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dlrosebyh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Well, there’s always a first in everything.
The Court of Broken Knives is unfortunately my first 1-star-read of the year. Which is so disappointing as the premise looked so promising. I love an assassin main character, but this novel was just not for me.
My first issue is the writing style. If you know me, you know that I love a good writing style. It’s like the main connection between the novel and I. The Court of Broken Knives felt like a twelve-year-old wrote this and uploaded it to Wattpad thinking it has some sort of angst. I know the author wanted it to be grippy and fast-paced, but honestly the periods every word was just killing me. And honestly, I was even shocked that Anna Smith Spark has a PhD in English literature because this felt like the first draft. You don’t need to end every chapter with “Death! Death! Death”. This isn’t 2014 Tumblr. (Her poems were ass, too.)
Secondly, I didn’t really like the characters. Honestly, all of them were annoying to me. If this novel wasn’t my cousin’s favorite book, I would’ve DNF’ed it already.
Thirdly, the world building was horrible. I appreciated the map and everything, but I was just confused throughout the entire book. Some sections of the book really did not make sense, as the world building was so weak that you feel like you’re just reading a combination of every European countries ever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, and Misogyny
kensingtonska's review
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Another interesting female character relegated to being a collectors item as soon as they're introduced to the male main.
• I really liked the short and sharp, almost aggressive, writing style a lot of the time. I thought it added to making the world feel more cut throat and harsh on the characters. But there were some sections where the author leaned too far into it and i found the shortness making it hard to follow the events. But once i got used to it it wasn't a huge deal.
• There were four pov characters
• Marith. A pathetic drugged up (teenager?) trying to forget his past. Pretty standard. Honestly it hard to decide if I liked Marith. I certainly enjoyed his drug addictions. Given his situation which I can only think of as a curse they aeem to me like a perfectly rational response. "I'm a monster so I'll drink to forget." A point that becomes more amusi- uh.. tragic when the "curse" just makes him incredibly resistant to everything. It's a shame that he never found his groove for drinking contests really. That being said his character certainly felt a bit aimless to me. I think it's his lack of a goal. And I wouldn't really call "wanting to get married" a trangable goal, not when you have a big "world scale" plot line dangling in the background. I don't think anyone could be convinced the story will end once they get to the alter. Which is a shame really, because it makes me feel bored throughout a lot of the book because it all feels like filler before the interesting bits happen.
1. Orhan? I liked the attempt at lgbt inclusion here but orhan's relation with his boy toy puts me in mind of highschoolers who learned everything they know about sex and relationships from the hardcore section of pornhub. What little details we get about their relationship makes me think they're having a very raunchy stint that's for sure. Of course, it
could very well be that this is supposed to provide a contrast of some sort. Although I have no idea what for. Actually I really don't know what orhan's inclusion in this book is supposed to achieve. I understand that his actions are the catalyst for the entire story and the subsequent political fallout provides a "be careful what you wish for" type situation. But ultimately his chapters are just there once you're past the first. Existing only to fluff up the book and keep me away from the other characters. I feel he would have been better religated to his own book so he could have his own conclusion. It's not like his actions have any immediate effect on the other characters.
• Female lead #1 fuuuuuuuck. I think this one annoyed me most of all. Mostly because she started interesting. I really enjoyed the exploration of someone raised to sacrifice having to find ways to convince themselves that it was ok to kill (for said sacrifice). But, the majority of female characters in fantasy, she found a man and became boring. I have hope though. By the end of the book she starts questioning her love interest. Buuuuuut... she seems to be pretty locked into Stockholm syndrome. I guess the issue with her character, i found, was that nothing really seems to happen. She starts banging some bloke and thinks her whole world has expanded. Her character quotes she's the goddess of xxx and she can cast magic. But it doesn't matter or contribute in any way.
• Tobias.... He's like orphan but worse. Like all he exists to do is explain why the last few chapters occur. That's it. Woooooo. What a waste of my time.
• I really liked the short and sharp, almost aggressive, writing style a lot of the time. I thought it added to making the world feel more cut throat and harsh on the characters. But there were some sections where the author leaned too far into it and i found the shortness making it hard to follow the events. But once i got used to it it wasn't a huge deal.
• There were four pov characters
• Marith. A pathetic drugged up (teenager?) trying to forget his past. Pretty standard. Honestly it hard to decide if I liked Marith. I certainly enjoyed his drug addictions. Given his situation which I can only think of as a curse they aeem to me like a perfectly rational response. "I'm a monster so I'll drink to forget." A point that becomes more amusi- uh.. tragic when the "curse" just makes him incredibly resistant to everything. It's a shame that he never found his groove for drinking contests really. That being said his character certainly felt a bit aimless to me. I think it's his lack of a goal. And I wouldn't really call "wanting to get married" a trangable goal, not when you have a big "world scale" plot line dangling in the background. I don't think anyone could be convinced the story will end once they get to the alter. Which is a shame really, because it makes me feel bored throughout a lot of the book because it all feels like filler before the interesting bits happen.
1. Orhan? I liked the attempt at lgbt inclusion here but orhan's relation with his boy toy puts me in mind of highschoolers who learned everything they know about sex and relationships from the hardcore section of pornhub. What little details we get about their relationship makes me think they're having a very raunchy stint that's for sure. Of course, it
could very well be that this is supposed to provide a contrast of some sort. Although I have no idea what for. Actually I really don't know what orhan's inclusion in this book is supposed to achieve. I understand that his actions are the catalyst for the entire story and the subsequent political fallout provides a "be careful what you wish for" type situation. But ultimately his chapters are just there once you're past the first. Existing only to fluff up the book and keep me away from the other characters. I feel he would have been better religated to his own book so he could have his own conclusion. It's not like his actions have any immediate effect on the other characters.
• Female lead #1 fuuuuuuuck. I think this one annoyed me most of all. Mostly because she started interesting. I really enjoyed the exploration of someone raised to sacrifice having to find ways to convince themselves that it was ok to kill (for said sacrifice). But, the majority of female characters in fantasy, she found a man and became boring. I have hope though. By the end of the book she starts questioning her love interest. Buuuuuut... she seems to be pretty locked into Stockholm syndrome. I guess the issue with her character, i found, was that nothing really seems to happen. She starts banging some bloke and thinks her whole world has expanded. Her character quotes she's the goddess of xxx and she can cast magic. But it doesn't matter or contribute in any way.
• Tobias.... He's like orphan but worse. Like all he exists to do is explain why the last few chapters occur. That's it. Woooooo. What a waste of my time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Murder, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
hybridtulips's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
While I enjoyed the middle third of the book, and I like the author's way of writing, I found it a tedious read and was happy to be done with it. The constant and increasingly monotonous onslaught of gore, mindless violence, and horror eventually numbed and bored me. I would've liked to see the characters explore actual motivations, and the "plot" twists feel more and more undeserved due to witheld information.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Death of parent, Vomit, Drug use, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Classism, Excrement, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Animal cruelty
It's bad, folks. Don't read this if you're queasy.
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