Reviews with content warning for Blood - That Self-Same Metal

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

That Self-Same Metal by Brittany N. Williams

15 reviews

scrubsandbooks's review

Unfortunately not my cup of tea nor am I the audience for this anyway. There were some parts that were pretty interesting so if you love to see young Black teens in theatre during Elizabethan times fighting fae, you might like this. The writing just didn’t connect me.

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reviewsandreadathons's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful fast-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

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sup3r_xn0va_maya's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

💬:“Bia slithered into Joan’s hand, the blade vibrating at the thought of spilling more blood. Joan spread her stance and glanced around the empty street."

Williams, Brittany N.. That Self-Same Metal (The Forge & Fracture Saga, Book 1) (p. 82). Abrams. Kindle Edition.

📖Genres: fiction, teens, young adult, historical fiction, historical, romance

📚Page Count: 344

🎧Audiobook Length: 10hrs 31mins

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️ 2.75/5

That Self-Same Metal is a young adult historical action novel by Brittany N. Williams. This story has Orishas (or African Deities), acting, sword fighting, fae, and Shakespeare. The main character, Joan Sands, works for William Shakespeare's acting company with her twin brother James. Joan has the power to shapeshift metal (she keeps this a secret from everyone but her family) and she uses that ability to maintain the weapons on the play stage. After Joan kills a high ranking fae and saves a terrible man's son, the action in the book begins to start. (this happens around the 30% mark in the book.)

I found the action to be slow starting, the main plot of the

treaty being broken

didn't occur until around 25% of the novel. I also found the setting to be really boring, unfortunately. Most of the time the main characters are at the acting house or at Joan Sand's family home. I just didn't get that feeling of excitement or even interest while reading this. I only finished it because it was a buddy ready with a friend.

Overall, I think the concept was interesting but I found the execution didn't quite pique my interest. I'm going to give this 2.75 out of 5 stars
⭐️⭐️.75

I listened to this audiobook for free on [Libbyapp.com]

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bkwrm1317's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-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

Williams’ debut is super solid. A young Black femme (Joan Sands) is part of the crew for the King’s Men in 1605. She is Ogun’s chosen vessel and has magical powers as a result that could put her, the company, and her family in grave danger.

One performance, Joan has to reveal her powers in order to save her fellow company members from a Fae who has decided to attack her and sick other fae spirits on her as well. Joan successfully fights them off with help but ends up ensnared in something much larger as a result.

Joan’s wit slices sharp as a blade and Williams’ prose is seamless.

A great little page turner based loosely on true historical events in 1605 London (minus the fae as fact). I’ll be looking forward to more of Joan’s adventures and am keen to find out if she does indeed get both Nick and Rose’s affections in the end without having to choose between them - as Williams reminds readers in the historical note, queer and non-white people were very much present in 1605 London.

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mattyb's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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? No

4.75

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oldandnewbooksmell's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Trigger Warnings: racism (including blackface), sexism, murder, violence

Sixteen-year-old Joan Sands is a “gifted” craftswoman who creates and upkeeps the stage blades for William Shakespeare’s acting company. Joan’s gift comes from a magical ability she was blessed with from her Head Orisha, Ogun. Because her entire family is Orisha-blessed, they’ve kept tabs on the Fae presence in London. Usually, they just see a faint glow around a Fae’s body as they try their best to blend in with regular society. After a pack has been broken though, the rise of brutal Fae attacks has risen. After saving the son of a cruel Lord from a Fae attack, Joan gets thrusted into the political world of humans and Fae.

The writing really shows the author’s background in theater and acting and of the historical time period (including the treatment of Black people living in London, which I hadn’t known about).

Some of the parts didn’t interest me as much, but I did really enjoy the fight scenes as I felt like they were well written. There could have been a lot going on, but I would never feel like I was lost but rather right in the middle of swords swinging around.

Overall, this was a fun and action-packed YA fantasy with an alternative history twist. I can see YA fantasy readers and those who love theater enjoying this book with the twist of Shakespeare. I will definitely be keeping my eyes out for the next book in the series to continue with Joan and her story.

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