Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland

12 reviews

madam_tatas's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was an incredible fantasy tale. Five liars and thieves come together for the plot of the century.

And in the end, they end up betrayed.

Other than the ending making me giggle because of a connection I made to something else, I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the sequel.

Every one of these characters has their own secrets, and not knowing their secrets just makes you eager to read more and find out about them. Although they're all thieves or liars or murderers, you can't help but love them. Because none of them CHOSE the hand they were dealt.

All in all, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy adventure books.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, and Classism

khaandre's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual harassment and Colonisation

bluz19's review

adventurous challenging mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

I want to start by saying this book is the beginning of a series and I have no idea how long the series will be but I excited to see where this adventure will take our characters. Tis book has multiple viewpoints, LGBTQ+ themes, and is 400+ pages. I think the biggest downside for me with this book is that we get the viewpoints of six characters. Although it was great having that much insight, I found myself having to make a chart of who everyone was because it is so hard to keep track with them changing every chapter. Apart from that, I really enjoyed the story, the in-depth look into their lives, different backgrounds, thoughts, and connections. We are slowly introduced to each character, their skills, and their journey to reach the group and then to get rid of the “god-king”. The book is full of action, deceit, and characters with trauma and issues. Imagine a book of a ragtag group formed together to achieve a nearly impossible goal. That is everything that this book is. All the character provide layers and complexity to the story. Their decisions often shocked me but everything they did was built from the personality that their backstories and upbringing created. There is a lot of darkness pent up in this story but there are also light moments, humor, and love/ care. 

This book definitely kept me guessing, I felt like I was just along for the ride. There were definitely parts that surprised me and I’m still reeling on right now. There are also parts that I felt could’ve been more filled out because I had to go back and try to read them because it didn’t feel clear as to why or how it happened. I felt like the author was trying to throw in some twists that at times just fell flat. And as cool as the plot sounds, I want to note that this is more based on the character development and less on the actual plot which is interesting considering the plot s to kill and immortal king. The ending of this book is. Huge cliffhanger, just as a precaution to those who need to prep in advance. 

 

Ultimately, I loved this book and these character and I am very excited to pick up the second one and continue with these characters. If you enjoy journey stories, action, deception, a ragtag group of criminals, with a dash of romance and twist and turns then I think you will enjoy this story. The world building and the character set up was better than I have read in a long time. I am so excited for book 2!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Slavery, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol

misterwisp's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Five Broken Blades!! So intense...so dark....so much with mysterious backstories and conflicted motivations. It's pretty epic. 
The story follows six people (the Five Broken Blades of the title journey with an extra character) who have been brought together to commit righteous vengeance upon their king. Over the course of them travelling to meet up and then travelling to get to the king you gradually find out everyone's backstories and motivations, and there is occasional action. 
It sets up everyone pretty well. The backstories are mostly compelling and interesting. It's about an even split for sympathetic characters and characters who just seem like bad humans it was hard to muster any empathy for. The writing is very good at evoking who these people are and what motivates them. These people can't decide how much they trust each other so there is a bunch of interpersonal drama. 
There is a lot of dark stuff like indentured servitude, genocide and murder. The world is asian inspired and interesting enough. Despite a lot of the book being interpersonal conflicts and character backstory it still feels like it flows smoothly and keeps a fast pace. 
I really enjoyed it until the end. Without going into spoilers, the way it ends feels more about setting up the next book than paying off anything from this book. There wasn't much sense of conclusion. So that was a bit of a let down. 
I am still left wanting to read the sequel and found this one worth trying even if I would have preferred a more satisfying ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Gore, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, and Alcohol

Take the content warning at the front of the book seriously if you don't want to read about those things it lists.

grayscale08's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Infertility, Vomit, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

hutchinga's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

1.5

Double twists are difficult for me to appreciate in a book where you are also tracking 5 main characters. Slow start, good middle, rushed ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Blood

ladysubpar's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

ellen_is_reading's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This was a fun, fast paced read. Lots of twists and a heist plot. Once the characters all converge, it's more fun, but is very much a set up for the next book. 
The only thing I didn't love is that all of the characters were instantly paired off into romantic couples? Like from the jump, everyone was involved romantically with someone and it felt a little forced. It would have been nice to see some of the relationships grow more. I feel this way about the group dynamic as well - I liked it but it felt a bit like we were told they all bond rather than watch it happen properly. 
Overall a fun read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

There is a content warning at the beginning of the book, it is there for multiple reasons.

sunflower895's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

midnightrose_reads's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Five Broken Blades is the first book in the Broken Blades trilogy by Mai Corland. This book was so much fun and quite an intense read (check trigger warnings). It’s a fast paced book full of morally grey deadly liars, hilarious banter, action, and plenty of plot twists. I truly came to care about each of the POV’s in this book and can’t wait for the sequel called Four Ruined Realms! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing and Sexual content