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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
damn. for most of this read, i was really caught up in the power dynamics (imbalance) between touraine and luca + touraine as a character, her loyalites and motivations as tied to her decisions/choices, both things really had me confused but thinking. immediately drawing so many ties to other media in this - the caitvi dynamics (+ “i choose wrong everytime” fr), that one campaign three desert location w the race and then the ending alabasta rain of it all. luca maybe felt underdeveloped? or i felt myself hearing her saying yadah yadah the throne the throne but i didnt feel for her motivations or decisions? i think this might sort of be the point - something something the justifications for colonization are not deserving of sympathy? (esp in contrast with the title referring to the qazali people? or touraine - who certainly submitted to the system/the empire at a point but ultimately was not broken by it and was able to stand for herself and her people of origin by the end.) tbh i dont know if i processed all this book was trying to tell me. the decision to leave the colony because.. well why did luca do that tbh. because of all the rebels sacrifice? or in pleading to aranen for forgiveness in something something tied to luca's perspective on faith? also touraine's unexpected decision-making throughout lowkey. what was that girl? but but i did really enjoy the mental visuals of the world, the many legged people i am so so interested in and the development of magic that i expect'll come w touraine's new developments. the pacing of it held my attention beautifully. also the cover is batshit, my god.
This reminds a little of The Traitor Baru Cormorant and Captive Prince but also not really either...
A solid first book, but i'm really looking forward to seeing where the author takes the story. Especially in terms of the lost magic and how Touraine and Luca will come together with all sides in such turmoil
dark
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
It wasn't bad. It wasn't great. It was ok I guess?
Good things:
I read this pretty fast after being a reading slump for a while
The plot was reasonably interesting to keep me going
Gripe 1: Some logic there imo didn't work (why as a princess employee Touraine gained such an intimate place in her household? Why was she able to find the rebels so easily when the entire army struggled to eliminate them? Detto how did she managed to get back to Luca's so sneakily without anyone noticing? Luca must have horrendous security. )
But my ultimate problem was that I just didn't feel anything at all the characters felt. Even when I read a scene that was clearly supposed to be a big emotional moment(e.g. Aimee's hanging) it felt really flat to me, and that includes the entire romance
Still, I'll give the second book a chance (seeing its reviews are much better, and this was a debut after all)
Good things:
I read this pretty fast after being a reading slump for a while
The plot was reasonably interesting to keep me going
Gripe 1: Some logic there imo didn't work (
But my ultimate problem was that I just didn't feel anything at all the characters felt. Even when I read a scene that was clearly supposed to be a big emotional moment
Still, I'll give the second book a chance (seeing its reviews are much better, and this was a debut after all)
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
Overly complicated
Very good 4/5 stars. So, there were parts of this book that were *amazing*, 5/5 parts, absolutely loved it. But a lot of the connecting tissue really shows to me that this was the author's first book. A lot of the ways the story gets to individual scenes or set pieces were awkward and weird, sometimes character development just kind of happened. However for the most part this book, its characters, its themes, and its writing were fantastic, and I'd heartily recommend it, and more than that I'm *really* looking forward to book 2 and more from this author. Will be following C. L. Clark, think she has a ton of promise.
Interesting world building, but this book either needed to be 200 pages longer or shorter to fully develop the themes or cut subplots/events out
Boring. Unlistenable narrator over-emoted every word
The Unbroken is a sapphic bodyguard romance lovers to enemies political epic. It sounds cool because conceptually, it really is. Touraine was taken from her family as a child, conscripted as a soldier. She is now "keeping the peace" in her colonial home. Luca is a princess, and she's also come to Touraine's homeland to strengthen her family's colonial foothold. Through a series of events, Touraine becomes employed by Luca. Facing rebellion, schemes, secrets, and magic, the tentative alliance between the two is tested.
I struggled a lot to rate this one. Like most things I have complicated feelings about, a "love vs hate" list is in order.
***Things that were awesome: ***
This is a slow burn sapphic romance, and the burn is yes, actually slow. While the characters don't interact very much and it was slightly underdeveloped, this romance has it all. Pining, drama, tenderness..more pining. A love triangle with a third woman. It's very fun.
I liked the world. It was fairly easy to understand and wrap your head around. It's not overwritten and it's fun to explore both physical and political elements. You get a very clear sense of the character's values, the values of the bad guys, etc. Lots of moral ambiguity as well.
It's fast-paced for the most part. Rarely are you left dragging on about something uninteresting. CL Clark provides just as many details as she needs to without overdoing it.
It provides an interesting look at colonialism. Touraine was educated by her colonists and feels a sense of "owing" them. At the same time, she can't ignore the atrocities around her. Luca is a colonist and also wants to be a "good" one- but no amount of goodwill can really un-do the destruction of an autonomous state. The people she's trying to "help" don't want her as a queen. They want to be free. That's not to say at all that this is an "all sides" type of book,. rather, the author seems to have put a lot of work into getting into the head of a colonialist or apologist to make these characters more than just cardboard cutouts (which actually makes them scarier villains).
