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madamepincers's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.75
Incredible world building and magic system and I can't wait to read more. Only drawback for me was characters who consistently make Very Bad Choices and change their minds/seem to adhere to different moral codes at different times, but given the context, I think their confusion and issues with determining their own priorities was believable. But it happens to be a major pet peeve of mine so đ
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Child abuse, Vomit, Trafficking, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol, Torture, Kidnapping, Gun violence, and Death of parent
paigemandia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Idk this one just didnât really do it for me. I loved most of the characters, except the protagonist touraine just annoyed the hell out of me. None of her decisions were thought out and she just made mistake after mistake. We love a flawed character but she was just not doing it for me. I did love how this novel approached colonialism and institutionalismâthat was definitely the strong point of this novel. A lot of it just felt rushed and the characters werenât built up enough for a lot of the deaths to effect me. It was entertaining enough and the magic system is interesting, so I am looking forward to seeing if the next books in the trilogy are better. But happy to have read 1/3 of the sapphic golden trio. gotta get the jasmine throne next đđ»đđ»
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Gun violence, Violence, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Murder, Medical trauma, Medical content, Grief, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Death, Colonisation, Blood, Animal death, and Alcohol
andromeda_1998's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Iâm having a hard time deciding how to write this review. Especially since I did like the book but I question some of the choices the author makesâŠ
What is the book about (without spoilers):
Touraine has been a soldier for most parts of her life. She was a child stolen from her family and she was raised to serve the empire. But when her company is sent back to the land she comes from, to stop a rebellion, nog everything goes as planned.
Luca is the princes of the empire, sent to her rebel filled colony to still the rebellion. She needs a turncoat to reach her goals.
Together they are looking for a way towards peace between the Empire and the colony.
My thoughts about the book:
Like i said before this book is hat to review. There are a lot of things happening in this novel that I do love but that doesnât solve my mixed feelings about some things in the plot.
The world-building in this book is amazing. Itâs rich and details but we havenât learned everything there is to know about this world and the author leaves the reader with some major questions especially about the magic system. I donât think this is necessarily a bad thing since itâs the first book of a series and I cannot wait to read the sequel.
The writingstyle used for this book is impressive. It reads away in a good pace but I sometimes felt like I was thrown in a scene without any explanation of how we came to that point.
The characters arenât badly written but i also didnât think that they were done especially well. One is a princes studying from birth to be queen and the other is a luitenant who has command over her own regiment but some how both of them werenât able to make a well thought out planâŠ.they both should have known better for 80% of the book.
I hated the relationship between the two main characters. When I heard this book was sapphic I couldnât contain my happiness but this relationships was a burning dumpster fire of toxic waist.
However I did love the plot and the side plots. This book shows us a good explanation of the sentence âHey Colonizer.â It also shows how the europions destroyed all the different cultures that they got there hands on.
Favo quote:
âToo many died I a war that wasnât theirsâ
âYour rebellion would be another oneâ
âYouâll have to fight for one side or the other. Why not fight for the side that gives you freedom?â
âBecause I can fight for the side thatâs winning.â
âWinning isnât everything. Itâs how you win that matters mostâ
What is the book about (without spoilers):
Touraine has been a soldier for most parts of her life. She was a child stolen from her family and she was raised to serve the empire. But when her company is sent back to the land she comes from, to stop a rebellion, nog everything goes as planned.
Luca is the princes of the empire, sent to her rebel filled colony to still the rebellion. She needs a turncoat to reach her goals.
Together they are looking for a way towards peace between the Empire and the colony.
My thoughts about the book:
Like i said before this book is hat to review. There are a lot of things happening in this novel that I do love but that doesnât solve my mixed feelings about some things in the plot.
The world-building in this book is amazing. Itâs rich and details but we havenât learned everything there is to know about this world and the author leaves the reader with some major questions especially about the magic system. I donât think this is necessarily a bad thing since itâs the first book of a series and I cannot wait to read the sequel.
The writingstyle used for this book is impressive. It reads away in a good pace but I sometimes felt like I was thrown in a scene without any explanation of how we came to that point.
The characters arenât badly written but i also didnât think that they were done especially well. One is a princes studying from birth to be queen and the other is a luitenant who has command over her own regiment but some how both of them werenât able to make a well thought out planâŠ.they both should have known better for 80% of the book.
I hated the relationship between the two main characters. When I heard this book was sapphic I couldnât contain my happiness but this relationships was a burning dumpster fire of toxic waist.
However I did love the plot and the side plots. This book shows us a good explanation of the sentence âHey Colonizer.â It also shows how the europions destroyed all the different cultures that they got there hands on.
Favo quote:
âToo many died I a war that wasnât theirsâ
âYour rebellion would be another oneâ
âYouâll have to fight for one side or the other. Why not fight for the side that gives you freedom?â
âBecause I can fight for the side thatâs winning.â
âWinning isnât everything. Itâs how you win that matters mostâ
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
aardwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
4.0
Franticly paced and constantly challenging, this is a painful story with no good answers backed by solid worldbuilding and clever, flawed characters. The fantasy elements usually have a pretty light hand, but the tone is successfully mystical and otherworldly. The only flaw is that the relentless failures one of the protagonists experiences are painfully predictable. She tries the same thing (court a bunch of loyalties badly, betray a confidence of one to the other, get in trouble) over and over, and it gets a bit wearying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Grief, Blood, and Ableism
booksthatburn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
5.0
THE UNBROKEN is a tale of colonialization, uprising, and a stolen child returning to her homeland as a conscripted soldier ordered to bring it to heel. Touraine is one of the Sands, the term for QazÄli people stolen as children and raised to be soldiers by the Balladaire. This puts her in the position of being used to enforce restrictions on the people she came from. Events early in the book remove her from the Sands, the people she's lived with, fought alongside, and bled with all her life to instead be in service to princess Luca. The rest of the book explores Touraine's confused attempts to figure out what she wants and what she's willing to die for, as well as Luca's desperate attempts to hold on to power through the slim thread of her uncle's distant regard and her subordinates' loyalty. One of the strengths of THE UNBROKEN is it highlights the way that someone who is marginalized in their own group but has power and privilege over another group often uses that relative power to gain a sense of control by oppressing someone else. Luca's physical disability and precarious political position lead her to make harsher choices in order to not appear weak, something that would probably be less on her mind if she weren't constantly worried about people mistaking her physical impairment for lack of will.
The tension between Luca and Touraine is very well handled, as throughout the story their dynamic as a pair constantly shifts, but they're never quite on the same page about the nature of their relationship. It showed over and over how no matter how attracted they might be to each other, the gulf of power between Luca's position and Touraine's means that it's impossible to trust any "Yes" from Touraine when Luca can have her tortured or killed for a "No". This affects everything from their mutual attraction to the treatment of the Sands to the handling of the rebels.
I love the portrayal of the QazÄli rebels, I can't discuss much there without spoilers but they were dynamic as a group and as individuals, each with their own reactions to Touraine and Luca's various intrusions on their lives, as well as the reality of life under Balladaire's oppressive colonial rule.
I'm looking forward to the sequel, I'm a little worried that it'll only get worse for the characters from here but I want to know what happens next.
The tension between Luca and Touraine is very well handled, as throughout the story their dynamic as a pair constantly shifts, but they're never quite on the same page about the nature of their relationship. It showed over and over how no matter how attracted they might be to each other, the gulf of power between Luca's position and Touraine's means that it's impossible to trust any "Yes" from Touraine when Luca can have her tortured or killed for a "No". This affects everything from their mutual attraction to the treatment of the Sands to the handling of the rebels.
I love the portrayal of the QazÄli rebels, I can't discuss much there without spoilers but they were dynamic as a group and as individuals, each with their own reactions to Touraine and Luca's various intrusions on their lives, as well as the reality of life under Balladaire's oppressive colonial rule.
