Reviews with content warning for Violence - Swordheart

I'm having a tough time figuring out how to review this book. I'd say overall, if the premise is interesting to you or you enjoy T. Kingfisher, its worth giving a shot, but its definitely not my favorite of her books.

My primary issue with it is how Halla is described and treated by the author, especially considering the author is a woman herself. There are a huge amount of mentions of Halla's breasts or wide hips, and of a male character noticing them while she remains either unaware of or derogatory of them. Its deeply off putting. I don't mind descriptions of a characters body, especially given this is a romance novel, but her breasts/hips are mentioned more often than every other physical characteristic she has combined, and that's not an exaggeration. This weird over-sexualisation of her body is combined with a complete naivete - despite clearly being aware of and having had sex before, there are multiple occasions where she is either completely flustered by or completely unaware of sexual situations. This is especially weird interspersed with commentary about how 'middle aged' and 'worldly' she is. Its just a weird choice to advertise a character as more experienced and then also bank on the exploitative sexualisation of a naive woman.

Sarkis wasn't great either. He repeatedly drones on and on about how lackluster the men of the land are and how they don't appreciate or treat women properly, all while repeatedly leering at Halla's tits and imagining having sex with her while she is assumingly unaware. There are a few occasions where the book shows him acting like a normal human being -

ie, not telling Halla what she can and cannot wear because an outfit is too revealing, treating a prostitute with basic human decency

- and its sort of treated with a gravitas that shows the author is trying to show him as particularly 'better'. On another occasion

he, after commentating how it wouldn't be appropriate or entirely consensual because she is dependent on him to stay alive, kisses Halla without asking or even any sign of reciprocal interest on her part. Given that thus far we're supposed to think hes particularly gallant or whatever it just felt super out of place and a little gross.

ASIDE from the main characters though, this book was great. Zale was a fantastic character and I really enjoyed their entire arc and backstory. The lore and world building was so interesting and I liked it enough that I'll probably give the series this is a spin-off of a go. The various religious institutes combating one another was a great addition as well. The scenes set in the vanishing hills absolutely stood out from the rest of the book -

the prose and the tension was so much better and really shows that T. Kingfisher's specialty is in horror.

Plot wise there were definitely bits that worked better than others.

The main plot got a bit tiresome, especially given they went up and down the same goddamn road like 3 times. But smaller sections like having to hide the bodies of the two priests were really well done bits of humor and tension.

Overall, while I did enjoy some of it, it was overshadowed by the awkward, weird main characters and their awkward, weird interactions with one another.

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rachelgreenreads's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This was such a delight. Kingfisher is such a fun storyteller, and her FMCs are just yummy. The characters were very lovable, and the stakes very low; I’d consider this a cozy fantasy.

I really hope she makes this a trilogy as stated in the author’s note.

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lovelylibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.0

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alybark's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Meh. Could’ve used more birds screaming death prophecies. If I read the word “decadent” again I may lose my mind.

There were definitely parts that I found funny and I enjoyed the first half of the book. It was ultimately too long and I found myself bored with the characters and plot. I picked this one up blindly after it was recommended to me, so I did not realize it was a romance. The romance had many tropes that I did not like, which is purely a subjective thing.

That said, I was definitely bothered by the treatment of the Asexual character of the MC’s late husband. There are non-binary characters and LGTBQ seems to be accepted in most of the cultures, but the author failed hard with Halla’s ex-husband. His lack of interest in sex is spoken of as a failure of all men and it just did not seem necessary to denigrate a (dead) character to show how attracted Sarkis was to Halla. This also felt like a weird plot device so the FMC could be virginal while still being a widow who had sex before.

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hannaws's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

“What would you say if I tortured you?" asked the bandit leader conversationally.
Halla blinked at him. "Err, 'Ow,' probably. 'Stop, Stop, Stop,' something like that?" *What a bizarre question. What does he expect me to say?*”

I think Swordheart falls under the cozy fantasy genre. I had never heard of that before booktok and I think this book is exactly it. I also think it is not for me. I'm more of the faster and rougher content, you know?

I liked Halla's character very much. Though she didn't necessarily struck me as a someone whom is middle aged, more like someone in their early twenties at max. But I couldn't help to stop thinking that she reminded me a lot of my adhd son. He is exactly like Halla with his questions, non-stop questions that just keep on coming.
Zale is one of my faves as well. Really loved their character! They definitely fit together well with Halla, I can see BFFs forming right there.
Sarkis, ehh.

The romance is just a no for me. How does a 30 something old respectful widow and a 500 or something old man whom appears from a magic sword, just immediately fall in love with no questions asked? Well, that's a lie since Halla asks all kinds of questions, but you get the point.
I get that Halla is very inexperienced in everything about love and all that but still. The constant blushing and secretly touching each other like it happened by accident. That sounds more like a teenage crush to me.
So no. The romance was not for me. I do really like to have romance in my fantasy books but I want it to be more than just instant love at first glance. It needs to develop, you know.

All in all it was a little bit too long and repetitive for my taste. The constant marching back and forth in the world was too long. And not needed in my opinion. The ending is kind of a cliffhanger, I guess. But not so much that I would be intrigued to go on.
What I am still wondering though, is how their lives continued in the end? I'd like to say so much more but I do not want to give away any spoilers.

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ollie_again's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny 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

4.0

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nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

One of my new top favorite fantasy books! If you are a plot person, this is not the book for you. This book is about 90% witty banter and 10% plot. I am normally a plot-based person but the characters were so funny and the chemistry between them all was so engaging, I did not mind at all that there really wasn’t a lot of plot going on.

This is basically Aladdin (in a way) except instead of a lamp, a powerful warrior is trapped in a sword and has to do the bidding of whoever wields him until either that wielder dies or sells the sword. Shenanigans ensue when instead of a warlord, a respectable widow unsheathes the sword and releases Sarkis from his silver prison. What follows is an adventure of travel (a lot of it, lots of walking and riding in a wagon pulled by a pretty footed ox) so if you don’t like a lot of travel in your books, you might not like this one. Along the way they meet a rat priest and a few other charismatic characters. The search to get Halla back her rightful inheritance so she doesn’t have to marry her clammy handed cousin was quite the time, just what I needed. This book made me smile and laugh a lot, the dialogue was so witty and fun!

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skl_hcn's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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