Name: Sasha's review of A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair
Item: A Broken Blade
Rating: 2
Author: Sasha

Melissa Blair

Keera is a killer. As the King's Blade, she is the most talented spy in the kingdom. And the King's favored assassin. When a mysterious figure called the Shadow starts making moves against the Crown, Keera is forced to hunt the masked menace down. She crosses into the magical lands of the Fae, trying to discern if her enemy is Mortal, Elf, or a Halfling like her. But the Faeland is not what it seems, and neither is the Shadow. Keera is shocked by what she discovers and can't help but wonder who her enemy truly is... The King that destroyed her people? The Prince that tortures them? Or the Shadow that threatens her place at court? As she searches for answers, Keera is haunted by a promise she made long ago. A promise not only to save herself but an entire kingdom.

The Halfling Saga

A Broken Blade

Keera is a killer. As the King's Blade, she is the most talented spy in the kingdom. And the King's favored assassin. When a mysterious figure called the Shadow starts making moves against the Crown, Keera is forced to hunt the masked menace down.
She crosses into the magical lands of the Fae, trying to discern if her enemy is Mortal, Elf, or a Halfling like her. But the Faeland is not what it seems, and neither is the Shadow. Keera is shocked by what she discovers and can't help but wonder who her enemy truly is...

The King that destroyed her people? The Prince that tortures them? Or the Shadow that threatens her place at court?

As she searches for answers, Keera is haunted by a promise she made long ago. A promise not only to save herself but an entire kingdom.

Jasper

'The Shades are Halflings, too,' I said, standing up. Heat flushed my skin and my stomach churned as I looked at Riven's disgusted face. 'You don't get to judge them for being the monsters the King turned them into. The Shades weren't born as weapons. They weren't born as killers. They were born as children. Stolen. Ripped from their parents and placed on that godsforsaken island.' My hands turned to fists at my side. My voice cracked as I continued, but I refused to break away from Riven's gaze. 'They were children faced with a simple choice: death or survival. You have no right to judge them on how they survived it. The Shades aren't born, they're forged. If you want to liberate the Halflings, you liberate them all.'

Stephanie Ridiculous

It started off pretty good and then something happened that just ruined it for me. It was so cheesy. Couldn’t continue reading.

Sasha

i really enjoyed this book. the characters all were layered and dynamic and the plot was enjoyable—the plot twist actually caught me off guard and completely shocked me. i loved the thrill of it and i can’t wait to continue the series!

lani

Elle May

I gave in to tiktok to see what the hype around this book was about and I wasn't disappointed. I found Keera to be fascinating, there are so many layers to her and her story and I bet there is more to come. She has been through a lot and now is taking her power back, she is badass!

Lauren Nicole

So glad I was able to finally read this -- I remember when it came out just with an anonymous author! Such a great start to a series -- definitely a slow burn.

(Bre)anne✨

TW to be added later

So glad I was able to finally read this -- I remember when it came out just with an anonymous author! Such a great start to a series -- definitely a slow burn.

I had hesitated for so long to read this book because when people described it, I honestly got the impression of a poorly written book that just jammed a lot of tropes together. This was not the case at all. The main character is flawed and interesting, and though this is apparently a YA novel, it felt very much NA with the issues it tackled. While this was touted as a commentary on colonialism and systemic violence, I felt like it was a little light on both, and I would have liked to see her dive a bit deeper there. Perhaps she will as the series goes. I also loved the romance between her and the love interest and I think I can guess what’s happening between them. I totally called ending twist but it was still very interesting and I’m intrigued to see how our FMC will handle it in the next book!

Katie Allard

Daniella Cuesta

I had a wonderful time, this was a 4.5 for me. It had such great development and I loved the characters. I won’t spoil anything but the only problem I had was the plot twist. I saw it coming and I honestly HATE when that happens. Also why do I literally not pay attention. Why did I think this was a standalone. When I was at the last hundred pages I stopped and was like how the hell is this gonna be resolved so fast. Trick question because ITS NOT. Ugh I hate myself when I do this. This is the SECOND TIME this month.

caly

listen i wasn’t expecting much but i did enjoy this especially for a debut novel i’m excited for the next book

Disclaimer: I received this finished copy and e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Diversity: Sapphic couple mentioned, Bisexual MC

Recommended For...: fantasy, LGBT, new adult, romance

Age Relevance: 18+ (racism, violence, gore, alcohol consumption, death, war, sexual assault, colonizing, “blood purity”, cutting, slavery, cursing, romance, alcohol addiction, withdrawal, human trafficking, sexual content)

Explanation of Above: The book has a running theme and allusion to racism and discusses things like colonizing, “blood purity”, slavery, and human trafficking based on ones birth. There is a lot of violence, war, death, and gore in this book, specifically blood, corpses, and vomiting. Alcohol is consumed by the MC and other characters, but the MC is suffering from alcohol addiction and goes through withdrawal in the book. Sexual assault is alluded to but not specifically mentioned or shown. Cutting, specifically cutting names of people the MC murders onto her skin, is shown in the book. There is some cursing. There is some romance and some sexual content with scenes/body parts described in detail.

Synopsis: Keera is a killer. As the King’s Blade, she is the most talented spy in the kingdom. And the King’s favored assassin. When a mysterious figure called the Shadow starts making moves against the Crown, Keera is forced to hunt the masked menace down.

She crosses into the magical lands of the Fae, trying to discern if her enemy is Mortal, Elf, or a Halfling like her. But the Faeland is not what it seems, and neither is the Shadow. Keera is shocked by what she discovers and can’t help but wonder who her enemy truly is…

The King that destroyed her people? The Prince that tortures them? Or the Shadow that threatens her place at court?

As she searches for answers, Keera is haunted by a promise she made long ago. A promise not only to save herself but an entire kingdom.

Review: I really liked this book! I thought it did so well talking about real life atrocities, such as Indian Boarding Schools, slavery and running away to freedom, and the creation of cops to stop run away slaves. The book focused a lot on the political/humanitarian side of the issues, a lot like Ash Princess, and it did well with the enemies to lovers romance (and there’s even a one bed trope!). Overall, I felt like the character development was well done and the world building was great. The book is very well written and I can’t wait for book 2!

However, I did have issues with the slow pacing of the book overall and I felt like the action build up was super slow as well. There were some time skips as well that I felt didn’t help further the plot. But my biggest issue is that I don’t understand why this book is shelved as young adult fantasy. The MC is 68 years old in the book and there are some graphic sex scenes in the book. There’s also a character in the book who is a teen that the MC sees as a child, which is a great indication of this not being a YA book. While the book could definitely be passed off as NA because the MC says that due to her slow aging, I don’t agree with the YA shelving because it contain NA/adult themes rather than YA.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this finished copy and e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

 

Book: A Broken Blade

 

Author: Melissa Blair

 

Book Series: The Halfling Saga Book 1

 

Rating: 5/5

 

Spice: 2/5

 

Diversity: Sapphic couple mentioned, Bisexual MC

 

Recommended For...: fantasy, LGBT, new adult, romance

 

Publication Date: August 2, 2022

 

Genre: Fantasy

 

Age Relevance: 18+ (racism, violence, gore, alcohol consumption, death, war, sexual assault, colonizing, “blood purity”, cutting, slavery, cursing, romance, alcohol addiction, withdrawal, human trafficking, sexual content)

 

Explanation of Above: The book has a running theme and allusion to racism and discusses things like colonizing, “blood purity”, slavery, and human trafficking based on ones birth. There is a lot of violence, war, death, and gore in this book, specifically blood, corpses, and vomiting. Alcohol is consumed by the MC and other characters, but the MC is suffering from alcohol addiction and goes through withdrawal in the book. Sexual assault is alluded to but not specifically mentioned or shown. Cutting, specifically cutting names of people the MC murders onto her skin, is shown in the book. There is some cursing. There is some romance and some sexual content with scenes/body parts described in detail.

 

Publisher: Union Square Co

 

Pages: 431

 

Synopsis: Keera is a killer. As the King’s Blade, she is the most talented spy in the kingdom. And the King’s favored assassin. When a mysterious figure called the Shadow starts making moves against the Crown, Keera is forced to hunt the masked menace down.

She crosses into the magical lands of the Fae, trying to discern if her enemy is Mortal, Elf, or a Halfling like her. But the Faeland is not what it seems, and neither is the Shadow. Keera is shocked by what she discovers and can’t help but wonder who her enemy truly is…

The King that destroyed her people? The Prince that tortures them? Or the Shadow that threatens her place at court?

As she searches for answers, Keera is haunted by a promise she made long ago. A promise not only to save herself but an entire kingdom.

 

Review: I really liked this book! I thought it did so well talking about real life atrocities, such as Indian Boarding Schools, slavery and running away to freedom, and the creation of cops to stop run away slaves. The book focused a lot on the political/humanitarian side of the issues, a lot like Ash Princess, and it did well with the enemies to lovers romance (and there’s even a one bed trope!). Overall, I felt like the character development was well done and the world building was great. The book is very well written and I can’t wait for book 2!

 

However, I did have issues with the slow pacing of the book overall and I felt like the action build up was super slow as well. There were some time skips as well that I felt didn’t help further the plot. But my biggest issue is that I don’t understand why this book is shelved as young adult fantasy. The MC is 68 years old in the book and there are some graphic sex scenes in the book. There’s also a character in the book who is a teen that the MC sees as a child, which is a great indication of this not being a YA book. While the book could definitely be passed off as NA because the MC says that due to her slow aging, I don’t agree with the YA shelving because it contain NA/adult themes rather than YA.

 

Verdict: It was great! Highly recommend!

Lacey Barnett

I'll be honest, i was so excited to start this book with all the positive reviews i read on it, but it fell short for me. The romance between Keera and Riven felt like it started way too soon. They were supposed to be enemies and i love a good enemies to lovers but it felt rushed. It also felt like the author strived to put every well liked trope into the book without worrying about if it fit into the story. I have super mixed feelings about this book the whole way through. With that being said, i do feel like the actual pllt of the story was super thought out and the world building was amazing. I did wind up enjoying the book in the end and if the author were to release a sequel, i would definitely read it. 

Katto

This was honestly better than expected. 
It's described as "everything BookTok loves" and I certainly do not love everything BookTok seems to like but this story was truly interesting and I liked it better than some other popular (YA) Fantasy series.
Some parts irked me though. But I can see why other people might like it (I think?)
While I could see the ending coming I liked how it was set up and it acts as a nice starting point for another book.
OH, and I think I could've done it without the romance.

Stephanie Ridiculous &
A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair

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