Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Five Broken Blades

Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland

26 reviews

delliomellidom's review against another edition

adventurous medium-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

Other than a few mildly spicy scenes, the book reads more like a YA fantasy adventure, which is a genre I actually rather enjoy. Lots of tropes in this one. Things are pretty predictable due to tropes, foreshadowing, and the various POVs.

That all being said, I picked this up because of the pretty stenciled edges and due to it being marketed for fans of Six of Crows....and it absolutely delivered on those fronts. I'm intrigued by these characters and want to follow their journey across the next two books in the trilogy. I'm curious how things will pan out.

I do believe this book would have done even better with a few of the mild spicy scenes removed/toned down (though even with them, there's nothing overly explicit), because it would do well with SoC audiences (teen, maybe new adult).

I'll be recommending this one to a few friends.

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flyinglark's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

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

3.25

I will admit it. My expectations were low on the discovery that this was published under Red Tower, but the synopsis sounded something right up my alley.

I liked the characters, they had their archetypes and fleshed-out motivations. Everyone had a secret close to their hearts. They checked off most of your original character questionnaires floating around. Some were likeable, and some were irritating.

What was delivered in the book differed from what was advertised.

There was more romance than plotting to kill the king. The story meandered on the journey to bring the six together and go to the capital. It seems the plot was moulded around the characters and progressing their relationships then the other way around.

The book was filled with many tropes. You’ll probably find one that appeals to you like

second chance romance, love at first sight, et cetera.

The world-building was a mixed bag. The world itself was carefully thought out, with various climates and accurate travel distances. The magic system is straightforward - the magic items will give you a gift but it comes with a consequence. But there was a lot of telling of the lore through the character’s POV. The world is filled with

sexism, classism, miscarriages of justice and a genocide mentioned. It left me wanting more discussion on those in future books.

Was this a well-crafted piece? No. The first-person POV became repetitive sometimes. But I still continued reading and found it comedic at times. One can say that the characters grew on me, especially when

they went into full assassination plot mode in the last arc

. It left me wanting to read the next book out next year. I hope to see more communication now bonds are formed.

POV: 1st Person (Multiple - Six in Total)

Author’s Trigger Warnings:

Violence, blood, death (including the death of parents, children, incarcerated people, and animals), poisoning, substance abuse, alcohol, sexual activity, animal abuse, gender-based violence, sex work, suicidal ideation, indentured servitude are depicted. Rape, assault, and graphic genocide are described.

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aengblom's review

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adventurous funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

This book is a fast paced, multi POV, story of a rag-tag group of criminals (mostly) who are on the same mission which causes their paths to cross. This story has found family and romance which is always an immediate sell for me! ❤️ The world building/magic system and the writing style is VERY simple. This may be a turn off for some, but I think that it's just more accessible to a wider audience. Personally, I did not mind the writing as the story was very entertaining and I was invested in the characters. The characters, while flawed, are loveable and the banter between them had me laughing out loud. The romance was a little spicy but the scenes were so short that I feel like I personally would give this a lower spice rating. The chapters are super short, each a different POV, and end on a mini cliff hanger which made this a super addictive fast read. This was 100% more of a vibe read for me and i would definitely reccomend this to people needing to get out of a reading slump, people who need a brain break between more intense books/series, AND to those who are new to the fantasy genre as this is definitely an easy entry for those wanting to try fantasy.

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bluz19's review

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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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kendal_reads's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75

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grayscale08's review

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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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taryn_g's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.0

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kwolfie's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

3.75

I really enjoyed most of this ride, learning about the characters and their flaws, their plans, and their secrets, but I had a few fairly big issues with this book

First off, I know this is nitpicky but Royo's accent is so inconsistent and it bothered me an unreasonable amount. Like you need to either commit or just leave it out. Also, all of his chapters up until the last few felt the exact same.

Also, how are ALL of the characters going to have romance plotlines? It doesn't feel realistic at all, even for a fantasy world. I did enjoy them, but it didn't make sense

I confused the characters so much for probably 50% of the book, I feel like they needed to be more drastically different if we're going to have all of their POVs. I confused Royo and Euyn for the longest time, but Sora stood out to me easily and was very distinguishable.

Also, I simply didn't like the ending. I'll definitely read the next book, but I do hope it ends differently.

HOWEVER, I did come to love most of the characters, and they really did develop throughout the story. Aeri's story and overall development really stood out, and I also really enjoyed Sora's and Tiyung's. Now that I've gotten past being able to distinguish them, I do want to hear more from them so I will absolutely be picking up the sequel.

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petrichor_pages's review

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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rinakei's review

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dark 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

3.75

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