Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair

13 reviews

themoonphoenix's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A few centuries ago, in the Kingdom of Elverath King Aemon decreed that there are only two species, mortals and dark fae. Halflings and elves were either destroyed or owned by the crown.

A Broken Blade is the first book of a new high fantasy saga, some of the tropes are:
• Morally grey characters
• The Evil Overlord
• Political Intrigue
• Enemies to lovers

Keera is the blade of the kingdom and has been for the last few decades, her work is to find Halflings and kill them, she is a complex character that feels guilty about her work and resorts to drinking to mitigate the guilt. You will root for Keera, even if you haven't lived her experiences, you will understand her and want to support her cause, I enjoy her character development.

There is a lot of action, and blade scenes (love it) Keera will join a group of diverse characters for the fall of the king and his horrible government. They are great characters, morally grey too, sarcastic, and loyal.
There is romance too, specifically Enemies to lovers, the tension here is 🔥, my favorite part is the communication part, the trust in each other.

Is a good debut, I was hooked, it’s fast-paced, the world-building is interesting, and I want to know more about the differences between the species and their magic. Also, the story touches on many topics like alcoholism, self-harm, violence, and colonialism.

I don't know how many books there will be but this ends in a cliffhanger, I need info about the second book ASAP. If you like books like a throne of glass or six crowns I think you will enjoy this.

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soniajoy98's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

3.5


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livreads54's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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

4.25

I went into this book fully expecting it to be fine but it was actually really good. I got it because I wanted to solve the author mystery (which I definitely did not do), but I ended up having more fun with the story than the mystery. Heavy fantasy isn’t usually my thing, but the world building here was so good that I didn’t mind. 

The characters were really interesting, and the way they interacted with each other was fantastic. I think it’s so rare to see friendships in adult fantasy that are healthy and fun, but this book has some of the best friendships I’ve seen in this genre. Keera is a super compelling main character, but I found that Riven fell a little flat for me at times. The side characters were phenomenal, and everyone was pretty well developed considering this is only the first book in a series. 

My main complaint is that certain plot points got repetitive. The way that Keera’s drinking was described was really redundant, but other than that, I thought the book was pretty well written. For a debut, I think the writing was really solid, and I was pleasantly surprised. If you’re a fan of adult fantasy, I absolutely recommend that you pick up a copy of this book.

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