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A review by onthesamepage
Sword Dance by A.J. Demas

adventurous slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

It almost feels like my feelings about this book aren't fair, because on the one hand, I thought it was pretty slow, but on the other hand, Damiskos fell in love so quickly. I do think it gets better the further you get in the story. It was well-written, and very reminiscent of Mary Renault (which makes sense—the author mentions her as an inspiration, and I could definitely tell). This is technically set in a fantasy world, but there are no fantastical elements in this book aside from the countries being fake, so it read more like a historical romance to me.

I really liked both Damiskos and Varazda as characters. Their romance was slow, sweet, and easy to root for. I kind of wish there had been more focus on the romance versus everything else that was going on, but the political machinations playing out made for some fun beats. I would say this is about 40% romance, 60% political intrigue, and I guess I would've liked it more if it had been the other way around. That said, I'm excited to continue the series, especially because the next two books are following the same characters, so hopefully there'll be plenty more romance to come.
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