious aspects of this book. I wasn't a fan of the whole "atheists are the bad ones and believers are the good ones" narrative. It left a bad taste in my mouth especially as I was anticipating an atheistic fantasy world for a change which evidently wasn't the case. However, for some other readers this may not be an issue.
Overall, The Unbroken had a very ambitious concept that didn't fully meet my expectations. However, it was particularly strong thematically which I believe is its greatest merit. The conversation about colonialism and rebellion was brutal and honest and is definitely one that is a must to discuss. I must admit that the political intrigue was my favourite part of this book as it was so complex and interesting. The characters were developed well and all incited a range of (often warring) emotions such as sympathy or dislike and added to the complexity of the overarching theme (bonus points for all the LGBTQ+ rep ).While my review and rating may seem negative, I am highly anticipating Clark's continuation and other future works.
Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Death, Confinement, Torture, Murder, and Colonisation
Moderate: War and Sexual harassment
Minor: Suicidal thoughts