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adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you are a fan of Six of Crows, but want a more adult version of it...here it is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
On paper, this shouldn't have worked for me, but somehow it did.
I think it helps that I went into this knowing it was a romantasy. If I'd gone into it thinking it was the next Six of Crows like some unfortunate reviewers did (who the hell made that comparison first?! I hope not the publisher!) then I might have felt differently.
I actually think Five Broken Blades has more in common with Throne of Glass - or more specifically, around about the fourth book when the other major characters come out to play. In fact Royo and Aeri reminded me of Lorcan and Elide, two characters I haven't thought about since I suffered through Empire of Storms.
The thing is, what the Throne of Glass series does well, this book doesn't do well, and vice versa. Let's start off with the unfavourable comparisons!
Throne of Glass has far superior world-building, which is saying something because I wouldn't say Throne of Glass has particularly interesting world-building itself - basically, Five Broken Blades has next to no world-building whatsoever.
Apparently the world-building is inspired by Korean mythology and history, and my response to that is - is the inspiration in the room with us? And okay, I'm not Korean, so I might easily be missing something, but this book really does give you nothing on all levels when it comes to description of anything, even the characters themselves. I can't even say what time period the story might be inspired by. If it weren't for the characters' names and the food they eat it could literally be inspired by anywhere, at any point in pre-industrial time. (I'd recommend the YA fantasy The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea or the adult romantasy The God and the Gumiho as books inspired by Korean mythology where you can really feel in the influence!). As someone who loves a world that feels lived in, it's a shame this one wasn't developed at all.
(The one bit of world-building we do get is that this particular nation is very sexist - as opposed to Mikail's nation. This comes across particularly in that this is clearly not a safe place for women, with the threat of sexual assault and rape something that does haunt the narrative, albeit never in a graphic way beyond Mikail's non-gratuitous description of what happened to his hometown. I've seen more than one review say the book itself is sexist or the characters are irredeemably sexist which is just...dare I say it...a bit pearl clutchy when considered objectively negative. Only Euyn is aggressively sexist and honestly it works with his character, being both a prince of this sexist nation and someone who feels betrayed by his mother. Mikail finds the sexism eyeroll worthy, Tiyung has only one braincell and it's constantly thinking about Sora, and Royo refuses to take on any job which hurts women, which I guess you could argue is sexist, but again suits his character. Obviously the mostly villainous side and minor characters are often sexual predators, but I've read far worse. Also - the women are strong! And it's their femininity which makes them strong! Euyn is constantly proved wrong! There's also sisterly love and budding female friendship!)
The second thing Throne of Glass does better is the pacing with regards to the relationship developments. Both series have 3/4 main couples, and I'm going to ignore the main one in ToG for this comparison because I'm really thinking about the couples who come in later (like the aforementioned Lorcan and Elide) who have to share page time and POVs with multiple other characters, because that's what makes these series really similar to me. Now, baring in mind that at this point in the series, Sarah J Maas is basically uber-popular and can do pretty much what she wants in terms of word count and no. of books, whereas Mai Corland is a debut author with, I imagine, a contract for a trilogy of average 400/500 page novels. However, that's still a lot of space to let your romances stew a bit. I had this same criticism for The Jasad Heir - why are authors so afraid nowadays to keep the will they/won't they going into book two at least? (This book, I might add, also does this with the friendships...)
Now, here's the thing. I actually like the characters here. Which is where I make a comparison to Throne of Glass again - in that series, I liked the women way more than the men, because all of the men were just really annoying and possessive (I guess I'm a Chaol girlie by default because of this, with Dorian a close second...I just really hate SJM fae). Here the men outnumbered the women - and I liked all of them! Are they particularly deep or interesting characters? Not really, but for a popcorn read they were good enough. I can totally buy into the pairings, and I can see the budding friendships too, but they are all so rushed. Notably the only couple that doesn't feel rushed is Euyn and Mikail, a.k.a. the Murder Gays, because they have a pre-established relationship (side note: they're also the best written characters more generally). Sora and Tiyung have also known each other for years, but the dynamic is different. It almost worked, exceptit went too far too quickly. And I kind of understand why - Tiyung gets imprisoned at the end of the book and Sora needs an extra motive to save him, I guess. But while I can buy Sora's forgiveness they don't really interact enough in the book as friends before all the romance and lovey-dovey stuff gets thrown about. Aeri and Royo are probably the worst offenders, not so much in their actions (which actually do feel very natural!) but in their words. I know Aeri's had a hard life, but already thinking of these people as family?! And Royo really needed more time with his trauma...
