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A review by abbie_
The Unbroken by C.L. Clark
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
The Unbroken is an epic, North African-inspired fantasy novel which provides a keen look at colonialism and empire through a fantasy lens. It’s on the slower side, as Clark has set up a very intricate world. It takes time to get into it, but it’s more than worth it if you love complex, politically-driven fantasy full of backstabbing and power plays!
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It’s been praised time and time again for its representation, and I can only second that praise. Very often fantasy will be like ‘Here are lots of queer people 😀 But they’re still oppressed for being queer☹️’, but in The Unbroken a whole spectrum of queer folk are just living. I mean yes the characters are oppressed for a myriad of other reasons (race, religion, disability), but their queerness is never questioned or used against them. There are a lot of great relationships in this book, which is a good thing since I never actually warmed up to the main romance pairing. But Clark makes up for it with plenty of other complex relationships, friendships, parental bonds etc.!
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I definitely preferred Touraine’s sections to Luca’s, but Luca’s were still interesting in their own right. I’m more interested in the magical side of fantasy than the political side (although that was my bad going in knowing it was a military political fantasy lol - I did still really enjoy it okay!!), so it makes sense I’d prefer Touraine who has more contact with the magical side of the story. I also loved how Clark slowly showed Touraine’s journey from being basically brainwashed by the empire to decolonising her mind and actions.
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I’ll definitely read book two and I hope we see more of the Many-Legged in that one!
.
It’s been praised time and time again for its representation, and I can only second that praise. Very often fantasy will be like ‘Here are lots of queer people 😀 But they’re still oppressed for being queer☹️’, but in The Unbroken a whole spectrum of queer folk are just living. I mean yes the characters are oppressed for a myriad of other reasons (race, religion, disability), but their queerness is never questioned or used against them. There are a lot of great relationships in this book, which is a good thing since I never actually warmed up to the main romance pairing. But Clark makes up for it with plenty of other complex relationships, friendships, parental bonds etc.!
.
I definitely preferred Touraine’s sections to Luca’s, but Luca’s were still interesting in their own right. I’m more interested in the magical side of fantasy than the political side (although that was my bad going in knowing it was a military political fantasy lol - I did still really enjoy it okay!!), so it makes sense I’d prefer Touraine who has more contact with the magical side of the story. I also loved how Clark slowly showed Touraine’s journey from being basically brainwashed by the empire to decolonising her mind and actions.
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I’ll definitely read book two and I hope we see more of the Many-Legged in that one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Death, Murder, and Violence