Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - The Unbroken

Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

booksthatburn's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

THE UNBROKEN is a tale of colonialization, uprising, and a stolen child returning to her homeland as a conscripted soldier ordered to bring it to heel. Touraine is one of the Sands, the term for Qazāli people stolen as children and raised to be soldiers by the Balladaire. This puts her in the position of being used to enforce restrictions on the people she came from. Events early in the book remove her from the Sands, the people she's lived with, fought alongside, and bled with all her life to instead be in service to princess Luca. The rest of the book explores Touraine's confused attempts to figure out what she wants and what she's willing to die for, as well as Luca's desperate attempts to hold on to power through the slim thread of her uncle's distant regard and her subordinates' loyalty. One of the strengths of THE UNBROKEN is it highlights the way that someone who is marginalized in their own group but has power and privilege over another group often uses that relative power to gain a sense of control by oppressing someone else. Luca's physical disability and precarious political position lead her to make harsher choices in order to not appear weak, something that would probably be less on her mind if she weren't constantly worried about people mistaking her physical impairment for lack of will.

The tension between Luca and Touraine is very well handled, as throughout the story their dynamic as a pair constantly shifts, but they're never quite on the same page about the nature of their relationship. It showed over and over how no matter how attracted they might be to each other, the gulf of power between Luca's position and Touraine's means that it's impossible to trust any "Yes" from Touraine when Luca can have her tortured or killed for a "No". This affects everything from their mutual attraction to the treatment of the Sands to the handling of the rebels.

I love the portrayal of the Qazāli rebels, I can't discuss much there without spoilers but they were dynamic as a group and as individuals, each with their own reactions to Touraine and Luca's various intrusions on their lives, as well as the reality of life under Balladaire's oppressive colonial rule.

I'm looking forward to the sequel, I'm a little worried that it'll only get worse for the characters from here but I want to know what happens next.

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bookishbutch's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

You know that one Lady Gaga GIF where it's her going "amazing incredible never the same etc."? That's me at this book. Man oh man was this a brilliant debut that literally left me breathless. I'm not even sure how to describe this book besides absolutely stunning. If you love political fantasies that tackle colonialism, imperialism, racisms, found family, a unique magic system, lovable, complex characters and a very messy wlw relationship then I highly, highly recommend this book.

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laurareads87's review

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

The Unbroken is a fantasy novel with a setting inspired by French colonial occupation in Northern Africa with two POV characters: Touraine, who was stolen as a child and taken to Balladaire where she is raised to fight for the colonial power occupying her homeland, and Luca, a princess of Balladaire given power in occupied Qazāl and desperate to prove her competence so she can take the Balladairan throne. The plot follows both characters' (and other characters') political maneuvering and shifting loyalties in the context of a rapidly growing rebellion. Overall, I really liked this novel + will definitely read the next book in the series. I thought many of the characters were very well developed + particularly appreciated Touraine's perspective; I hope that some of the more peripheral characters get more focus in the sequel. I also thought that the book was well written - the action scenes especially - and that the political intrigue was compelling. I appreciated that sexual diversity is the norm in the world of this book -- many characters are lgbtq+ but this itself is not a plot point -- and that women being in positions of power is also the norm here. I will note that while both Touraine and Luca (and a number of other characters) are queer and a number of reviews describe the book as sapphic, it ought not be construed a romance; there is an extreme power difference here (Luca has the power to deem Touraine's life forfeit given that Touraine is her empire's property) which negates consent. While the characters are both individually complex and well-developed, their relationship did not feel that way to me; I could not wrap my head around how

both their decision-making processes were so deeply impacted by their personal relationship, which consisted of some moments of tension and of Luca sexualizing Touraine,

and ultimately wish that the suggestion of chemistry between them had just been left out entirely.

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cerilouisereads's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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fruitea's review

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dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

i don't really know how to describe this book. it was so different to the other kinds of books i read (in a good way!!) and really made me reflect on a lot of things. particularly touraine - she's such a complex character and you really get to see her inner conflict with herself. to be honest, i feel like i'd spoil it too much if i explained further. this book will make you think a lot about things society has kind of swept under the rug.

