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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
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
judassilver's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Self harm, Slavery, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Sexual violence, Blood, and Colonisation
Minor: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
pammie823's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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
4.0
I've now read this book twice and I really enjoyed it both times. A Broken Blade feels kind of like an amalgamation of the romantasy books that are popular on TikTok but it's well done so I don't mind that it's got a lot of cliches.
What makes this book unique among the masses of recent romantasy novels is the heroine: Keera. She is complicated in a way that feels real. She struggles with addiction because she is self-medicating. She carries survivor's guilt. She has lived a life and is a fully-realized person but still makes mistakes because she has a narrow point of view. I love her character and especially on the second read, felt she makes this book shine.
What makes this book unique among the masses of recent romantasy novels is the heroine: Keera. She is complicated in a way that feels real. She struggles with addiction because she is self-medicating. She carries survivor's guilt. She has lived a life and is a fully-realized person but still makes mistakes because she has a narrow point of view. I love her character and especially on the second read, felt she makes this book shine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, and Violence
Minor: Sexual violence
sasclostchild's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
So the first third of the book was very depressing, focusing on our protagonist living the American dream: doing a shitty job they don't like to barely live and to drown their sorrows in alcohol, all while harming a lot of people.
She then turns her life around by quitting alcohol (good for her) and siding with a rebellious group to eat the rich.
This is all accompanied by a very icky straight romance which is not icky because it's straight (although that is a sad part because i was hoping for a sapphic romance but that only exists in a short flashback) but because the dude forces himself on her all the time and the only chemistry they have is some weird interaction between their types of magic that acts as an aphrodisiac making them horny for each other.She still somehow falls in horny because idk if you can call drug addled make outs love
Then the book also fails to close its main arc during the book but fuck I'm not buying the second book.
Still 2.25, because the unfinished story got kinda interesting in the second half
This is all accompanied by a very icky straight romance which is not icky because it's straight (although that is a sad part because i was hoping for a sapphic romance but that only exists in a short flashback) but because the dude forces himself on her all the time and the only chemistry they have is some weird interaction between their types of magic that acts as an aphrodisiac making them horny for each other.
Then the book also fails to close its main arc during the book but fuck I'm not buying the second book.
Still 2.25, because the unfinished story got kinda interesting in the second half
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
silence_underrated's review against another edition
Triggering. I can’t stand rape by a figure in power that isn’t punished.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and War
Minor: Rape
staygold91's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? It's complicated
5.0
I read this book and its sequel over the course of one weekend. The world is rich and well-developed. The characters feel like real people, and I love the FMC. Keera’s adventure of loss and rediscovering hope is something many could relate to.
I would recommend this book (and series) to anyone who enjoys reading about political intrigue and liberation, and love in the face of overwhelming odds.
I would recommend this book (and series) to anyone who enjoys reading about political intrigue and liberation, and love in the face of overwhelming odds.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Colonisation
sunrae17's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Slavery, and Violence
Minor: Sexual violence and Suicidal thoughts
ninjatrombonist's review against another edition
dark
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment
bisexualwentworth's review against another edition
adventurous
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
3.0
Disclaimer about how I read this book:
I bought the original self-published version back in 2021 and have a copy of that edition on my bookshelf. However, I ended up getting the traditionally published version as an ebook through the library, so all of my critiques are on the most polished version of the story, not the anonymous 2021 version.
I have a LOT of very lovely friends and mutuals who LOVE this book and for whom it means a lot. I am so happy that all of you have this book and that it gave you so much of value. I am also not going to hold back on any of my critiques simply because people I like and respect are going to disagree with them.
A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair is a quick, easy read. I breezed through it in a couple of days during my less-busy moments at work.
I've followed Blair on TikTok for several years, and I appreciate a lot of what she was trying to do with this book. In particular, she aimed to breathe diversity and an indigenous perspective into the very white-dominated (and frequently very racist) fantasy romance genre. I think she mostly succeeded in that goal.
