Reviews tagging 'Racism'

A Broken Blade (The Halfling Saga Book 1) by Melissa Blair

25 reviews

elskede's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Vomit, Racism, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, and Death

anntharai's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.5

I do wonder if this book is a victim of its own hype. I was hesitant to read at first due to the hype around itd then when it came up available on my library app I thought it had been long enough but I still found myself with expectations. It was fine. I'm not sure if it felt like a cliff hanger, Straight up sequel bait, or like they wanted to write a longer book but split it in two... 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Violence, Racism, Murder, Classism, Death, Blood, and Colonisation

Moderate: Torture

bammys's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.25

Im torn over how to rate this book because it shifted from being really engaging and hooking at times to bland at others. I think it was a good book but overall it felt more like a bunch of scenes were written separately and strung together later rather than a coherent step by step plot. It had some good twists and great character development for the MC, but other parts (like the relationship with the antagonist and the plan the MC enacted to reach the end point) felt underdeveloped. I liked how some things were left unanswered for the next book and I liked the cliffhanger ending, both left enough room for me to want to pick up the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Self harm

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Racism

molls's review against another edition

Bog standard tiktok fantasy.  Not written in a way that kept me wanting to get through it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Blood, Slavery, Racism, and Murder

maregred's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Murder, Alcoholism, and Racism

Moderate: Death, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Self harm

Minor: Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Trafficking

koerli's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Death, Murder, and Racism

terezax's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, War, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Self harm, Vomit, War, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

kowhaiii's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.5

This was a great book! I loved Keera and her struggles throughout the story. I found her relationships alright, but somewhat stale at times. Wasn't a huge fan of the ending, but I'll have to wait for the sequel to really decide! Loved the diversity and queer representation in this book. I really couldn't fault the world, premise, or character concepts if I tried!

A Broken Blade was a brilliant debut novel with wonderful world building and memorable characters. I have many unanswered questions in the best and worst ways, and I can't wait for the series to continue! :D

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Colonisation, Addiction, Alcohol, and Self harm

Moderate: Death, Grief, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Blood, Murder, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, and Misogyny

Minor: Cursing, Genocide, Sexual assault, and Torture

atthelibrarywithmegan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was such an incredible story. There is so much mystery in the  beginning and you think you’ve figured it out by the end. Then, BAM! I’m pretty sure my eyes almost popped out of my head with that cliffhanger. I love the slow burn, the enemies to lovers, secret underground network, and the bringing down the monarchy themes/tropes. I also really love that Keera isn’t a 16-20 year old FMC. She feels much more relatable. I cannot wait for book two!

TW: Alcoholism, self harm, murder, blood, colonization, racism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Blood, Hate crime, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Murder, and Racism

Minor: Sexual content

k_eje's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Alcoholism, Self harm, and Racism

Minor: Sexual harassment