**The Bad**
This is a lot to gush over, so why give this a 3?
The last quarter of the book was extremely messy- and this is my biggest complaint. Characters are changing allegiances and literally CORE BELIEFS about who they are left and right. Touraine in particular literally went from being completely wishy-washy to "I believe wholeheartedly in this cause and will die for it". Nothing really triggered the change. We don't get her thinking deeply about her choices or why she changed. Luca acts chaotically as well, but by and large, remains more in character.
The first leg of the book was very slow-paced but strong. The last leg of the book, is both very fast and very slow. Radical shifts in the narrative, and at times you'd get a handful of information faster than you could really process what exactly is going on. At the same time, you'd get tons of slowed down moments meant to get you to know the rebels more...but at this point, you are really just wanting to know what will become of the main characters. This pacing issue is really jarring, and also in my opinion diminishes the journey of the two main characters significantly.
Lastly, the book seems to be based on north Africa, with the colonial group clearly being French-inspired. French laicite/irreligion is a HUGE part of this book- but it wasn't really a part of colonialism at the time of the North African invasion. I was really put off by the author's feelings about atheism/secularism in general and tying it to a colonial narrative when apostasy laws literally exist in some of those countries today and anti-atheism discrimination is an issue. It felt like an attempt to merge modern issues and French laicite with French colonialism. Again, considering the world safety of Atheists is still severely questionable, this felt a bit bad taste to me (but might be fine for other readers) But yes. Atheists are oppressors, they dug themselves into a hole by turning away from religion. Religion is wise. Atheism bad.
Overall, I think the folks who will get the most out of The Unbroken will LOVE this book and series. The slow burn sapphic romance and strong inclusion of POC and female characters as the default is sure to be satisfying to many. I think this will be a favorite for folks in 2021. For me, it did a lot of things right, but I do not think I will be picking up the next book.
I struggled a lot to rate this one. Like most things I have complicated feelings about, a "love vs hate" list is in order.
***Things that were awesome: ***
This is a slow burn sapphic romance, and the burn is yes, actually slow. While the characters don't interact very much and it was slightly underdeveloped, this romance has it all. Pining, drama, tenderness..more pining. A love triangle with a third woman. It's very fun.
I liked the world. It was fairly easy to understand and wrap your head around. It's not overwritten and it's fun to explore both physical and political elements. You get a very clear sense of the character's values, the values of the bad guys, etc. Lots of moral ambiguity as well.
It's fast-paced for the most part. Rarely are you left dragging on about something uninteresting. CL Clark provides just as many details as she needs to without overdoing it.
It provides an interesting look at colonialism. Touraine was educated by her colonists and feels a sense of "owing" them. At the same time, she can't ignore the atrocities around her. Luca is a colonist and also wants to be a "good" one- but no amount of goodwill can really un-do the destruction of an autonomous state. The people she's trying to "help" don't want her as a queen. They want to be free. That's not to say at all that this is an "all sides" type of book,. rather, the author seems to have put a lot of work into getting into the head of a colonialist or apologist to make these characters more than just cardboard cutouts (which actually makes them scarier villains).
**The Bad**
This is a lot to gush over, so why give this a 3?
The last quarter of the book was extremely messy- and this is my biggest complaint. Characters are changing allegiances and literally CORE BELIEFS about who they are left and right. Touraine in particular literally went from being completely wishy-washy to "I believe wholeheartedly in this cause and will die for it". Nothing really triggered the change. We don't get her thinking deeply about her choices or why she changed. Luca acts chaotically as well, but by and large, remains more in character.
The first leg of the book was very slow-paced but strong. The last leg of the book, is both very fast and very slow. Radical shifts in the narrative, and at times you'd get a handful of information faster than you could really process what exactly is going on. At the same time, you'd get tons of slowed down moments meant to get you to know the rebels more...but at this point, you are really just wanting to know what will become of the main characters. This pacing issue is really jarring, and also in my opinion diminishes the journey of the two main characters significantly.
Lastly, the book seems to be based on north Africa, with the colonial group clearly being French-inspired. French laicite/irreligion is a HUGE part of this book- but it wasn't really a part of colonialism at the time of the North African invasion. I was really put off by the author's feelings about atheism/secularism in general and tying it to a colonial narrative when apostasy laws literally exist in some of those countries today and anti-atheism discrimination is an issue. It felt like an attempt to merge modern issues and French laicite with French colonialism. Again, considering the world safety of Atheists is still severely questionable, this felt a bit bad taste to me (but might be fine for other readers) But yes. Atheists are oppressors, they dug themselves into a hole by turning away from religion. Religion is wise. Atheism bad.
