thecatconstellation's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Overall, I really enjoyed this. I found it to be a quick read. While Ziva’s social anxiety at times can feel overused, it was really nice to read about a character struggling in ways that I have. The main group of 4 characters make a good mix, and I enjoy seeing the relationships develop. I would not call this an “enemies-to-lovers” as I have sometimes seen it called, more of a “ugh he’s gross and selfish to lovers”. I do think the pacing was a bit odd at times, sometimes a bit slow and sometimes a bit fast. But I enjoyed it!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, Death of parent, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Grief, Blood, Injury/injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: War and Alcohol
rinku's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Blade of Secrets was such a disappointment for me. I was so excited to read about a main character with social anxiety, but this was almost all that was there to the story. Especially the fantasy aspects and the storytelling itself felt quite flat.
The general concept of the story was so intriguing: social anxious Ziva is able to forge magical weapons and makes good money selling them. One day, a woman called Kymera makes a commission for a sword that becomes more powerful than any sword Ziva has crafted before. She then overhears what plans Kymera has with the sword and flees with her sister and other travel companions from her. Sadly, that’s about it what is happening in the story besides an insta-lovey romance. The characters seem to have no other goal than fleeing which was bit boring. The book got better after the first half, but it was just not enough for me. There was also one of my least favorite plot twists towards the end when .
Spoiler
it’s revealed that random characters are related to each other. At least, this didn’t make Petrik a traitorMy biggest critique with the book is probably the flat and boring world building. At the beginning, I even thought that the story would take place in our regular world because the world building was so simple. This is also caused by the writing style that barely describes something and if it does, th descriptions are often clunky. There’s also too much telling, especially when it comes to the behaviour of characters; one of them is called arrogant but is barely shown as being it.
Like I’ve said, it was very nice to have an MC with social anxiety. Ziva’s struggles because of it were well depicted in my opinion. Sadly, some things about her character were stereotypical, like the fact that she has a dead mom and that she’s not like other girls.
I generally liked the rest of the cast but especially the male characters were so cliché. Of course, the love interest is arrogant, flirty and muscular. Another problem I had with the characters was that they and their conflict were sometimes just annoying; for example, Ziva and her sister always argue about such childish things. One thing I liked though was the causal queerness of the story in some parts.
Blade of Secrets is another book that proves that a good idea doesn’t mean a good execution. I’ll maybe read the second book if my library gets it but otherwise, this series is sadly nothing for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Mental illness
Moderate: Injury/injury detail, Violence, Blood, Death, and Murder
Minor: Confinement
sealbrecht's review
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Grief
melaniereadsbooks's review
adventurous
slow-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? Yes
4.0
Thank you so much to Fierce Reads for a finished copy of this book!
Ziva is a smithy, working literal magic onto the weapons that she forges for those who can pay across the kingdom. But when she makes an indestructible blade for a warlord and discovers they want to use it for world domination, she has to face her fear of social situations and get help to escape the warlord and keep the blade safe.
I enjoyed the characters that Levenseller built in this book. Ziva was very interesting, and I really loved her sister. I also really liked the premise of this book, the way the magic worked and how few people had it. I loved the interactions with their estranged family and their group of friends.
This book definitely has a found-family dynamic which I loved! I did wish that some of the interactions were described better and that things weren't glossed over so much. I usually don't think this, but I honestly thought this book should have been longer. It cut out a lot of parts that I would have liked to see that would have helped develop the characters more.
I also didn't personally find the description of the panic attacks to be very realistic. Maybe others do, but it seemed to be more focused on depression than anxiety, even though the character clearly has trouble with anxiety. I also would have loved to see more diversity among the characters.
All that said, I will definitely read the sequel when it comes out and I still really enjoy Tricia Levenseller's storytelling!
Pub Date: May 4, 2021
Ziva is a smithy, working literal magic onto the weapons that she forges for those who can pay across the kingdom. But when she makes an indestructible blade for a warlord and discovers they want to use it for world domination, she has to face her fear of social situations and get help to escape the warlord and keep the blade safe.
I enjoyed the characters that Levenseller built in this book. Ziva was very interesting, and I really loved her sister. I also really liked the premise of this book, the way the magic worked and how few people had it. I loved the interactions with their estranged family and their group of friends.
This book definitely has a found-family dynamic which I loved! I did wish that some of the interactions were described better and that things weren't glossed over so much. I usually don't think this, but I honestly thought this book should have been longer. It cut out a lot of parts that I would have liked to see that would have helped develop the characters more.
I also didn't personally find the description of the panic attacks to be very realistic. Maybe others do, but it seemed to be more focused on depression than anxiety, even though the character clearly has trouble with anxiety. I also would have loved to see more diversity among the characters.
All that said, I will definitely read the sequel when it comes out and I still really enjoy Tricia Levenseller's storytelling!
Pub Date: May 4, 2021
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Minor: Grief and Vomit
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