I enjoyed some of the dialogue, and several characters had interesting moments. Killian was probably the most compelling character for me, but I also look forward to seeing more of Syrra and several others.
Blair's creation of the Shades was clearly inspired by a deeply personal knowledge of colonization and the horrors it inflicts on indigenous women in particular, and I look forward to a deeper exploration of their situation in the sequel.
The book is fast-paced, and the mystery is structured very competently, if also very obviously.
My first, and possibly biggest, issue with this book is the lack of depth to the world. I think that good fantasy writers ground their worlds in inspirations drawn from real-world cultures and real-world history. And this book has the IDEA of that inspiration, but it's not grounded in anything.
Basically, the entire aesthetic of this book is a renaissance faire. People wear corsets and cloaks and have leg slits in their dresses. I have no sense of the geography of this world beyond what is given in the map at the front. I have no sense of the agriculture or trade or economic system. I have no visuals of anything other than clothing, weapons, and some of the characters' faces. And I don't think that authors have to give us all of that, but it's very jarring to get these very in-depth descriptions of Keera's outfits and then have very little sense of the world at large.
"What if a basic fantasy world with a ren faire aesthetic was an evil colonialist power that enslaves and commits genocide against its magical creatures and we actually confronted that?" is a VERY compelling question to ask and a very compelling setup for a book. I just don't feel like A Broken Blade explores that question below the surface, and that's a problem that starts with the worldbuilding and continues through every single other aspect of the book.
I've heard many people point to Keera's character as a highlight of the book, and while I understand why other readers would like or relate to her, she simply did not work for me as a character. I did not feel like her alcoholism was handled very well. The balance of showing and telling was totally off (as with a lot of things in this book, honestly), and I felt like "oh yeah she takes this magical drug and it gets rid of her alcoholism and then her body looks better" was very much a cop-out of what could have been a fascinating and harrowing character arc about her struggles with addiction.
I honestly think Keera might have worked better as a third-person point-of-view character than she does as a first-person narrator. Her motivations all come to us in dialogue or in flashbacks, and a lot of her choices felt hollow to me because of that. Part of my frustration might be that I read this book shortly after The Unbroken by C. L. Clark, which features a main character who heartbreakingly deconstructs the colonialism that has shaped her upbringing and then does some really powerful things afterward, and maybe I was unfairly hoping for a similar arc for Keera, but regardless, Keera's choices and motivations fell flat.
And that is SO FRUSTRATING to me because, like I said earlier, the Shades are SO CONCEPTUALLY COMPELLING, and there is so much potential to explore so many issues there, both through metaphor and through the implications that Melissa Blair has created in her own world. If only Keera ACTUALLY cared about the other Shades the way she claims to. If only the narrative afforded them the agency to make their own decisions or question their situation.
I truly felt like Keera cared more about NIkolai, someone she barely knows, than she does about the Shades, her own people. Yes, she SAYS that everything she does is for the Shades, but her actions say the opposite.
My other big issue with this book is that it feels like it was constructed around popular tropes in order to have a marketable story—and that's because it was. It was written using tropes that BookTok loves so that BookTok would read it. And that's fine. But I can tell when I'm reading it that despite the author's passion about colonization and indigenous issues, this book was written less out of a desire to explore those themes in a fantasy setting (though that desire was certainly present) and more out of a desire to write something that would sell. That is a totally understandable motivation. We all have it, as writers. It just makes for a less compelling story with less substance to it.
Another issue I had with this book is that the way it talks about gender is very shallow. I think there's some sort of attempt at a critique of cisnormativity, but it's happening through the lens of fantasy metaphors, and it doesn't really work. Hopefully the sequel will either do a better job of exploring that issue or will ignore it completely.