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mandkips's review

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adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

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thoughtsstained's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

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? It's complicated

5.0

Likes

Touraine and the rest of the characters. For me, a book's characters make or break it. This cast within The Unbroken was so good that they didn't break the book. They broke me, instead. Touraine inspires me and frustrates me and baffles me and amazes me. Luca infuriates me and makes me want to shake her shoulders until she listens. And then you have a cast of secondary characters who I am attached to, broken by, opinionated about and have VERY intense feelings. Also, character arcs? Clark invented them, because these are MASTERFUL.
A complex plot that doesn't shy away. If you've heard anything about this book, you've probably heard that it is a story that faces the consequences of colonialism head on and doesn't stop to make sure the readers are comfortable reading, instead digging down deep and showing you the truth in all of it's complexities. Yet, at the same time, it's so layered and becomes more and more complex the further along the book goes and just...wow. Wow.
So hard to put down. Like, friends, it's been so long since I snuck in reading time wherever I could find it. From staying up too late and becoming a zombie the next day to sneaking in just one more chapter in-between meetings at work; to today, damned and determined to find out how this book ends, only to have my partner walk into the bathroom and ask if I'd noticed that the water had almost drained out of our bathtub while I read (I had and I was shivering, but I couldn't just get up; I only had 30 pages left!).
QUEERNORM WORLD. I loved this so, so much. Also, seeing bi characters on the page just warmed my heart in ways I haven't really experienced yet.

Dislikes

That it ended? That I don't know what the letter contains? That I don't have arms like Touraine in real life!?

Rating

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint. In fact, it's my second five gem read of the year. Don't sleep on this, friends. It's so good.

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camilleareads's review

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dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I RECEIVED AN E-COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM THE PUBLISHER AND CAFFEINE BOOK TOURS AS PART OF MY PARTICIPATION IN THEIR TOUR.

I have a booktube channel now! Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_2HOrfaOEyrLQRk8iYZjaw

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark is heavily influenced by the French colonization in Northern Africa. Firstly, I love how fantasy writers are exploring these historical atrocities in detail. From the Qazal slums to Balladaire’s rich district, Balladaire has destroyed the Qazal way of life not only by the land they stole but also the children who were stolen and the erasure of religion.

Touraine returns to Qazal as a Lieutenant and despite being a native of Qazal, all Touraine can feel is disgust. To her, the natives are uncivilized and her “education” as a soldier sets her apart. This internalised racism and Touraine’s development is one of the core themes of The Unbroken. Touraine was stolen as a child and fed propaganda against her own country, so her return is not

I found Luca’s narrative especially compelling. Her own racism and privilege is so clearly read but tied up in these beliefs that she is doing good. But let’s be clear here: Luca wants to do good by her people and this does not include the Qazal.

The Unbroken explores how the effects of colonization cannot be outdone by a few good intentions. Luca can choose to raise the pay of the Sands or reach out to the rebels but like, Touraine said, at the end of the day, Luca and the Balladairans occupied land that was not theirs. They took and took from the natives and thought that by employing them or building a school would be a good enough bargain. Truly though, what is a good enough reparation for the lives they took, the land they desecrated and the religions they banned?

I love how complicated the characters were from Touraine’s own internalized racism to her confusion about being her identity. As a biracial, I could relate to some of Touraine’s emotions. I understood what it was like to feel unwelcomed, to feel othered, but not the experience of someone who had been stolen away and used against their people. You could tell with the way Touraine felt about wanting to learn Shalan and how it resonated with her. There is something so heart wrenching of hearing your native language and even when you don’t understand it at times, it fills the blood. It caresses your memories and pulls you in.

The worldbuilding in The Unbroken was so fascinating. I love how the author integrated language, architecture and the history of the land. The world of The Unbroken was so full of life. IT wasn’t just a description of Qazal’s architecture but the author actually showed readers how things like a building or clothing are changed when a country is colonized. Personally, I also liked that through Luca we find out some of the policies like food rations, the Sands and how public approval swayed political decisions.

You can find me at
Camillea Reads: camilleareads.wordpress.com
Twitter & Instagram: @camilleareads

Listen to bookish discussions and stay updated on the upcoming author interviews on my podcast Totes and Tales: https://anchor.fm/totesandtails

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achingallover's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

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montereads's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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