A BROKEN BLADE by Melissa Blair
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“I knew something of shadows, having trained to live within them. Shadows were largest just before the sunset, but lost their power when night inevitably fell. For Shadows don’t truly exist in the dark. It was time for me to bring the night.”
TITLE—A Broken Blade
SERIES—The Halfling Saga tetralogy
AUTHOR—Melissa Blair
PUBLISHED—2021
PUBLISHER—Union Square & Co.
GENRE—YA romantasy
SETTING—a kingdom (of Mortals, Halflings, Elves, & Fae) divided by blood & by class
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—royal assassin MC, blood politics, court intrigue, spying, torture, class warfare, the things we must do to survive, scars & guilt, trust & betrayal, disguises, enemies to lovers, a few balls, epic fight scenes, fast paced plot, sexy & lovable characters, anarchist rebellion
“’Why tell me this?’ I asked, thoughts swirling in my head. What kind of game was Feron playing? He offered me his arm and I took it cautiously. ‘I am not playing a game, Keera,’ he said with a sideways glance as we walked toward the tall doors across the room. ‘I only think it is fair that you know as much as the man who claims to own you.’”
WRITING STYLE—★ ★ ★ ★
CHARACTERS—★ ★ ★ ★ ★—Had that sassy, witty character energy & dialogue that I love, with complex, flawed, lovable, sexy, queer, & highly relatable characters.
STORY/PLOT—★ ★ ★ ★ .5—It definitely took a minute to get going or at least it felt like it did but once it really got started it was very engaging & well-paced.
WORLDBUILDING—Sooo goodddd. And I can’t even like say why. It kind of just felt like Terry Brooks’s Shannara meets Saara El-Arifi’s Faebound, meets… something else that is just at the edge of my memory but it somehow felt a little like vintage high fantasy worldbuilding so it just felt super nostalgic to me as well.
PHILOSOPHY—★ ★ ★ ★ ★—subtle & solid 👌🏻
My thoughts:
For genre fiction such as ya fantasy my expectation is first & foremost that the plot will be engaging & clever: I want subverted expectations & a good pace. I also want a large-ish cast of diverse, lovable characters with plenty of witty banter & excellent chemistry. The worldbuilding is also really important to me—I want it to be clear that the author put a lot of thought & time into building the world for their story.
Book one of Blair’s Halfling Saga exceeded all of those expectations. I haven’t had this much fun reading a YA fantasy series in a very, very long time. Actually rushing through finishing up this review so I can go pick up book two!
Also I just have to share what is probably my favorite action moment that I’ve ever come across in a book:
“The fourth man had stopped, holding his blade behind his head. He launched it at me, the hilt rolling over the blade in the air. If Syrra and Nikolai weren’t tied behind me, I would have merely dodged it, but I needed to make sure it landed away from them. I dropped my weapon and jumped. I soared over the blade’s path and tracked it from above, grabbing the hilt when it rose to meet my hand. With a double-handed grip, I landed in a crouch and shot his blade back at him. It hit his chest with enough force that he was pinned against the carriage, six feet from where he’d stood.”
I mean I can visualize that *perfectly* & it goes soooo hard. 10/10 would watch these movies.
I would recommend this book to readers who love YA romantasy, with enemies to lovers, royal assassin MC, Fae/Elves/Mortals worldbuilding, kingdom politics, social intrigue (with plenty of balls including a masque), Indigenous themes, & excellently written “action” scenes. This book is best read on audiobook! Kyla Garcia did an amazing job with the narration: I had it cranked up to 2x speed too (which I never do) because I was so into the plot & it was perfect.
Final note: But where are all the special editions of this series?? mama needsss… I’m keeping my fingers crossed for an @illumicrate or @fairyloot complete set of the tetralogy when book 4 comes out next year. 🤞🏻
“The weight you bear is not your punishment, Keera. It is your heart. One day it will stop bleeding.”
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
CW // death, violence, torture, alcoholism, guilt & grief, self-harm
Spice level: 🌶🌶🌶[/5]
(see the end of my post here for info on my new “spice level” rating system)
Season: fantasy binge-reading season: summer vacation or winter break
Music pairing: “Hide the Hurt” by Macy Gray; “Soulmate” by Natasha Bedingfield; “Here Comes Revenge” by Metallica
Further Reading—
BLACK SUN by Rebecca Roanhorse
TO SHAPE A DRAGON’S BREATH by Moniquill Blackgoose—TBR
EMPIRE OF WILD by Cherie Dimaline—TBR
THE BARREN GROUNDS by David Robertson—TBR
THE SWORD OF SHANNARA by Terry Brooks & all the other Shannara books
FAEBOUND by Saara El-Arifi
AN EMBER IN THE ASHES by Sabaa Tahir
A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC by VE Schwab
LEGENDS & LATTES by Travis Baldree
LORE OF THE WILDS by Analeigh Sbrana—TBR
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