Keera is bisexual and has a past relationship with a woman (though I hate that said queer woman was essentially fridged to further Keera's character development, and I would have been a lot less frustrated with that choice if there had been another sapphic couple on-page) , and people who apparently read certain parts of the text more closely than I did assure me that several other characters (most of the main cast, in fact) are stated to be queer in some way as well (I somehow missed most of this, but I do trust my sources very much on this one). So it is a queer book. And the main romance is fun. I didn't care about it much because again, it felt like it was constructed more around the tropes than it was around what made sense for the characters, but I understand why other readers would like it, and I do look forward to seeing where it goes in the sequel.
A few weeks ago, I sent a pretty rough draft of the first couple chapters of a fantasy novel to beta readers, and a lot of the feedback I've gotten back is about the overall indistinctness of the world in those opening chapters. People aren't sure what's going on or what anything looks like. There's nothing tethering them to the world. There's nothing making them care. There are seeds of compelling ideas and maybe even compelling characters, but the thing itself is not yet compelling, or in fact very good.
This sort of feedback is not fun to get from people you like and respect. It hurts. Of course it does. Because in your mind, as the writer, as the creator of this world, the visuals sparkle. The ideas are THERE. The characters are fleshed out to perfection. But that's all in my head, and that's why I have those beta readers—to tell me what gaps they’re seeing, so that I can work on actually executing those ideas I have.
A Broken Blade reads like that first draft I sent out. The seeds of something compelling. Some moments that are genuinely interesting or good or fun. But it reads as though it never got serious content editing. Like the author didn't have someone look at it in the early stages and say, "I can't really visualize what this world looks like beyond some clear ren faire inspirations, and I feel like you're really interested in exploring these specific themes, but they’re not coming through in a very clear way."
And that's why I'm actually excited to read the sequel. Because maybe with more editing, not just of the text but of the CONTENT and the IDEAS and the WORLDBUILDING, this has the potential to be a story that I really enjoy and become really invested in. The execution just really was not there in this one.
I bought the original self-published version back in 2021 and have a copy of that edition on my bookshelf. However, I ended up getting the traditionally published version as an ebook through the library, so all of my critiques are on the most polished version of the story, not the anonymous 2021 version.
I have a LOT of very lovely friends and mutuals who LOVE this book and for whom it means a lot. I am so happy that all of you have this book and that it gave you so much of value. I am also not going to hold back on any of my critiques simply because people I like and respect are going to disagree with them.
A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair is a quick, easy read. I breezed through it in a couple of days during my less-busy moments at work.
I've followed Blair on TikTok for several years, and I appreciate a lot of what she was trying to do with this book. In particular, she aimed to breathe diversity and an indigenous perspective into the very white-dominated (and frequently very racist) fantasy romance genre. I think she mostly succeeded in that goal.
I enjoyed some of the dialogue, and several characters had interesting moments. Killian was probably the most compelling character for me, but I also look forward to seeing more of Syrra and several others.
Blair's creation of the Shades was clearly inspired by a deeply personal knowledge of colonization and the horrors it inflicts on indigenous women in particular, and I look forward to a deeper exploration of their situation in the sequel.
The book is fast-paced, and the mystery is structured very competently, if also very obviously.
My first, and possibly biggest, issue with this book is the lack of depth to the world. I think that good fantasy writers ground their worlds in inspirations drawn from real-world cultures and real-world history. And this book has the IDEA of that inspiration, but it's not grounded in anything.
Basically, the entire aesthetic of this book is a renaissance faire. People wear corsets and cloaks and have leg slits in their dresses. I have no sense of the geography of this world beyond what is given in the map at the front. I have no sense of the agriculture or trade or economic system. I have no visuals of anything other than clothing, weapons, and some of the characters' faces. And I don't think that authors have to give us all of that, but it's very jarring to get these very in-depth descriptions of Keera's outfits and then have very little sense of the world at large.
