Reviews with content warning for Colonisation - A Broken Blade (The Halfling Saga Book 1)

Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

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

53 reviews

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.

Content Warnings

alilab14's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.75

This is written by an Indigenous Women (Anishinaabe-kwe) and this fantasy world has some Indigenous influences into its story. So Keera reflects the damages from colonialism and intergenerational trauma that Indigenous people still face. The main character suffers from alcohol abuse and self harm and after reading others reviews, from assuming non-Indigenous reviewers, I will like to say an an Indigenous reader this is not written to be harmful or romanticized but actually very hopeful and I’m very glad Melissa gave Keera a very deeply human internal battle. But I will also say it is hard to read so if you may be sensitive to these topics, especially if you have been affected by colonialism, question if you can read it, but Keeras journey is full of hope. There is a content warning in the front of book and on this website

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cassandramt17's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective 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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cosmicmo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-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

3.75

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ccouey's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

3.0

Content Warnings

yadira315's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.75

What an amazing debut! I can’t believe it took me so long to pick this book up! I was invested right as the book began because Melissa has such an easy way of drawing the reader in! This book handled so many dedicatoria topics with such care and grace. It showed how colonization effects every person differently and people have to find different means of survival. We have and flawed MC that has so much development upon creating different relationships. A diverse cast of characters including a “wheelchair user” were not being fully abler body did not get in her way of being a bad ass. I love how this book took its time with the world building and fleshing out all the politics while giving us hints of a possible love interest in the next book.

I gave it 4.75 because I had difficulty differentiating the beings in this world and how they fit into the hierarchical system.

Looking forward to book two. Btw what a gorgeous cover!

Content Warnings