Overall, I think the folks who will get the most out of The Unbroken will LOVE this book and series. The slow burn sapphic romance and strong inclusion of POC and female characters as the default is sure to be satisfying to many. I think this will be a favorite for folks in 2021. For me, it did a lot of things right, but I do not think I will be picking up the next book.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Genre: Epic Fantasy 🗡️
Tropes/Themes: Wartime; On the run; Soldier/Princess; Butch/Masc; Enemies to Lovers; Queernormative World; Black FMC/White FMC; Swords & Pistols; Disability Representation; Mobility Aid; 3rd person Dual POV; Author curated playlist
CW: depictions of colonial violence, gore, death, racism, religious intolerance, forced familial separation, plague, past attempted rape, threats of rape, threats of torture, off page parental death
🌶️: 💖 (squeaky clean)
Medium: audiobook 🎧, narrator Rasha Zamamiri
Review:
Oh man. Touraine and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day 😩
Loyalty, gay panic, sapphic longing, belonging, betrayal 💔 CL Clark, you have hurt my heart! I didn’t even have time to get my hopes up before everything came crashing down 😭 This story is action packed with twists everywhere! I cannot wait to read The Faithless 📖
It is so easy to connect with Touraine and Luca, they are so real and filled with the imperfections of life. I loved with them, I hurt with them, I cried and they kept it together 👀 They complement each other so well - One learning themself through their home land, the other learning themself through helping those of that land. I think fans of Gideon and Harrow from the Locked Tomb would appreciate the relationship between these two!
Tropes/Themes: Wartime; On the run; Soldier/Princess; Butch/Masc; Enemies to Lovers; Queernormative World; Black FMC/White FMC; Swords & Pistols; Disability Representation; Mobility Aid; 3rd person Dual POV; Author curated playlist
CW: depictions of colonial violence, gore, death, racism, religious intolerance, forced familial separation, plague, past attempted rape, threats of rape, threats of torture, off page parental death
🌶️: 💖 (squeaky clean)
Medium: audiobook 🎧, narrator Rasha Zamamiri
Review:
Oh man. Touraine and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day 😩
Loyalty, gay panic, sapphic longing, belonging, betrayal 💔 CL Clark, you have hurt my heart! I didn’t even have time to get my hopes up before everything came crashing down 😭 This story is action packed with twists everywhere! I cannot wait to read The Faithless 📖
It is so easy to connect with Touraine and Luca, they are so real and filled with the imperfections of life. I loved with them, I hurt with them, I cried and they kept it together 👀 They complement each other so well - One learning themself through their home land, the other learning themself through helping those of that land. I think fans of Gideon and Harrow from the Locked Tomb would appreciate the relationship between these two!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Racism, Violence, War
Moderate: Terminal illness, Torture
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment
Dear The Unbroken,
Wow, the messiest relationships I’ve ever seen in a political fantasy.
Are you okay?
This was a character-driven plot full of rebels, betrayals, and complicated relationships. The two main characters were so messy. They were really good at making bad decisions. Emotional take on morally-grey cast.
The world and magic was interesting. The class system and political structure was strong. The presentation of colonization and racism were well done and incredibly impactful. All of this in a gender-equal society with strong queer representation.
I just struggled with the to main characters. Individually, I like them better but the romance between them felt icky. The obvious power imbalances and manipulations had me rooting against their relationships.
The plot, character developments, and vast strained relationships did not feel to flow or flux in rhythm through the whole book.
Review Breakdown:
Characters: 3⭐️
Setting: 4⭐️
Plot: 3⭐️
Themes: 3⭐️
Emotional Impact: 3.25⭐️
Personal Enjoyment: 3⭐️
This is book 1 of a trilogy, with book 3 releasing fall 2025. I’m undecided if I will finish this series.
I do feel that I forced the read. My mood and current hyperfixations didn’t align with this book, and maybe later I’ll reread it and enjoy more. The relationships are so strong and so complicated. This book is worth the chance to be anyone’s favorite.
Wow, the messiest relationships I’ve ever seen in a political fantasy.
Are you okay?
This was a character-driven plot full of rebels, betrayals, and complicated relationships. The two main characters were so messy. They were really good at making bad decisions. Emotional take on morally-grey cast.
The world and magic was interesting. The class system and political structure was strong. The presentation of colonization and racism were well done and incredibly impactful. All of this in a gender-equal society with strong queer representation.
I just struggled with the to main characters. Individually, I like them better but the romance between them felt icky. The obvious power imbalances and manipulations had me rooting against their relationships.
The plot, character developments, and vast strained relationships did not feel to flow or flux in rhythm through the whole book.
Review Breakdown:
Characters: 3⭐️
Setting: 4⭐️
Plot: 3⭐️
Themes: 3⭐️
Emotional Impact: 3.25⭐️
Personal Enjoyment: 3⭐️
This is book 1 of a trilogy, with book 3 releasing fall 2025. I’m undecided if I will finish this series.
I do feel that I forced the read. My mood and current hyperfixations didn’t align with this book, and maybe later I’ll reread it and enjoy more. The relationships are so strong and so complicated. This book is worth the chance to be anyone’s favorite.