Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair

25 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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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

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. 

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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

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual assault, Torture, and Trafficking

katiemara's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.75

An interesting fantasy novel, which has a focus on self-improvement (with a lot of trauma)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual assault and Trafficking

mj_86's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Trafficking, and Grief

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Torture

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

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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

brjedi26's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Sexual assault, Torture, and Trafficking

dragongirl271's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.25

“Why else make a journey you didn’t expect to survive? But maybe you’ll find more than survival here. Maybe you’ll find redemption.”

This is a series I'm thoroughly excited to finish. I had a great time reading this first book. I really enjoy the worldbuilding by Blair and I love a protagonist that's very complex and not always right, which is found with Keera.

A Broken Blade is the first book in The Halfling Saga. We're introduced to Keera, a half-elf (known as “halflings” in this world) who was forced into the King’s service and became his top spy and assassin. Keera's never been happy with the King's rule, but following his orders is how she stays alive. Until, a mysterious figure working against the monarchy appears. Can this “Shadow” help Keera find a new path toward survival and freedom?

Again, I really enjoyed Blair's world. I think she did a good job adding depth to the side characters. We also get a romance subplot with some great tropes without it feeling too trope-y?? Sign me up for the sequels. (Disclaimer: I could still see some of these tropes coming a mile away the second they were hinted at. No, that did not stop me from kicking my feet in glee when they finally happened.)

I think this is also going to be a really good discussion on how messy revolution is. Not everything goes well. People get hurt. Keera's got her own traumas and trust issues. And it seems not everybody is involved for the right reasons. The synopses of the next two books give me hope that the story will stay complex and nuanced.

1st-person POV. Fast pacing. Bisexual main character!!! Tough topics addressed with MC (see CWs at beginning of book).
Tropes included:
Enemies to lovers 
There was only one bed
Who did this to you?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Torture, and Trafficking

Minor: Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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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

crinkledmochi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense 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

3.75

I enjoyed this book and will definitely read the next one to see what happens but some of the twists and turns were kinda obvious and the characters could’ve been a little more fleshed out 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail