Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Traitor's Blade

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Traitor's Blade by Sebastien de Castell

6 reviews

kaydee_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Such a slow start, it was initially a struggle to get into… but then once they got to the main city where the majority of the plot takes place, it took off like a race horse and I was completely hooked. Loved the camaraderie and although the “mystery” was quite obvious, it’s written in a way that the reader is in on the joke - the main character can’t figure it out because he’s too busy being noble, but literally everyone else (including the reader) knows, and that was fun. I love overly-noble heroes who everyone else pokes fun at… but also can’t help but love and follow. Falcio is a great example of this. I’d give the first half of the book a 3, the second a 5, so splitting the difference and going with 4.

The only scene I hated was

the sex scene. Falcio is almost out of his mind after being tortured, and says no, stop, several times, and she keeps going, saying she isn’t afraid of him… that’s not how consent works, my dude. You’re clearly supposed to be intrigued by her, and find the scene healing/romantic, that she convinced him her sexual healing would… heal him? But it just feels coercive and sort of gross, especially when she tied him to the bed without consent, after the poor man had JUST been chained up and tortured for days! I hope, if she sticks around in future books, she gets more of a personality (and a conscience) than “sexy woman heals you with sex for your own good, regardless of how you feel about it”. The author clearly does know how to write good female characters, so she’s sort of a weird cliche anomaly.

Content Warnings

jferguson1138's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The vibe in this book is majestic. A three musketeers-esque story that follows Falcio, a justice minded, rapier wielding, dashing man and his two friends. They deal with the fallout from their king’s death while jauntily adventuring across the land.

It’s definitely got more of a fantasy lean to it with magic and fae, but mostly emphasizes justice delivered by sword. Really enjoyable read.

Content Warnings

justineboots's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Okay! New favourite! I need to binge the rest of this series. This was just so much fun.

The main characters are well-formed and complex - the plot is intriguing and the questions the book raises are very meaningful.

I will say that the last 10-20% of the book kinda dropped the ball with one too many plot twists/plot revelations. Personally one of them could have been done without and made the story more… mysterious?

That being said I super enjoyed it. I’ll definitely be picking up the next books. I really want to see where the story takes us next.

Content Warnings