Exciting Step Into An Epic Fantasy

A BROKEN BLADE has what I love in fantasy: a great cast of characters, a strong female lead, a plethora of drama, action and adventure, great world building, and some twists to keep me engaged.

Keera is the King’s Blade, an elite spy and assassin who secretly longs for freedom and redemption for her terrible deeds. Her latest task is to find the Shadow, a dangerous rebel. However, it isn’t long before she sees the Shadow as a path to the vengeance she’s desperately trying to find.

Keera is a great character, ferocious and jaded, but with enough skills and complexity that I found myself cheering for her. Riven is also an engaging character who constantly butts heads with Keera as they struggle to trust each other. I enjoyed all of the side characters, each one having a layered backstory that makes me want to know more about them.

The world building is detailed but doesn’t need a glossary. I loved seeing the different races and the way they interacted.

I found the plot and romance to be a little of a slow burn. There was a heavy focus on characters, which meant that the twist could have been added sooner so as to make a tighter plot.

All told, this is a great book for anyone looking for a fantasy with a strong female lead. I can’t wait to see where the series goes!

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Inconsistent Story and Boring Characters

Minor Spoilers:

Narrator is an assassin who’s somehow the best at everything she does, with no exceptions or flaws (okay technically there’s one, but a “magic potion” solves it instantly and she always has more than she needs). 🙄 Her motivations are contradictory and flip flop to whatever is convenient at the time (save the starving citizens? … or buy the most expensive enchanted earrings and custom ballgowns to impress everyone?).

Secondary characters are so one dimensional it’ll make you do a double take, yet our “amazing spy” of a narrator somehow never thinks to investigate their motives (which, yes, is probably because they truly are written to be, as mentioned, only about as deep as a sheet of paper).

The pacing of the central romance is strange enough to feel like the scenes were arbitrarily added as an afterthought or written for a different story and grafted in so it could be marketed as fantasy romance.

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Excited for the next of the series

This is my first audiobook I have listened to from a female fantasy author. I quite enjoyed the world Melissa Blair has built and her characters she has written are fully formed unique personalities that leave me wanting more. The narrator Kyla Garcia perfectly embodies the main protagonist. (Spoilers)
I wasn’t expecting the romantic encounters but they are written tastefully and respectively.

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Well Done!

I regret not listening to this book sooner! I enjoyed both the narration and the plot as both captivated me all the way through. The author reveals information and characters at just the right time.

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Amazing

This book pulled me in from the first chapter. It’s full of daring duels and witty comebacks. Enemy to lovers and slow burn. I enjoyed the badass female lead.

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A great beginning to a series!

I absolutely love this book!
Not only does it have the same vibes as Sarah J Maas, the cultural and racial undertones add to it. Even though there were hints that Keira wasn’t as she seemed doesn’t change the fact that she cares enough about Halflings to get as many as she can to safety shows she has more of a heart then she lets on.
The narrator is the perfect voice for this series, I can tell who is speaking in the story by the voice inflections and it immerses me.
I cannot wait to listen to the next book!

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Reads like SJM fan fic

This book has tons of potential. Good story ideas and undertones. However, I struggled with the broken, simple writing. Needed more world building, character development and details.

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Pretty Good

Overall I think the book is pretty good. It took awhile to get into the story,but once I did I couldn't stop listening.

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Good but I’m a little confused

I appreciate Keera’s grit and that she’s achieved her level of skill due to decades of practice (unlike many FMC’s today who are perhaps a but unreasonably talented after a very short period of time)

Howeverrrrrr, I can’t tell if elves and fae are separate entities, or the terms are used interchangeably like synonyms. Some differences are explained but then there’s the Light Fae and Dark Fae, so the elves aren’t the light fae? Or they are but then they were supposed to be extinct, but then there are elves all over the place? My brain: 🥴

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Not gay

I did like the book, the story is good but it ain't gay like i thought it would be since I found this in the lgbt section. Too bad! Still a good Book, I liked the main caracter a lot.

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2 people found this helpful