Reviews with content warning for Murder - Swordheart

Fun read like the Saint of Steel series! You don’t need to read the Clockwork Boys to read this, though I will be picking the duology up because I’ve become a big fan of this world!

Content Warnings

city_girl_writer's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Surprisingly really enjoyed this! The fantasy world is solid and the romance was cute. The third-act breakup was annoying, but kinda understandable. Looking forward to reading more fantasy romance from T. Kingfisher in the future.

Content Warnings

bluejayreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.75

This is an unusual book. First of all, the back cover doesn't actually tell you much about what actually goes on in the book - which is Sarkis, immortal swordsman in the most literal possible sense, is now bound to Halla, a housekeeper trying her darndest to get her inheritance and evade her aunt's attempts to steal it. Considering the majority of the story takes place while traveling back and forth on one particular stretch of road in an effort to set up what is essentially a court case, it doesn't sound all that appealing.

There's also the whole romance angle. It's not even hinted at on the back cover, but it's glaringly obvious from the moment Sarkis enters the story that he and Halla are going to be a thing. And for how much of that angle is some variety of mutual pining, I shouldn't have liked that very much, either.

And yet. And yet I liked this book a lot. Because while boiling this story down to its barest elements does indeed make it sound quite boring, it's the details that get boiled away that make it so much fun. The world itself is, for the most part, a standard rural vaguely-Western-European setting. But with Sarkis being several hundred years old and remembering different things about his homeland and his home time, the world has a sense of having depth and longevity and realness - it may not be teeming with excitement and adventure, but it feels solid, somewhere you could sink your teeth into. (Plus there's that one weird group of hills full of very nasty things that definitely do not stay in one place, which adds some delightfully dangerous whimsy to the whole thing.) And the plot itself, while not on the surface incredibly exciting, is solid. The goals and motivations are clear, the consequences of failure are quite dreadful (though not life-and-death), and the journey, though mostly back and forth on one road, has enough detours and obstacles to never feel truly dull. Besides creepy moving hills, they also encounter bandits, some very unpleasant priests, and a host of other interesting allies, antagonists, and situations that add up to a very entertaining story.

What really makes this book sing, though, are the characters. Halla and Sarkis, obviously, but also Zale, the nonbinary lawyer-priest who Halla enlists to help legally stake her claim on the inheritance and so ends up spending a lot of the journey with them. All of them are great in their own unique ways, and even the more minor characters are engaging. Even with all of that, though, this book could have easily slipped into "well-written and generally fine but overall lackluster" territory - if it wasn't for the dynamic between Halla and Sarkis, which was the absolute star of the book for me.

And most of that was Halla. I love her so much. She's smart, practical, no-nonsense, and incredibly quick-witted. She knows her options are limited as a widow in a patriarchal society, but she refuses to let that stop her, and her humility bordering on self-effacement makes her utterly unashamed to let people think less of her if it moves her closer to her goals. She wields ingenuity and fast-talking instead of a sword and shield, but she's just as much of a warrior as Sarkis. And that's what made their dynamic so good - I loved Halla accepting each new development and figuring out how to deal with it, while Sarkis got progressively more amazed at how this random middle-aged housekeeper was dealing with everything so well and kept falling more in love with her. (The romance angle could easily have been annoying, but I liked their dynamic so much I didn't mind.)

This book is also hilarious. It's peppered with absurd moments and unexpected one-liners that made me laugh. Although I tried reading a few of them to my husband and he didn't find them funny, so I think they're only funny in the context of the book itself. Either way, I thought it was a great touch, and the humor was balanced really well with the darker elements of the book.

This is exactly the kind of book I'm starting to expect from T. Kingfisher - serious without feeling too dark, an uncomplicated but engaging plot, and characters that leap off the page and elevate the story into something great. I'm a little sad that there isn't a sequel to this book (I really want more Halla), but I have more T. Kingfisher books on my reading list, and I hope they're enjoyable as this one is.

Content Warnings

ritabriar's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-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

5.0

The main characters are delightful, kind, and a bit snarky. I adore Halla's ability to weaponize questions and the way Sarkis respects her quickly, especially once he gets to know her. (Things do get spicy, though it's not the main focus.) Zale and Brindle are also stars of the book, in spite of their official status as support characters.

These main characters contrast with the various villains, who suffer from a severe inability to take interest in the perspective of others, each in a slightly different way.

The plot is both character- and setting-driven, in the manner of a campaign run by an excellent game master: some things happen not because the characters make them happen, but because things like this just happen here, and they might as well happen now. (To be clear, these events serve the plot or character arcs and I love them.) I'm thinking of the Vagrant Hills, especially, which are

a piece of geography that grabs travelers if they feel like it.

The Motherhood priests probably also qualify.

As you'd expect in a book starring a magic sword, the setting has plenty of magic, which follows definite rules (though the characters don't know all of the rules and sometimes have to figure things out as they go). There are horrific mechanics to some of the magic and magical creatures, though I would not say this is a horror book.

Content Warnings

geekmom's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

This was a bit predictable and dragged a bit toward the end, BUT it made me laugh out loud more than any book I’ve read in recent memory. It was great fun.

Content Warnings

irinalast's review

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

An easy read, cozy fantasy romance with enjoyable writing. It is predictable with an annoyingly unnecessary plot point near the end, but no strong feelings.

Content Warnings

nina_rae_131's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

It was a sweet cozy fantasy, but I felt it could have been shortened a bit. If a sequel ever comes out about

the Dervish and Anharad (I listened to the audiobook so sorry if the spelling is off)

, I would definitely read it :)
This is the first book I've read with a 30+-year-old protagonist, so it was nice to try something new. I enjoyed being in Halla's head, and I enjoyed her banter with Zale (who was probably my favorite character). I liked that she wasn't super competent, and had a unique self-defense mechanism. Although I wish she wasn't so insecure. "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction is Sarkis and Halla's theme song.
Speaking of Sarkis and Halla, I feel like they fell for each other a bit too fast. I also feel like Sarkis didn't have to think about her boobs so much (but I don't read a lot of romance, so maybe that's a me problem). I felt like the "omg I can see your nipples through your shirt" moments were unnecessary.
I enjoyed most of the humor (although I don't think it's for everybody), but not all of it worked for me.
I loved that Halla and Sarkis were child-free and didn't change their minds at the end.
Also, I'm offended at the clammy hands hate. It's not my fault :')

Content Warnings

More...

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

ithilien11's review against another edition

katewheels13's review against another edition

ellierumoo's review against another edition

alexijai98's review

city_girl_writer's review against another edition

bluejayreads's review against another edition

ritabriar's review against another edition

geekmom's review against another edition

irinalast's review

nina_rae_131's review against another edition