Aeri and Royo actually brings me onto another issue I had, which is the writing style. The novel is written in that basic YA first person present tense that I'm just kind of tired of, really, not because I dislike first person present (I like all tenses and POVs!) but because the introspection usually ends up being so offensively tell-don't-show. You know what makes first person such a fun perspective to play with? Untrustworthy narrators! The narrator's actions defying their thought processes! And voice! Unique character voices when you have multi-POVs! Yet rarely are these things utilised and it makes me sad :( But anyway, yeah, I did find myself eye-rolling at some of the characters' inner thoughts with this one; a little less introspection, a little more action please? On the other hand, it made for an incredibly smooth audiobook read, which gives it popcorn points I guess.
This sounds so much like a rant review but it actually isn't - in spite of all the issues I had with the story, I gave this book 4*s! I guess that's the power of knowing what you're getting into and being pleasantly surprised by the characters (especially Mikail and Euyn) and actually quite fun journey. The ending was particularly good and I do actually want to know what happens next!
Look, sometimes a book isn't technically good. Just as we can acknowledge a good book's qualities while not enjoying the reading experience, we can acknowledge a bad book's flaws while still having a surprisingly good reading experience. And I wouldn't say this book is bad - the only element I'd argue was actually poor quality was the world-building. Even the super-rushed relationships were, at least, between likeable characters with chemistry. And I had fun, damn it. This is, objectively, a 3.25-3.5* book that I've given 4*s purely for being enjoyable, and yes I will be reading the sequel. For comparison, Empire of Storms, an objectively better book with similar vibes, annoyed me so much that I soft-DNF'ed the series.
Anyway. This was another review like Wind and Truth where I was mostly sorting out my own thoughts. If anyone actually read all of this nonsense, I'm so sorry ๐
I think it helps that I went into this knowing it was a romantasy. If I'd gone into it thinking it was the next Six of Crows like some unfortunate reviewers did (who the hell made that comparison first?! I hope not the publisher!) then I might have felt differently.
I actually think Five Broken Blades has more in common with Throne of Glass - or more specifically, around about the fourth book when the other major characters come out to play. In fact Royo and Aeri reminded me of Lorcan and Elide, two characters I haven't thought about since I suffered through Empire of Storms.
The thing is, what the Throne of Glass series does well, this book doesn't do well, and vice versa. Let's start off with the unfavourable comparisons!
Throne of Glass has far superior world-building, which is saying something because I wouldn't say Throne of Glass has particularly interesting world-building itself - basically, Five Broken Blades has next to no world-building whatsoever.
Apparently the world-building is inspired by Korean mythology and history, and my response to that is - is the inspiration in the room with us? And okay, I'm not Korean, so I might easily be missing something, but this book really does give you nothing on all levels when it comes to description of anything, even the characters themselves. I can't even say what time period the story might be inspired by. If it weren't for the characters' names and the food they eat it could literally be inspired by anywhere, at any point in pre-industrial time. (I'd recommend the YA fantasy The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea or the adult romantasy The God and the Gumiho as books inspired by Korean mythology where you can really feel in the influence!). As someone who loves a world that feels lived in, it's a shame this one wasn't developed at all.
(The one bit of world-building we do get is that this particular nation is very sexist - as opposed to Mikail's nation. This comes across particularly in that this is clearly not a safe place for women, with the threat of sexual assault and rape something that does haunt the narrative, albeit never in a graphic way beyond Mikail's non-gratuitous description of what happened to his hometown. I've seen more than one review say the book itself is sexist or the characters are irredeemably sexist which is just...dare I say it...a bit pearl clutchy when considered objectively negative. Only Euyn is aggressively sexist and honestly it works with his character, being both a prince of this sexist nation and someone who feels betrayed by his mother. Mikail finds the sexism eyeroll worthy, Tiyung has only one braincell and it's constantly thinking about Sora, and Royo refuses to take on any job which hurts women, which I guess you could argue is sexist, but again suits his character. Obviously the mostly villainous side and minor characters are often sexual predators, but I've read far worse. Also - the women are strong! And it's their femininity which makes them strong! Euyn is constantly proved wrong! There's also sisterly love and budding female friendship!)
