A review by sarahfmack
A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair

adventurous dark 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

When starting this book, there was a lot of world building very fast. I enjoyed it, and once I knew the layout, it took off. 
<Spoiler>
Keera is complex and troubled. Her coping with alcoholism is raw and rarely something I read in a fantasy novel. 
Even the way her withdrawal played out was gritty and long. 

Her relationships with the other halflings and her new comrads don't start out smooth and happy. 

Melissa showed the indoctrination of the halflings, and the conflict they felt serving and being a part of the very court that wants them destroyed is nuanced and very VERY real. 
She shows the way Halflings have lost a part of their identity, many not knowing where they come from. Which is such a painful and beautiful allegory for what many Indigenous and Black people in America have dealt with because of colonization and slavery. </Spoiler>

I want more of this story as soon as possible. Kthanks.

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