Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

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

21 reviews

sasclostchild's review against another edition

dark sad tense

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

So the first third of the book was very depressing, focusing on our protagonist living the American dream: doing a shitty job they don't like to barely live and to drown their sorrows in alcohol, all while harming a lot of people.

She then turns her life around by quitting alcohol (good for her) and siding with a rebellious group to eat the rich.

This is all accompanied by a very icky straight romance which is not icky because it's straight (although that is a sad part because i was hoping for a sapphic romance but that only exists in a short flashback) but because the dude forces himself on her all the time and the only chemistry they have is some weird interaction between their types of magic that acts as an aphrodisiac making them horny for each other.

She still somehow falls in horny because idk if you can call drug addled make outs love

Then the book also fails to close its main arc during the book but fuck I'm not buying the second book. 
Still 2.25, because the unfinished story got kinda interesting in the second half

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Alcoholism, Racism, Murder, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Slavery

Moderate: Genocide, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

downeytianna's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

3.5 ⭐️ 

It was interesting enough to keep me going, but fairly slow. I have higher hopes for the second, hoping this was more world/plot building and that we will have more excitement in book 2 because I do enjoy the plot of this series.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Self harm

Minor: Sexual assault

bergha1998's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

3.75

I was not expecting this book to be so unique, I thought it would just be a Romantasy. But it’s so much more dialogues about racism, addiction, slavery. Very well done and interesting. I’m excited to read the second book. 

Fantasy, Enemies to Lovers, Character Development, 2 🔥

“And still he found beauty in the darkness of it, in my light and my shadows.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Genocide, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Alcohol, Classism, Grief, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Addiction, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual assault

elizatron's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I loved every minute of this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Slavery

Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, and Self harm

Minor: Sexual assault

boyshouts'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

4.0

Listened to this as an audiobook and finished it in like a day and a half, parts of it weren’t exactly my jam but I found the exploration of themes like (de)colonization and substance abuse in a fantasy context really interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Torture

Moderate: Addiction, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Violence, War, and Alcoholism

msrae89's review against another edition

I was looking forward to this book but, even though I’m almost done with it, I just can’t keep doing. The writing is a little repetitive, the characters aren’t as compelling as I typically enjoy, and the love subplot isn’t my jam. Ultimately it just isn’t for me. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Self harm

Minor: Torture

ladyknightmeg's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-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

4.0

The pacing of this book is a little slow, but it’s totally worth it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Self harm

Moderate: Sexual assault

moodreadererin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

A Broken Blade follows Keera , the king's blade . She is given a mission to find the new enemy of the crown: the shadow . We go on this journal with her find the shadow and everything that precedes/follows . This is a story of addiction , loss , love , revenge , and violence . 

Things I liked :

-enemies to lovers execution was fantastic 

- one bed trope

-bipoc representation 

- exploration of loss , addiction, recovery in face of violence . 

-found family 

Things I didn't like :

- the pacing was slower than I liked . I didn't like it until the end /last part of the book.

With that said , I still recommend this book. I am looking forward to the sequel .

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Violence, Murder, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Vomit, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Sexual harassment and Stalking

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and War

jassiecones's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Self harm, Gore, Alcohol, and Death

Moderate: Violence, War, and Body horror

Minor: Sexual assault

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