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silentquercus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Colonisation, Confinement, Gore, Blood, Death, Police brutality, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Excrement, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Death of parent
angiepoggi'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
3.5
However, I didn't like the pace. It was slow (which I don't have a problem with) but boring. It took a long time for things to happen and there's a lot of time spent just talking, for example, until halfway through the book, about 245 pages, we were still building the narrative. Not to mention that, when some type of action could've happen, being running around or the characters discovering a secret on their own, a character immediately tells them everything and resolves the possible conflict quickly. Also, after halfway through the book, the pacing becomes very inconsistent, with the ending, the very end, very rushed, but that part didn't bother me as much.
Now, I didn't like one of the main characters, Touraine. She makes some decisions that made me so ANGRY AAA and they didn't make any sense, I mean, in theory they could've made for her, but the author didn't build much of a foundation for it. For example, in relation to the development of this character, I know the points the author wanted to reach in Touraine's journey, but there were none to few scenes to justify the key changes in her head.
Even with all these reservations, I'm still curious to read the second one. I heard that it's a different vibe and that the pacing is better balanced.
Anyway, I recommend this book if you want to read a fantasy that talks about colonialism with a lot of queers. There are a lot of people who love it, including a friend who wanted me to read it, so I think it's worth giving it a chance.
Graphic: Racism, Physical abuse, Violence, War, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Hate crime, Colonisation, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Murder, Body horror, Blood, Kidnapping, Gore, Emotional abuse, Genocide, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Sexual assault, Vomit, Mental illness, Torture, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Grief
Minor: Animal death and Pregnancy
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Gun violence, Colonisation, Blood, Slavery, Gore, Religious bigotry, Racism, Violence, Death, War, Chronic illness, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, Hate crime, Classism, Kidnapping, Animal death, Vomit, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Cursing
heather667'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: War, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Chronic illness, Grief, Police brutality, Racism, Violence, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Torture, and Vomit
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, and Excrement
Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Murder, Sexual assault, Abandonment, and Rape
lanid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Colonisation, War, Racism, Police brutality, and Violence
Minor: Blood, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual harassment, Ableism, and Body horror
distraughtplant's review against another edition
- 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 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.
Graphic: Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Gore, Racism, Death, Colonisation, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Grief, Slavery, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
Minor: Alcohol, Confinement, Chronic illness, Cannibalism, and Animal death
talonsontypewriters'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
Graphic: Murder, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Blood, Classism, Confinement, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racism, and War
Moderate: Chronic illness, Torture, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Ableism, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Pandemic/Epidemic, Trafficking, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Vomit, Death of parent, Sexual content, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
Execution by hanging. Power imbalance in relationship (representative of colonizing government/colonized subject).nerdy_reader_9571'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
4.25
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, War, Torture, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Gun violence, Confinement, and Colonisation
Moderate: Body horror, Alcohol, and Death
alittleoverrated's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
But I am better at complaining than telling you its good.
I will give the book a slight pass on my first problem, which was what felt like a clumsily fast pacing because I listened to the book on 1.25x speed like three days straight while getting distracted at work, so sub optimal listening conditions. But still, I felt like I was being jerked around to the next thing pretty quickly with very little breathing room to get used to the characters in their current state and understand what they were feeling before they changed their mind an moved on to the next new thought. WHICH THEY DID A LOT, like i love these character but they could not stick to their convictions on anything. Touraine is boasted as a loyal to a fault solider, who betrays a different set of people like every five chapters. I get the character growth she was going through, I get the conflict of WHY, what I don't get is the doubling back multiple times. I was just a little tired of the constant back and forth by the end.
Also, Like I heard someone else mention in a review, the romance was not given enough time to slowburn at ALL before they were suppose to enemies again. There wasn't a strong enough foundation for the story they were trying to sell.
Anyways, just got the 2nd book in from the library and I'm going to devour it because why? say it with me folks. I really like this series anyways.
(Also, overused word of the book is bowels, which is just frankly the worst.)
Graphic: Blood, Death, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Excrement, Gore, Murder, and War
risaleel's review against another edition
- 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