I'm looking forward to the sequel, I'm a little worried that it'll only get worse for the characters from here but I want to know what happens next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, Torture, Violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and Terminal illness
Minor: Child death, Rape, and Suicide
CW for major character death (graphic).bookishbutch's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
You know that one Lady Gaga GIF where it's her going "amazing incredible never the same etc."? That's me at this book. Man oh man was this a brilliant debut that literally left me breathless. I'm not even sure how to describe this book besides absolutely stunning. If you love political fantasies that tackle colonialism, imperialism, racisms, found family, a unique magic system, lovable, complex characters and a very messy wlw relationship then I highly, highly recommend this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Cursing, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Rape
callmekt's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- 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
It isn't supposed to happen like this. This is the common thread throughout The Unbroken, book 1 in Magic of the Lost by C.L. Clark. It feels like I've read this story before, a story riddled with good intentions and bad outcomes and miscommunications. Politics and war and the struggle of leadership. But I haven't read the story like this, a story that centers two women with similar hopes but different motivations. A story about a soldier educated with propaganda who unlearns her upbringing when confronted with the plight of people who look like her. A story about a royal who wanted to set things right but was too wrapped up with scholarly theories to fully understand the breadth of her decisions. Plans go awry. Hearts are broken. Relationships are strained. And through it all, questions of magic and gods and what it means to believe in a being more powerful than you can understand. Keep your eyes on The Unbroken. Pray for rain.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Excrement, Grief, Hate crime, and Murder
Minor: Sexual assault
One of the main characters was taken as a child and educated in the "civilized" manner of her captors. She, and the rest of her brethren, are slaves. The sexual assault is an attempt and referenced multiple times, mostly in the first half of the book.fruitea's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
i don't really know how to describe this book. it was so different to the other kinds of books i read (in a good way!!) and really made me reflect on a lot of things. particularly touraine - she's such a complex character and you really get to see her inner conflict with herself. to be honest, i feel like i'd spoil it too much if i explained further. this book will make you think a lot about things society has kind of swept under the rug.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Blood, and Cursing
Moderate: Rape, Excrement, and Confinement
entazis's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was just fantastic and fun even though it also hurts in a lot of places.
It's really all about colonialism, power and what it means to be a good leader. It's about loyalty and trust. But mostly it's about the lost children, stolen children, who are coming back home as a tool of oppressors.
Relationships are messy. My favorite one in this book isn't a romantic one, but a familial. The complicated relationship between daughter and mother who are unable to understand each other, who have a lot of hurt between them thanks to the colonial forces that separated them. There was one particular scene nearing the end when I almost cried, when we see the depths of pain, love and lost time.
The characters are just interesting and complex and it feels that there's no good decisions no matter the intentions. I will say that Luca irritated me a lot. But the way the author explores what it means to be a queen was really a great one, regardless of my personal frustrations. But because she irritated me I couldn't really buy into the romance between her and Touraine or at least I'm not rooting for them even though they're obviously endgame.
Worldbuilding is also rich, full of small and big details, full of history, different cultures and nations.
All in all I really enjoyed this book a lot and I'm excited for more.
It's really all about colonialism, power and what it means to be a good leader. It's about loyalty and trust. But mostly it's about the lost children, stolen children, who are coming back home as a tool of oppressors.
Relationships are messy. My favorite one in this book isn't a romantic one, but a familial. The complicated relationship between daughter and mother who are unable to understand each other, who have a lot of hurt between them thanks to the colonial forces that separated them. There was one particular scene nearing the end when I almost cried, when we see the depths of pain, love and lost time.
The characters are just interesting and complex and it feels that there's no good decisions no matter the intentions. I will say that Luca irritated me a lot. But the way the author explores what it means to be a queen was really a great one, regardless of my personal frustrations. But because she irritated me I couldn't really buy into the romance between her and Touraine or at least I'm not rooting for them even though they're obviously endgame.
Worldbuilding is also rich, full of small and big details, full of history, different cultures and nations.
All in all I really enjoyed this book a lot and I'm excited for more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Sexual assault
achingallover's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Excrement, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and Xenophobia