Reviews with content warning for Addiction - A Broken Blade

Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair

73 reviews

clara_h39's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

A really solid fantasy novel with just a tad of romance. If you like a predominantly plot based fantasy book with a lighter focus on romance (enemies to lovers), you’ll enjoy this. Honestly I’m not sure the romance was absolutely necessary for the plot but it wasn’t that out of place for the genre. Keera is a really great female protagonist who is fierce and fighting the good fight; a bit cliche at times but overall very well motivated and detailed character. I can’t wait to see her journey through the rest of the saga. The side characters are absolutely amazing too- I ‘love to hate’ Damien and the king, and I love sweet ones like Gwyn too. Overall a great book and looking forward to the next one, but it’s nothing extremely memorable for me personally (that sounds mean but just imo). (Also this book reminds me of the hunger games vaguely with its theme of converting the heroine to overthrowing the government)

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pointeshoebookworm's review against another edition

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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

2.5

I have mixed feelings about this book. I know it's incredibly popular on social media, but I feel like it had such potential but ultimately fell into tropes or mirrored other popular books. Towards the end of the book I kept on wondering when it would end, as the plot for the first book had wrapped up, but it kept on going.

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kaerene's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed A Broken Blade. I really liked the short chapters and the how big the pages were. It felt like I was flying through the book and I kept thinking "Just one more chapter" which then later turned into me finishing the book at 2 am. Lol. My only complaint about the book is that the mystery of one of Keera's scar's and the explanation story with the scars from Damien were given to us at the end of the book. It just felt a little forced for time. But other than that, I really enjoyed it. I had a fun time trying to guess what was going to happen and was wrong every time. Lmao. I'm looking forward to reading the next one.

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kerowyn202's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

2.0

While I was able to finish it, it really was a struggle. This could have used another pass during development for the author to really dig into what the characters are experiencing and bring the world to life. I'm also disappointed in the character development, as it seems like the only character that changed was the FMC, and even then, it felt forced

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meshamz's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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corsetedfeminist's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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

5.0

This book is so much fun.
I have to admit that it took a little bit for me to truly be invested in the characters, but once I was I read the whole thing through without stopping.
I think this is the perfect middle ground between romantasy and straight fantasy. There is a romance, sure. There’s even a few hints of spice. But there’s also really well done discussions of politics and race and marginalization. But the plot itself moves along briskly despite those deeper topics being woven in.
I love Keera so much. In many ways I think her brilliance as a main character is that she’s allowed to be what so many male main characters have been in fantasy before. She’s not magically better than everyone else at fighting, she has been trained for decades until she is the best. She doesn’t hesitate to kill, but she does end up an alcoholic over it and has to drag herself to sobriety. She is harsh and calculating and doesn’t trust anyone. And yet, she can be soft and tender- with her Shades, with the halflings in general, with Gwyn. Her position as someone who technically has power and yet practically is controlled every step of the way by the king is also very well written.
I didn’t like Riven until the very end, and I’m still not his biggest fan (he’s not worthy of my Keera yet) but he is very well written- the well intentioned revolutionary who is extremely slow to trust even when it would benefit him and wants the best for everyone but doesn’t always know how to get it.
I did love Syrra. A woman who has devoted her life to being a warrior? Yes please. Give me more. Her scene with a very hungover Keera was one of my favorites in the book for sheer emotion- two women with blood on their hands struggling with the weight of it all.
Oh, and Nikolai. Every revolution needs “playboy who is very smart but useless in battle.”
I’m really looking forward to how the complexities of revolution and racial equality are handled going forward. This book has set up the best discussion of those issues I’ve ever seen in fiction.
The only reason I’m not already reading the second book is that I have to wait for it on Libby, but it shouldn’t be too long.

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echristian3's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

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honeycupreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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lpantoja0295's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

I had a fun time reading it! It felt very cliche in the beginning, but you could really watch Keera's character unfold from the alcoholic we meet in the first chapters. She is, of course, a broody, badass, top-notch assassin, but the baggage she carries also obviously takes its toll on her as the story progresses. The ending was one I did see coming, but I was shocked when I finally got to that point! I'm excited to see where this story goes and what's in store for our badass heroine.

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judassilver's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

2.0

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