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lbelow's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Colonisation, Blood, Sexual content, Cursing, and Alcohol
Moderate: Gun violence, Murder, Gore, and Death
Minor: Vomit and Torture
aecatec's review against another edition
- 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: Racism, Violence, and Murder
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, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, and Death
Moderate: Child death, War, Cannibalism, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Confinement, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcohol, Kidnapping, Racism, Torture, Grief, Animal death, Slavery, and Cursing
deedireads'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? It's complicated
4.25
TL;DR REVIEW:
The Faithless, sequel to The Unbroken, is a pretty good book two. I found the pacing a little uneven, but the ending was great and I’m looking forward to book three.
For you if: You read and liked The Unbroken (lesbians + magic + dismantling colonialism).
FULL REVIEW:
Thank you, Orbit, for the review copy of The Faithless! This is the second book of C.L. Clark’s Magic of the Lost trilogy, the first of which (The Unbroken) I enjoyed a lot. I liked this one a lot, too.
To recap without spoilers, the Magic of the Lost trilogy is about two countries, Qazāl (colony) and Balladaire (colonizer), which are inspired by a historical Morocco and France. Tourraine begins The Unbroken as a Qazāl conscript in the Balladairan army. Luca is the princess of Balladaire, waiting until she’s old enough to be crowned while her uncle rules as regent. Also, the Qazāli have a magic rooted in their faith, while Balladaire has outlawed all religion (and magic). The Unbroken takes place in Qazāl and focuses on the Qazālis’ rebellion, and The Faithless picks up a few months later and mostly takes place in Balladaire. (Also yes, these books are very sapphic.)
My main criticism — although it’s not a loud one — is that I found the pacing uneven. All the action happens in the second half, especially the last 20% or so. (That’s pretty common for a second book; the author has resolved the first big plot arc and turns their attention to deeper character development.) But while I was impatient for more action, I can also say that I was never bored. I loved getting to know our main characters better and some characters (Sabine! Pruett!) for the first time.
But overall, I remain deeply impressed by Clark’s nuanced depiction of colonialism and how hard it is to disentangle it — to overthrow from a rebellion’s perspective, to dismantle from the inside, and to undo its effects on how people see themselves and each other. I can’t wait to see where the story goes in the trilogy’s final book.
Graphic: Colonisation, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent
rjtheodore'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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, War, Vomit, Alcohol, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Sexual content, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping
purrson's review against another edition
- 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
While The Unbroken (which is told through either Luca or Touraine’s eyes) is heavy with the work of laying down foundations and building rich, complex characters trying to survive constant complex trauma—and adds beautiful world-building, magic, and cultures that feel familiar but are different enough to be fantastical—it never flinches from the depth and breadth of colonialism and all the harm it brings. The Faithless builds well on that base, so when our main characters are far from home we still feel the pressures of those strong personalities and the vibrant homeland counting on their success. That’s helped along by shifting the perspective throughout the book more frequently than The Unbroken; while we’re still mainly given the story through Luca or Touraine’s perspectives, at times The Faithless gives Aranen, Pruett, or even Fili the lead, and we’re privy to their thoughts and feelings. Those shifts help The Faithless’ plot feel as if it moves faster, as it introduces more moving parts without sacrificing any depth or detail. The machinations our protagonists work to uncover and survive are constantly spinning, even on the last page, which just builds my excitement for Book 3. The villains are both straightforwardly evil but are also unreliable narrators throughout; they present different faces to different characters, but there’s also a sense that things are going on behind their closed doors even we have yet to see. Some things they’ve hidden are revealed by the end, but some threads aren’t connected, some mysteries left unsolved for now.
This series is truly shines at representing the constant onslaught of colonialism and violent white supremacy and the bottomless hunger and violence of its adherents. We see how this structure harms everyone, even the colonizers themselves aren’t without their losses, and their working class in Balladaire is struggling and ripe for rebellion or political exploitation, or both. But the plot doesn’t lose itself in pity for the those at the top or even the middle of the heap, and focus is kept on the Qazāli; we’re led to understand a bit more of Touraine’s broken & bruised soul and her trauma, and what’s at stake for their future. All of the characters are complex—even the villains, with all the cruelty and dehumanization they show certain characters, have some depths beyond their evil.
Abuse—emotional, psychological, physical; systemic and familial—its all handled well in this series too. As Luca & Touraine come closer to unpacking their childhood experiences and finding themselves in their present, their growth makes me more excited about Book 3. The slow burn romance worked well too
Absolutely recommend ⭐️
Graphic: Murder, Racism, Classism, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Death, Violence, Blood, Gaslighting, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Child death
Queernormative worldbuilding, Queer romance, references to Polyamory, WLW romanceshelbyslifer's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Classism, Murder, Violence, War, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Death, and Confinement
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Vomit, Religious bigotry, Medical content, and Gore
ladymacbeth_1985'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
4.5
I received this arc from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
Like The Unbroken, The Faithless is an intricate, politically-focused, intrigue-based fantasy with two leading women who are both formidable in their own right.
Where The Unbroken had a ton of action and magic, this book takes a turn for the political. I read this book very quickly, despite it being a bit of chonker. I’m not as interested in the power plays of nobles, but the way Clark has crafted the city, its varying peoples, and its systems is incredibly intricate and enveloping. The world-building is astoundingly detailed - Balladaire is clearly based on France (the story is influenced by the colonial history of France and North Africa) but it also retains its own flavours of being a fantasy world. Clark does an amazing job taking elements of real history and blending it into her fantasy novel. This makes for a rich and immersive experience that feels like a real place.
One of my favourite elements of the world-building is the addition of what are clearly French Revolutionary aspects. As much as I like Luca, I’m also all for tearing down the aristocracy, so this part was really intriguing to me and I hope there will be more in book three.
The characters, as with last time, are excellent. Touraine, for being a badass, really has issues with her place in the world - which makes sense given her upbringing and her love of Luca. Touraine clearly loves things about Balladaire as much as she resents (rightfully so) their colonialism. Her struggle is very apparent and well done, as it addresses ideas of systemic problems which force complicity because there are no real practical solutions to these problems. This is seen in so many countries, including my own, where the effects of centuries of colonialism have created lingering effects that are so complex even those affected aren’t sure how to approach it.
I loved how Touraine has flaws when it comes to fighting - she’s not this perfect fighter who can pick up any weapon and kick ass with it. This aspect comes into play in this novel, and it’s so realistic. I also loved that she clearly has PTSD from the events of the last book - rarely in fantasy is this addressed, so that was fantastic. This truly is a realism-based fantasy through and through, despite the magic aspects.
Luca is not much different from book one - she’s outwardly strong but inwardly struggling. The best parts between these two women are their attraction and emotion towards one another and how they wrestle with it for different reasons. Their love story is big part of the plot but it’s not overly “romancey” which was great.
The side characters are wonderful. Pruett is my favourite. She’s tough and rough around the edges - she’s bitter and angry and full of grit. Ghadin and Sabine were also fun.
The best character is Sevroush, though, the pet vulture. I loved him. So fun!
The fight scenes, while few and far between in this novel, are well-described and exciting. Clark has a grittiness to her fights that remind me of Joe Abercrombie in a way or even Kameron Hurley in that they focus on the not-so-pretty aspects of anatomy and wounds.
There was a bit of pacing issue throughout the novel though, as things progressed but I never really felt any urgency on the face of it. Perhaps there isn’t supposed to be, but this led to a lack of tension in certain parts of the novel. I was still fully engaged, as the book is so rich, but the plot meanders a bit at times.
The prose itself is much like the story - realistic and grounded. There’s not a lot of pithy metaphors or elegiac sentences, but this works for this novel. There’s a lot going on, so concise language works well here.
Overall, I enjoyed The Faithless even more than The Unbroken, and I really look forward to book 3. Thank you again to Orbit for the e-arc.
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Child death
laurareads87's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Racism, War, Child death, Death, Murder, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Confinement, Gun violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Grief, Blood, and Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent