Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland

11 reviews

sydneyandherbookss's review against another edition

4.0

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

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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 we’re introduced to all the main players, but it’s worth it to understand their actions during the last quarter of the book. I can’t wait to continue this series and learn more about the magic in this world. 

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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

jennipea382's review against another edition

4.75

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

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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

garbage_mcsmutly's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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📚 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.

🎧 1st person POV, multiple (6) perspectives/narrators. I really enjoyed everyone's performances.

🌶️ 1.5/5 There are a few vague references to sexual things having happened behind closed doors but there's nothing on page. 

🏳️‍🌈✊ 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.

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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

vic_to_ria's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I am conflicted about this one 
When reading I had a decent time but I wasn’t that invested in what they were trying to accomplish.

The characters were all well developed and each had an air of mystery about them that keeps you on your toes about what the character might do next or if they'd be the one to double cross the others (DC’s Suicide Squad meets Six of Crows kind of energy) and how they all interacted with each other was interesting. 

The plot had an ok pacing to it that they had some action thrown in on their journey and kept things interesting. 

I think the problem I have is we never see that the current king is bad at ruling. I don’t remember if they said something at the beginning but all throughout they never consistently drill into us how dangerous he is or how bad of a ruler he is? It just seemed like they wanted to go through with it just because he was the king more than what he does as king. 

I saw the plot twists coming and wasn’t that surprise at the end and on that not I didn’t enjoy how it ended. I don’t know if I want to read the second one. I didn’t enjoy most of the romances they added in and the only one I did like…. Didn’t end well. 

Overall it was a good book I just needed a properly developed antagonist to really get behind their assassination attempt. Give it a try it was enjoyable enough to read and is easy to breeze through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Murder, Classism

Minor: Chronic illness, Drug use, Rape, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury

micaelamariem's review against another edition

3.75

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

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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. 

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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

grayscale08's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Classism

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Infertility, Vomit, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol

taryn_g's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Genocide, Misogyny, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Classism

Minor: Animal death, Cursing

ladysubpar's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, Classism

lakinglaze's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous 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

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This book was fantastic! It’s fast-paced, the chapters are short and written wonderfully in the different voices of each point-of-view, the action constantly keeps you on your toes, and the characters are incredibly likable despite being desperate liars. I loved every second of it! I need Tiyung protected at all costs! Can’t wait to read the next book! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

aseel_reads's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

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that ending had me gasping aloud on public transport, obsessed, can't wait for the next book. I loved the Korean inspired setting and how it was kind of like SoC but the action plot here made more sense and the character dynamics were different in their pairings. It lost .25 in rating because the pacing was a little slow for 75% and then speed up in the last 30 pages too much, and I think the characters needed to be more fleshed out to make their pairings realistic and not insta 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury