Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Sword Dance by A.J. Demas

8 reviews

crystalisreading's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful tense
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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purrson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

5.0

Disabled, bisexual main character meets genderqueer/non-binary main character, fights fascists and finds romance. I gave this a try after giving up on Song of Achilles—I wanted something more enjoyably queer—and this was perfect. Really engaging, the romance is so good— I can’t wait for the rest of the series. Slavery exists in the Greco/Roman type, class rather than race-based. 
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buttermellow's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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toobendy's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Very, very cool. The romance was great and so was the action (not the sexy kind but that now that I'm on it yes that was great too)
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actuallyhurry's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

There was some fun character surprises, some amount of political intrigue, and a plot that while fairly simple -- they knew what was going on for the most part and how to resolve it, but things kept getting in the way -- definitely sufficed. And this book introduced me to Varazda, who is possibly one of my now-favorite characters ever.

I went in with lots of reservations (a nonbinary character as a
eunuch
felt a bit alarming at first) but bought it on a whim and read it all in a single day. I didn't like the protagonist at all for the first part of the book, mainly because he needed some character development at the start, and he was a biased narrator when it came to many things. Once he started shaking things up and making his morals/values clearer and figuring out how to verbalize it all, oh, I loved him. The little sparks of dry humor he reveals now and again really are delightful, and his relationship and tension with the love interest was just excellent. None of this impacts my review, honestly, as some of the characters did need to grow by virtue of their position in society and having never truly run into hateful people like the villains of the novel before...or having had to never think of it.

I did, however, want more! I wanted a longer drawn-out relationship between the pairing, more slow burn than
"I wanted to kiss you all along, actually!" sort of things
. It was very juicy all the same, and the antics they get into (the tropes!! the tropes!!!!!) are very much right up my alley. My criticism is definitely on a personal, opinion-based level to that end. 

I will add that the way that the nonbinary character is handled with his past was definitely soothing to me, but still may spark some nervous feelings in others who have different experiences from my own. I will say I found the sequel very liberating for him...but this is a review on the first one. :) 
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helen's review against another edition

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3.0

 Meh. Not sure I’ll carry on with the series.
The author didn’t make me care about the intrigue plot, and didn’t really deliver on the fake relationship or soldier/spy tropes, but I cared about Dami and Varazda and their soft romance, which was full of lightness and tenderness.
I appreciated the fact that Varazda’s non-binary-ness is unrelated to the fact that he’s a eunuch. And that both things were handled with sensitivity and not fetishized.
Other thoughts: the anachronistic dialogue didn’t really work for me and it could’ve done with a map. 
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pharyngeals's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

4.5

nione and damiskos are wlw/mlm solidarity 
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noslowregard's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional slow-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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