blackcatreads 's review for:

A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair

3.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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For the writing, I gave that a 6 out of 10. The writing, for the most part, was fine. However, the word “smirk” was used way too much. Now, I’ve never been one to hate the word “smirk.” I think it’s fine, but this book made me cringe with how often it was used. I think at one point, it was used 2 or 3 times on the same page. There was no other type of grinning throughout this book. It was just smirking. 

For the plot, I gave that a 7 out of 10. I enjoyed it. I thought it was fast paced and interesting. I will say that I felt it was a little predictable. I was not surprised by the ending at all. We obviously expected Keera to finally turn on the king and start working with the rebels. I also completely knew who the Shadow was. Overall, it was a fairly predictable story, but I still enjoyed it. 

For the characters, I gave that a 7 out of 10 as well. I liked Keera as a character. I did like that we took a slightly different spin on a common trope. Generally, the FMC is the naive one and the MMC is the one who has to help her learn the harsh realities of the world. This book does the opposite. Keera has already been through it for years and had to face her own issues. Riven is the one who is a bit naive about how everything works. He’s been mostly sheltered in the Faelinth for years and only recently became involved with the hafling resistance. So, he’s still learning that no one is ever truly good. Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing for the right reasons, and I appreciated that it was a little different here. Keera also deals with alcoholism, which completely makes sense. I do feel like her quitting cold turkey was abrupt and easy, but I have never dealt with that so I wouldn’t know. Overall, I think she was interesting, and I’m ready to see her character development in the next book. 

For the world-building, I gave that a 7 out of 10. I really liked it. I like how the author has taken the concept of colonialism and applied it here in this high fantasy world. I find it so interesting to read how upset Keera gets when her people, the halflings, don’t know anything about their cultures because they have been oppressed. Keera has been privileged to know what she does, but the rest of her kind have not had that opportunity. I like this idea of magic dying as the mortals have continued their stay in the land. I have a prediction that the magic is dying due to the unbalance between the races, but that’s just an opinion. I really enjoyed it and thought it was executed very well. 

Overall, I gave this 3.5 stars. I really enjoyed this book and I’ve already started the second one. I hope this will continue to be a good series.