⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Broken Blade
Melissa Blair
Format: Audio
This book was unusual. In some ways, that really worked and in others, I’m unconvinced.
The pros: the worldbuilding was great! The complicated hierarchies, the Shades, the honest accounts of brainwashing, genocide, and fascism.
Keera’s morally grey character was portrayed well; her recklessness and ‘bad’ traits a defense mechanism and direct result of her upbringing and her alcoholism. I started out disliking her and she grew on me. Slowly, cancerously, but she did grow on me 😂
Cons: Riven??? Sorry, but I don’t buy it when a character goes from sneering horrible remarks about you to your face to confessing love and undying devotion. His character arc was a flawed attempt at enemies to lovers that completely squashed his personality in tropes.
With that said, I do have one theory about him but I won’t spoil anything (according to a friend of mine, I won’t learn the answer until book three!)
I was also unhappy with the book’s portal of Gwynn, but that honestly might just be a pet peeve. The character deserved more than she was given on page in book one.
Okay. Despite these negative things, I really was fascinated with the worlds of the mortals, Fae, and Elves, the princes, mysterious dead light elves, and the complex hierarchy of the Shades. Tell me MORE about the safe houses! More about the rebellion and the Rose Road. More about the everyday lives of mortals and halflings!
I am unsure how to feel about the portrayal of Keera’s self-harm. I was a teenager who cut, and while I think this book attempts a balanced view of it, it comes out feeling justified as a form of self punishment and remembrance. I would not love to see a teenager take this mentality, though I don’t agree with many typical takes on self harm either. Ultimately this is something too nuanced that I’m hypersensitive about, and should probably let it go.
All in all, this was a really compelling story that mostly featured complex, fascinating characters and intricate worldbuilding. I enjoyed learning more about Keera’s past, and would like to know if my theory about Riven is anywhere close to true. Will likely read/listen to books 2 and 3.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Midnight Review 