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A review by vagaybond
Secrets of the Sword I by Lindsay Buroker
3.0
3.5 stars I guess.
This was really enjoyable and I felt like the problematic aspects were exchanged for different problematic aspects. For example, the talk about sex/virginity with Amber just seemed... like... there was not enough respecting of her consent. I feel like the way the fae interacted with her was really gross and while I understand it's seen as cultural discrepancies, it was wildly fucked up that someone who is supposed to be our sympathetic protagonist didn't make it abundantly clear in advance what exact flavour of danger was going to happen. I get that she seemed alright in the end but I wish writers would be better about that kind of thing. Especially when you *need to understand* that statistically speaking, there will be sexual assault survivors, including folks who dealt w that while underage, who are reading your content.
Another thing. I do kind of resent that the last book of the previous thing briefly mentioned that Zav may also feel like In Love with Val and that was never really elaborated upon. It felt really beautiful and like it had a lot of gravity then! But this one had Val mention in therapy that she was in love with him and they just... Didn't talk about it as much as I wanted them to.
I really liked this elven assassin character.
There was also a bit in this where Amber called Val "mom" once or twice (she reverted back after they were out of danger) and I still feel like they need to have a heart to heart about their relationship and care for each other. I know neither are the type for that but I think it really adds to things to see characters being awkward and emotionally vulnerable together - even if it's just an in-passing thing. Idk! Maybe I'm just a softie but I like to think that's a good thing.
This was really enjoyable and I felt like the problematic aspects were exchanged for different problematic aspects. For example, the talk about sex/virginity with Amber just seemed... like... there was not enough respecting of her consent. I feel like the way the fae interacted with her was really gross and while I understand it's seen as cultural discrepancies, it was wildly fucked up that someone who is supposed to be our sympathetic protagonist didn't make it abundantly clear in advance what exact flavour of danger was going to happen. I get that she seemed alright in the end but I wish writers would be better about that kind of thing. Especially when you *need to understand* that statistically speaking, there will be sexual assault survivors, including folks who dealt w that while underage, who are reading your content.
Another thing. I do kind of resent that the last book of the previous thing briefly mentioned that Zav may also feel like In Love with Val and that was never really elaborated upon. It felt really beautiful and like it had a lot of gravity then! But this one had Val mention in therapy that she was in love with him and they just... Didn't talk about it as much as I wanted them to.
I really liked this elven assassin character.
There was also a bit in this where Amber called Val "mom" once or twice (she reverted back after they were out of danger) and I still feel like they need to have a heart to heart about their relationship and care for each other. I know neither are the type for that but I think it really adds to things to see characters being awkward and emotionally vulnerable together - even if it's just an in-passing thing. Idk! Maybe I'm just a softie but I like to think that's a good thing.