Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - The Unbroken

Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark

31 reviews

melliedm's review

dark tense slow-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

Overall a fantastic read, and I’m looking forward to reading the sequel. There were times that the pacing felt strange, and some of the action sequences were confusing to read. I am also not entirely sold on the romance subplot, but I’m open to seeing how it shapes up by the series’ end.

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julesadventurezone's review

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challenging reflective 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 first 200 pages were very slow and the characters could've been more vibrant, but I did like the later half and also Touraine's arc.
Also I the entire time I was reading kept thinking about how this and the Locked Tomb Series has a lot of similarities but that was a lot more compelling to me than this.

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katclaybaugh's review

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adventurous hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

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sofipitch's review

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dark 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

The characters are interesting, the themes are good. Occasionally explainy or clunky but overall good. Tourraine's struggle to find her place after being displaced from her homeland, the way she is not fully a part of either, and how she keeps fucking up trying to work with either were well done and really hit. Also just fun fucked up romance subplot. Good mommy issues subplot. A lot of the character arcs and work blended really well with the overall plot. How Luca wanted to be "a good ruler" but for so long couldn't see how that conflicted with being a colonialist ruler. The big flaw of this is the default no gender or sexuality power dynamics, because it smooths out the race and colonialism ones, making things less complicated. But regardless still well done especially compared to other stuff I read *cough * Baru Cormorant *cough *What more can I say other than sign me up for the sequel, although I think this would work fine as a stand alone

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brukneem's review

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adventurous challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

Amazing characters, an intricate plot, deception, betrayal, and so much more. This book was utterly amazing and I can't wait to read book 2!

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distraughtplant's review

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adventurous dark hopeful tense medium-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

4.25

The Unbroken gripped my heart in my chest and dug in its nails and left it in shreds and only just barely mended it together again. Which is strikingly similar to the quote on the front page, but thats exactly what it feels like. That piece of praise sold me on this book, and by Shāl did C.L. Clark deliver.

The main issue I found in this book is that we could've had more insight and "behind the scenes" looks at why the Luca and Tourraine especially make the decisions they do. Sometimes decisions are made that don't feel like they ever have space to be processed because we glaze over the internal processes and struggles of the characters.

However! I loved this book. The Unbroken is loyalty and betrayal and heartbreak and revolution and political pressures and magic and a little bit of lust. It is gorgeous and heart wrenching and real. There are no moments any characters actions felt rushed or out of place. I love this book for it's perfect pacing, it's immaculate queer representation (and non binary representation! I NEED to see more of Niwai and their lioness). I love it most for it's many showcases of the complexities around human emotions and thought processes and why people may do the things they do. I also love it for it's calculated witholdings of full explanation. Humans don't always even know why they've done something, just that it feels it's the right way, or the only option. I love The Unbroken for it's raw depictions of humanity, which will stick with me long after the images of blood, shit, and gore fade away.

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