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A review by settle4me
Five Broken Blades: The Epic Fantasy Debut Taking the World by Storm by Mai Corland
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
For most of this book, I was annoyed. It was overly descriptive, YA feeling in a not good way, and just felt like a dumb version of Six of Crows. I was probably going to give it like a 2.5, it just was deeply fine, but like, not good. But that ending twist really got me, like that made me raise it a whole .75 stars. I really enjoyed that.
But yeah, didn't really like it for most of it. Like I did, it was easy to read, and that's nice. But like, just cos it was easy to read doesn't make it good. I have so many complaints, my main one would be it overexplains a lot. Like, I understand needing something to be understood by the audience, but that doesn't mean that everything needs to be explained to the enth degree. You can say something, and we can infer what that means pretty accurately, there doesn't need to be a google searched definition of the word/phrase immediately after it's been said.
The main example of this being50 pages into the book Mikhail says "Null" as a bunch of bandits escape after they start to attack Euyn and Mikhail.
"Null" Mikhail whispers.
My eyes widen, my stomach turns. It means zero. Zero witnesses, zero survivors. With that one word, I know he's about to slaughter them all. Any safety from running was an illusion.
You can simply have the quote be
"Null" Mikhail whispers.
With that one word, I know he's about to slaughter them all.
or
"Null" Mikhail whispers.
Any safety from running was an illusion. With that one word, I know he's about to slaughter them all.
And either of them are far more effective?
I think my main problem with this book is that it's trying to be Six of Crows, and fails in both worldbuilding and getting me to be invested in these characters, which is what I loved about Six of Crows.
I will read the sequel whenever it comes out cos like, why not, this was pretty readable. But yeah, just, good ending and teaser for a sequel, everything else? Not so great.
But yeah, didn't really like it for most of it. Like I did, it was easy to read, and that's nice. But like, just cos it was easy to read doesn't make it good. I have so many complaints, my main one would be it overexplains a lot. Like, I understand needing something to be understood by the audience, but that doesn't mean that everything needs to be explained to the enth degree. You can say something, and we can infer what that means pretty accurately, there doesn't need to be a google searched definition of the word/phrase immediately after it's been said.
The main example of this being
"Null" Mikhail whispers.
My eyes widen, my stomach turns. It means zero. Zero witnesses, zero survivors. With that one word, I know he's about to slaughter them all. Any safety from running was an illusion.
You can simply have the quote be
"Null" Mikhail whispers.
With that one word, I know he's about to slaughter them all.
or
"Null" Mikhail whispers.
Any safety from running was an illusion. With that one word, I know he's about to slaughter them all.
And either of them are far more effective?
I think my main problem with this book is that it's trying to be Six of Crows, and fails in both worldbuilding and getting me to be invested in these characters, which is what I loved about Six of Crows.
I will read the sequel whenever it comes out cos like, why not, this was pretty readable. But yeah, just, good ending and teaser for a sequel, everything else? Not so great.