"What if a basic fantasy world with a ren faire aesthetic was an evil colonialist power that enslaves and commits genocide against its magical creatures and we actually confronted that?" is a VERY compelling question to ask and a very compelling setup for a book. I just don't feel like A Broken Blade explores that question below the surface, and that's a problem that starts with the worldbuilding and continues through every single other aspect of the book.
I've heard many people point to Keera's character as a highlight of the book, and while I understand why other readers would like or relate to her, she simply did not work for me as a character. I did not feel like her alcoholism was handled very well. The balance of showing and telling was totally off (as with a lot of things in this book, honestly), and I felt like "oh yeah she takes this magical drug and it gets rid of her alcoholism and then her body looks better" was very much a cop-out of what could have been a fascinating and harrowing character arc about her struggles with addiction.
I honestly think Keera might have worked better as a third-person point-of-view character than she does as a first-person narrator. Her motivations all come to us in dialogue or in flashbacks, and a lot of her choices felt hollow to me because of that. Part of my frustration might be that I read this book shortly after The Unbroken by C. L. Clark, which features a main character who heartbreakingly deconstructs the colonialism that has shaped her upbringing and then does some really powerful things afterward, and maybe I was unfairly hoping for a similar arc for Keera, but regardless, Keera's choices and motivations fell flat.
And that is SO FRUSTRATING to me because, like I said earlier, the Shades are SO CONCEPTUALLY COMPELLING, and there is so much potential to explore so many issues there, both through metaphor and through the implications that Melissa Blair has created in her own world. If only Keera ACTUALLY cared about the other Shades the way she claims to. If only the narrative afforded them the agency to make their own decisions or question their situation.
I truly felt like Keera cared more about NIkolai, someone she barely knows, than she does about the Shades, her own people. Yes, she SAYS that everything she does is for the Shades, but her actions say the opposite.
My other big issue with this book is that it feels like it was constructed around popular tropes in order to have a marketable story—and that's because it was. It was written using tropes that BookTok loves so that BookTok would read it. And that's fine. But I can tell when I'm reading it that despite the author's passion about colonization and indigenous issues, this book was written less out of a desire to explore those themes in a fantasy setting (though that desire was certainly present) and more out of a desire to write something that would sell. That is a totally understandable motivation. We all have it, as writers. It just makes for a less compelling story with less substance to it.
Another issue I had with this book is that the way it talks about gender is very shallow. I think there's some sort of attempt at a critique of cisnormativity, but it's happening through the lens of fantasy metaphors, and it doesn't really work. Hopefully the sequel will either do a better job of exploring that issue or will ignore it completely.
Keera is bisexual and has a past relationship with a woman
A few weeks ago, I sent a pretty rough draft of the first couple chapters of a fantasy novel to beta readers, and a lot of the feedback I've gotten back is about the overall indistinctness of the world in those opening chapters. People aren't sure what's going on or what anything looks like. There's nothing tethering them to the world. There's nothing making them care. There are seeds of compelling ideas and maybe even compelling characters, but the thing itself is not yet compelling, or in fact very good.
This sort of feedback is not fun to get from people you like and respect. It hurts. Of course it does. Because in your mind, as the writer, as the creator of this world, the visuals sparkle. The ideas are THERE. The characters are fleshed out to perfection. But that's all in my head, and that's why I have those beta readers—to tell me what gaps they’re seeing, so that I can work on actually executing those ideas I have.
A Broken Blade reads like that first draft I sent out. The seeds of something compelling. Some moments that are genuinely interesting or good or fun. But it reads as though it never got serious content editing. Like the author didn't have someone look at it in the early stages and say, "I can't really visualize what this world looks like beyond some clear ren faire inspirations, and I feel like you're really interested in exploring these specific themes, but they’re not coming through in a very clear way."
And that's why I'm actually excited to read the sequel. Because maybe with more editing, not just of the text but of the CONTENT and the IDEAS and the WORLDBUILDING, this has the potential to be a story that I really enjoy and become really invested in. The execution just really was not there in this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Self harm, Violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence