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A review by phantasmaboo
A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
A Broken Blade by Anonymous follows Keera, the King's Blade as she travels through the kingdom trying to hunt down a mysterious figure called "The Shadow". Throughout her journey, she forges new alliances, reevaluates her priorities, and ultimately has to decide who she is.
While ambitious, I didn't find it to be particularly well-written. There was also a general failure of world building. Overall, the writing meanders without clear point or purpose. The plot vacillates between being too fast and too slow with entire chapters being devoted to the minutiae of the characters' actions while other areas that should be more fleshed out are handled too quickly. Even at the end of the book, I didn't feel like I understood the world, its inhabitants, or the alliances. I almost wish that the ending of this book happened at the end of the first act of this book after a clear set up of the world. It would have been far more interesting.
I also thought there was a distinct lack of character building. For example, character's vices never truly affected the plot or their ability to complete their missions. I felt like the author was afraid to highlight or incapable of highlighting her characters' flaws and traumas and allowing them to affect the plot. To some degree, it felt like the flaws that were presented were simply there to offset the somewhat Mary-Sue-ness of the main protagonist. For example, Keera is portrayed as an assassin who turns to alcoholism after the death of her friend. However, with a quick potion, she is able to control it and it never affects her missions. This problem also disappears almost halfway through the book, as if alcoholism can be resolved in such a short period of time. The effect was that the cast felt very flat with little depth. The last 4-5 pages were more interesting than the preceding 75. Major plot points and reveals are never built up to. They just come out of nowhere or they reference proceedings from many chapters before.
As my final review, I gave this book 2.5 stars. I hope that the author continues to work on their writing, but I'm not sure I'm very interested in continuing to read the saga.
While ambitious, I didn't find it to be particularly well-written. There was also a general failure of world building. Overall, the writing meanders without clear point or purpose. The plot vacillates between being too fast and too slow with entire chapters being devoted to the minutiae of the characters' actions while other areas that should be more fleshed out are handled too quickly. Even at the end of the book, I didn't feel like I understood the world, its inhabitants, or the alliances. I almost wish that the ending of this book happened at the end of the first act of this book after a clear set up of the world. It would have been far more interesting.
I also thought there was a distinct lack of character building. For example, character's vices never truly affected the plot or their ability to complete their missions. I felt like the author was afraid to highlight or incapable of highlighting her characters' flaws and traumas and allowing them to affect the plot. To some degree, it felt like the flaws that were presented were simply there to offset the somewhat Mary-Sue-ness of the main protagonist. For example,
As my final review, I gave this book 2.5 stars. I hope that the author continues to work on their writing, but I'm not sure I'm very interested in continuing to read the saga.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, Xenophobia, Violence, Self harm, and Grief