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A review by wy_
A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair
adventurous
dark
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
3.75
So I happened to fall terribly ill right after I bought this book, which gave me ample amount of time to sit down and read (which usually never happens). This book went by so fast, I didn't even realize I was done until I started reading the Acknowledgements.
The world building was fascinating, and I love a lot of the choices made by including themes of colonization, passing, and genocide. Unfortunately the weakest part of this fantasy romance happened to be the romance, which heavily detracts from this otherwise addicting book.
I wanted to love Riven and Keera, but they're relationship felt forced. There was never quite enough yearning between the two to make it feel like their relationship was building to something. And their coming together felt both too quick and too slow for what it's set up to be. There's definitely some elements that I can tell the author is saving for the sequel (although I can guess where it's going based off similar book premises), but overall their coming together didn't feel earned. With how their relationship ends in this first book, hopefully we'll get some more drama out of it in the sequel, but we'll see.
Either way, this definitely scratched the itch I had for a good fantasy romance, and I'm super excited to read the sequel.
The world building was fascinating, and I love a lot of the choices made by including themes of colonization, passing, and genocide. Unfortunately the weakest part of this fantasy romance happened to be the romance, which heavily detracts from this otherwise addicting book.
I wanted to love Riven and Keera, but they're relationship felt forced. There was never quite enough yearning between the two to make it feel like their relationship was building to something. And their coming together felt both too quick and too slow for what it's set up to be. There's definitely some elements that I can tell the author is saving for the sequel (although I can guess where it's going based off similar book premises), but overall their coming together didn't feel earned. With how their relationship ends in this first book, hopefully we'll get some more drama out of it in the sequel, but we'll see.
Either way, this definitely scratched the itch I had for a good fantasy romance, and I'm super excited to read the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Colonisation