The second thing Throne of Glass does better is the pacing with regards to the relationship developments. Both series have 3/4 main couples, and I'm going to ignore the main one in ToG for this comparison because I'm really thinking about the couples who come in later (like the aforementioned Lorcan and Elide) who have to share page time and POVs with multiple other characters, because that's what makes these series really similar to me. Now, baring in mind that at this point in the series, Sarah J Maas is basically uber-popular and can do pretty much what she wants in terms of word count and no. of books, whereas Mai Corland is a debut author with, I imagine, a contract for a trilogy of average 400/500 page novels. However, that's still a lot of space to let your romances stew a bit. I had this same criticism for The Jasad Heir - why are authors so afraid nowadays to keep the will they/won't they going into book two at least? (This book, I might add, also does this with the friendships...)
Now, here's the thing. I actually like the characters here. Which is where I make a comparison to Throne of Glass again - in that series, I liked the women way more than the men, because all of the men were just really annoying and possessive (I guess I'm a Chaol girlie by default because of this, with Dorian a close second...I just really hate SJM fae). Here the men outnumbered the women - and I liked all of them! Are they particularly deep or interesting characters? Not really, but for a popcorn read they were good enough. I can totally buy into the pairings, and I can see the budding friendships too, but they are all so rushed. Notably the only couple that doesn't feel rushed is Euyn and Mikail, a.k.a. the Murder Gays, because they have a pre-established relationship (side note: they're also the best written characters more generally). Sora and Tiyung have also known each other for years, but the dynamic is different. It almost worked, except
Aeri and Royo actually brings me onto another issue I had, which is the writing style. The novel is written in that basic YA first person present tense that I'm just kind of tired of, really, not because I dislike first person present (I like all tenses and POVs!) but because the introspection usually ends up being so offensively tell-don't-show. You know what makes first person such a fun perspective to play with? Untrustworthy narrators! The narrator's actions defying their thought processes! And voice! Unique character voices when you have multi-POVs! Yet rarely are these things utilised and it makes me sad :( But anyway, yeah, I did find myself eye-rolling at some of the characters' inner thoughts with this one; a little less introspection, a little more action please? On the other hand, it made for an incredibly smooth audiobook read, which gives it popcorn points I guess.
This sounds so much like a rant review but it actually isn't - in spite of all the issues I had with the story, I gave this book 4*s! I guess that's the power of knowing what you're getting into and being pleasantly surprised by the characters (especially Mikail and Euyn) and actually quite fun journey. The ending was particularly good and I do actually want to know what happens next!
Look, sometimes a book isn't technically good. Just as we can acknowledge a good book's qualities while not enjoying the reading experience, we can acknowledge a bad book's flaws while still having a surprisingly good reading experience. And I wouldn't say this book is bad - the only element I'd argue was actually poor quality was the world-building. Even the super-rushed relationships were, at least, between likeable characters with chemistry. And I had fun, damn it. This is, objectively, a 3.25-3.5* book that I've given 4*s purely for being enjoyable, and yes I will be reading the sequel. For comparison, Empire of Storms, an objectively better book with similar vibes, annoyed me so much that I soft-DNF'ed the series.
Anyway. This was another review like Wind and Truth where I was mostly sorting out my own thoughts. If anyone actually read all of this nonsense, I'm so sorry ๐
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Rape
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I highly recommend the audiobook because it has 7 different narrators to help differentiate between all of the characters. The plot starts out slow as weโre introduced to all the main players, but itโs worth it to understand their actions during the last quarter of the book. I canโt wait to continue this series and learn more about the magic in this world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Alcohol, Classism
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Torture, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Gore, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation
Minor: Rape
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Misogyny, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Classism
Minor: Addiction, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Vomit, Police brutality, Toxic friendship
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
๐ So this is book 1 in a series that's not finished yet, just as an fyi, so the ending is a little bit cliffhanger-y. But it still manages to wrap up a bunch of the book's plot lines by the end of this book. It was an enjoyable action-adventure story set in a fantasy world.
๐ง 1st person POV, multiple (6) perspectives/narrators. I really enjoyed everyone's performances.
๐ถ๏ธ 1.5/5 There are a few vague references to sexual things having happened behind closed doors but there's nothing on page.
๐ณ๏ธโ๐โ The world of the book appears to be queer normative. 2 of the MMCs are together. The other MCs couple off m/f. The fantasy world is based in East Asian culture.
๐ง 1st person POV, multiple (6) perspectives/narrators. I really enjoyed everyone's performances.
๐ถ๏ธ 1.5/5 There are a few vague references to sexual things having happened behind closed doors but there's nothing on page.
๐ณ๏ธโ๐โ The world of the book appears to be queer normative. 2 of the MMCs are together. The other MCs couple off m/f. The fantasy world is based in East Asian culture.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This started out really slow up until the point (a little over halfway) when more than the individual pairings of characters actually meet. Then it picked up a lot and the end was honestly a bit mind blowing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Genocide
Moderate: Misogyny, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Drug use
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, War, Classism
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Today I come at you with another fantasy review. This is a book I chose as my Book of the Month in May, and since then, have seen all over Instagram. This book is HYPED. But is it worth it? Here are my thoughts.
In case you haven't heard of it, Five Broken Bladesis a Korean-inspired fantasy that follows multiple perspectives of six Yusan citizens, summoned together for one task: to kill the king. While agreeing to work together, they all have their own secrets and motivations for this coup. A royal, a spy, a thief, a poison maid, a strongman, and a noble. Will they succeed or will they all betray each other?
Before I jump into my review, a quick note about the author. Mai Corland is a Korean-American attorney and writer. She has also published under the pen name Meredith Ireland. Currently, Mai lives in New York with her family.
I recently discovered an amazing rating system from Hatters Bookish Blog (found on Pinterest) called CAWPILE, where you rate each tenet to create an overall rating: Characters, Atmosphere/Setting, Writing Style, Plot, Intrigue, Logic/Relationships, and Enjoyment. I'm going to try this out.
Characters: There are a few things I'm a sucker for. One of those is a third person multiple perspective story, where we can see where everyone is coming from before coming together. In this way, I learned to love these characters, or at the very least, understand their nuanced motivations. And I have a soft spot for Aeri. I couldn't relate to her more. She had her own secrets, but she was awkward and loved pretty things, and I loved that about her. Overall, I'd give the characters and their development an 8/10.
Atmosphere: The worldbuilding in this novel was fantastic. Of course it was; it came with a map! I love how Corland developed a whole kingdom with the complicated politics of having different sectors that counts would rule over and where different rules and beasts roamed each specific location. The way the characters had to travel to the capitol gave us a perfect excuse to glimpse the cultural differences between each place. This tenet gets a 10/10.
Writing Style: There were things I liked and disliked about the style. At first, I loved it. I loved some of the vivid descriptions. I love how each character had their own distinct voice. But around the halfway mark, the writing style lagged a bit as the characters tried to relate to each other, and some of it fell flat. (For example, the constant repeating of "but I can't love her or him, love is a weakness, etc." drove me crazy). Writing gets a 7/10.
Plot: The plot, after all, is what first drew me to the book. I love reading about spies, assassins, heists, etc. Plus plots like these provide ample opportunity for my favorite trope: found family. This plot did not disappoint and there were plenty of obstacles and secondary plot points that the characters needed to overcome. Plot gets a 10/10.
Intrigue: I was satisfied that there were secrets, betrayals, and paranoia between all of the characters that amped up the stakes. However, I am afraid a lot of the betrayal that DID occur was too obvious. The plot twists were ones I could see coming, except for the set up for the second book--which yes, I'll still be pre-ordering. So, I guess, I'll give intrigue a 6/10.
Logic/Relationships: This was the most disappointing aspect of the book. As aforementioned, found family is my favorite trope. But the character's relationships too each other grew too fast too soon that it felt unrealistic. Some of the character's decisions in regards to each other didn't make sense with their own arc and personalities. Even if some of that could be slowed down, I think it would make much more sense. This tenet will get a 4/10.
Enjoyment: Despite some of the hang-ups, I still really enjoyed this book and always wanted to keep reading instead of putting the book down. The pace was fast, plot interesting, characters relatable, and I was immersed into the world. I love fantasy and I did love this. 9/10 on enjoyment.
According to Hatters Bookish Blog, the next step is to add up the scores and divide by 7, which ended with 7.7/10, or on a five star scale, a 3.85.
But for purposes of rating on places like Goodreads, I will be rounding up to four stars. And I do recommend this book to high fantasy lovers and those who similarly like morally grey characters, found family, and political intrigue.
The next book, Four Ruined Realms, comes out in January.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Animal death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment