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booksalacarte's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Grief, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Alcohol, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Slavery, Stalking, Torture, Violence, and Vomit
auri_underthing's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Amber. Steel. Reaper.
It was good, but not very original and very trope-y.
Also Keera’s constant reiteration of how terrible she was started getting irritating.
Graphic: Alcoholism
Moderate: Death and Blood
Minor: Sexual harassment and Self harm
sflory910's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Sexual content
danreadsitall's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
We follow Keera, the king's Blade, #1 killer, as she unfortunately helps his bloody centuries long reign. Because he did war crimes so hard he doesn't age anymore, allegedly. But she is a half-elf (halfling) so she really does not have any rights in this society, but can at least survive where she is. But the kingdom is threated by an outside force, when she is sent to deal with it other options reveal themselves.
Reasons to read:
-Not a lot of stories have the MC be an alcoholic in this type of story
-The movement of food and trade was important
-Some folks that need to be clipped
-Fun side characters
Cons:
-Folks didn't get clipped on the timetable I desired
-Every time I read "halfling" I imagined someone different than the author intended
Thanks Netgalley and Sterling Publishing for this copy, life got crazy and my backlog got nutty.
Moderate: Physical abuse and Sexual harassment
lastblossom's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Solid inclusion in the ladies who are assassins in fantasy worlds genre with a lot of cool characters. World building can be confusing.
About
Keera is the King's Blade, his favorite assassin. She's killed many in his name, including her own people. Her latest mission is to hunt down the Shadow, a mysterious fighter who's been causing trouble for the crown. But when she chases the Shadow into the faelands, she discovers that everything she's learned about the kingdom and her history may be a lie.
Thoughts
Are YOU a person who likes a YA/NA fantasy novel centered on a female who carries a ton of blades? Because if so, I've got great news for you. "Lady has a lot of sharp objects" is one of my favorite genres, and I was happy to discover that this one is genuinely lethal, and not simply lethal by lip service. (Her kill count in this book alone is well over a dozen.) There are actual several ladies with sharp objects in here, and several fight scenes where they get to show off. This book also features quite a bit of magic, a masquerade ball, political shenanigans, and a sparse amount of lovemaking (spice level: middle?). While there's a clear enemies-to-lovers slow burn going on, it largely takes a back seat to story, so don't expect too much on that front.
World building is sometimes difficult to follow. Terms like fae, elf, mage, and halfling all hold specific meanings that don't always line up with the widely accepted definitions, and then we find out later in the book that some of those definitions were misconceptions anyway. It's a lot to try to keep sorted.
As for the plot, it takes a while to get started. The actual conflict between Keera and the Shadow is postponed quite a bit, and there's a lot of time spend setting up the pieces on the metaphorical game board. I don't think genre savvy readers will find a lot of surprises, but it's still a mostly satisfying series of events, with a
As a final note, Keera's alcoholism plays a major role in the story and her arc, and might be a difficult read for some.
Graphic: Self harm, Murder, Xenophobia, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Classism, Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Blood, Grief, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Sexual assault
Minor: Kidnapping and Vomit
k_eje's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Violence, Alcoholism, Self harm, and Racism
Minor: Sexual harassment
ali_k0's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Self harm, Colonisation, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Racism, Mental illness, Grief, Death, Cursing, Blood, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Addiction
Moderate: Sexual harassment
soniajoy98's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence