Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - The Unbroken

Huge commendations to the author on their ability to world build. The magic system in this book was enticing and the overall setup of ruling parties, court politics, and power shifts was well executed. The writing of that side is excellent.

The author also manages to write an extremely diverse cast. Diverse across so many levels. Both good diverse for representation and bad diverse in terms of realistic antagonists. There are a lot of well-done female characters which is not as common to see in fantasy.

The writing of the two main characters is where the convincing nature of the writing fell apart for me. Luca is really not likable and grows almost not at all. I can’t tell if we’re supposed to like her or not. It felt like we were supposed to because of how much of her perspective we got and she wasn’t made into an outright villain. However, she’s just very blah as a semi-main character.

Touraine was also a bit blah for me but much more convincing and appealing than Luca. It felt like she was more along for the ride in a lot of scenes rather than every in control. That would be fine here and there but it makes it harder to root for or be invested in a MC like that.

Their romance also felt very strange. We as readers are told they are starting to care for each other and their pairing follows routine. But we’re told these things. Nothing about their interactions, other than MAYBE one conversation where they open up a bit, comes across as love interests. I definitely don’t need spark and fire in every romance but if you aren’t going to have that, the emotional connection needs to be there. If there’s neither lust nor love, then their relationship should read as platonic but it doesn’t do that either. These people are making big decisions in response to how they’re impacted by one another but I don’t get the feeling they care much at all.

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skienight's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

4.75

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btrz7's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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sarakas's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

Touraine and Luca are compelling and deeply flawed main characters whose individual desires are antithetical to the feelings they are developing for one another. What happens when you’re on opposing sides of a conflict but you still want to save the other person? Lots of mess. Highly recommended for some good gay angst.

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vivavia's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

3.75

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