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bender1118's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Self harm
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)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape, Slavery, and Torture
mari1532's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
4.0
I first learned about this book series from @fromthemixedupdesk on Instagram. Luckily my library had a copy of this audiobook so I could listen and see if I agreed with the positive reviews. Unsurprisingly, I really enjoyed this book. This story has political intrigue, romance, morally grey characters and eat-the-rich vibes. Blair has created a complex world with layered dynamics between complicated characters. The tension and drama had me devouring this book and excited me for the next three installments.
Due to Blair's vivid writing, I bonded with Keera throughout the story and the more I learned about her the more endearing she became. I am emotionally invested in her as a character and will greedily read the entire series emotionally invested in the outcome. I also enjoyed the romance subplot that Keera was a part of. The care that Keera's love interest has for her and their emphasis on consent was refreshing.
I picked up on enough context clues beforehand to see a few of the plot twists coming, so they did not shock me. That being said I am intrigued about how Blair is going to bring all the threads of the plot together. It is clear that Blair has a vision for the world and Keera and I am intrigued to see where this is all going.
I will say it was a little confusing keeping track of how old each of the characters was. Overall I do not think this distracts from the plot of the story, but it keeps coming up so I think that it might be important. The importance of age concerns the potential revelations about Keera. I hope it's more fleshed out in the next book.
Overall, this is what I want from a series starter, something that is exciting to read and makes me emotionally invested as a reader. Blair has accomplished that with this book and I look forward to reading more.
Due to Blair's vivid writing, I bonded with Keera throughout the story and the more I learned about her the more endearing she became. I am emotionally invested in her as a character and will greedily read the entire series emotionally invested in the outcome. I also enjoyed the romance subplot that Keera was a part of. The care that Keera's love interest has for her and their emphasis on consent was refreshing.
I picked up on enough context clues beforehand to see a few of the plot twists coming, so they did not shock me. That being said I am intrigued about how Blair is going to bring all the threads of the plot together. It is clear that Blair has a vision for the world and Keera and I am intrigued to see where this is all going.
I will say it was a little confusing keeping track of how old each of the characters was. Overall I do not think this distracts from the plot of the story, but it keeps coming up so I think that it might be important. The importance of age concerns the potential revelations about Keera. I hope it's more fleshed out in the next book.
Overall, this is what I want from a series starter, something that is exciting to read and makes me emotionally invested as a reader. Blair has accomplished that with this book and I look forward to reading more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Self harm, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual violence
pointeshoebookworm'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
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
89sapphicstories's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-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
4.5
I found this book searching the “Now Available” section of my library’s libby app. I had zero expectations and anatomically loved this fantasy anti-hero redemption character arc. The combination of nature, cool magic systems, and found family made this compulsively readable for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism
hmsrb's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Violence
kjstingray's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism and Self harm
iloponis's review against another edition
3.0
mixed feelings about this one. the plot was eh. prose was lame. there were more than a few moments where like, the author contradicted things she said previously, where things just kinda didnt make sense. but, i did stay up super late on a work night reading this bc i simply couldnt stop. i am a sucker for only one bed trope, comforting main character after a nightmare trope, "who did this to you" trope so .... i for sure was not reading this for the plot. will probably read the next book in the series out of curiosity
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Self harm, Blood, and Grief
kal517's review against another edition
adventurous
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Sexual assault, Torture, and Trafficking
kaerene's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Self harm, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol