A review by nishana
Blade of Secrets by Tricia Levenseller
adventurous
lighthearted
- Loveable characters? No
1.5
if i were to show you a perfect example of ya fantasy mediocrity, this book would be it.
Blade of Secrets is a book that seemed promising in the first chapter or two, but quickly fell into the problems that most ya fantasy novels do.
let's start with the few positives: this book has great social anxiety rep and a great portrayal of sisterhood. and while the writing style wasn't anything special, i definitely was able to breeze through it quickly, which was nice.
and now, onto the problems:
my major issue with this book is the lack of chemistry between the core group. on their own, all of the characters felt very cliche and flat. none of them brought anything interesting to the table, and it was difficult to connect with them. together though, it was even worse. their group dynamic felt so forced and stilted. it felt as though the author was trying to build something that just wasn't going to work, especially when the characters individually were not fleshed out properly. the same problem existed for both the romances.
the worldbuilding also could have been better, especially surrounding the main villain. a richer, more detailed history about the world would have created greater understanding and investment in the villains actions/intentions. it also could have helped gain greater insight into the core four's backstories, and allowed to them to feel more unique.
overall, this was a mostly forgettable read. for younger readers who haven't read much fantasy, this may be more enjoyable, but this was definitely a miss for me.
Blade of Secrets is a book that seemed promising in the first chapter or two, but quickly fell into the problems that most ya fantasy novels do.
let's start with the few positives: this book has great social anxiety rep and a great portrayal of sisterhood. and while the writing style wasn't anything special, i definitely was able to breeze through it quickly, which was nice.
and now, onto the problems:
my major issue with this book is the lack of chemistry between the core group. on their own, all of the characters felt very cliche and flat. none of them brought anything interesting to the table, and it was difficult to connect with them. together though, it was even worse. their group dynamic felt so forced and stilted. it felt as though the author was trying to build something that just wasn't going to work, especially when the characters individually were not fleshed out properly. the same problem existed for both the romances.
the worldbuilding also could have been better, especially surrounding the main villain. a richer, more detailed history about the world would have created greater understanding and investment in the villains actions/intentions. it also could have helped gain greater insight into the core four's backstories, and allowed to them to feel more unique.
overall, this was a mostly forgettable read. for younger readers who haven't read much fantasy, this may be more enjoyable, but this was definitely a miss for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders