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leedolee's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book was insanely good and I am still processing what I just read. It's been a long while since a book last blew my mind.
Every single thing about this book is the definition of chef's kiss. The characters were all uniquely different and fun to read about. The overall plot kept me wanting to see what happened next. And just the sheer world building was absolutely beautiful.
Consider me a fan and I am excited to jump into the next book immediately!
Every single thing about this book is the definition of chef's kiss. The characters were all uniquely different and fun to read about. The overall plot kept me wanting to see what happened next. And just the sheer world building was absolutely beautiful.
Consider me a fan and I am excited to jump into the next book immediately!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Torture, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Transphobia, Confinement, Death of parent, Genocide, Violence, War, Excrement, Hate crime, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Colonisation, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Police brutality
Moderate: Alcohol
booksthatburn's review against another edition
It’s possible that this would turn out to be foreshadowing the discovery that this guy is bad, but I was offput by a conversation where the fantasy arms dealer CEO explains that it’s fine for him to pay for revolutions with funds gotten from selling arms to the colonizers, thus making more money as they buy more weapons to put down the revolutions he’s funding. Oh also he’s a tragic gay widower whose husband died for one of those revolutions. I’m uninterested in pinkwashing arms dealers who enable colonizers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Colonisation, Sexual harassment, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and War
Minor: Excrement and Rape
bookbelle5_17's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Review of The Bladed Faith
By: David Dalglish
Thanet has been taken over by the Everlorn Empire, who are trying to convert them to their faith in the God Incarnate, and they hold Prince Cyrus as prisoner. Cyrus is rescued by his former tutor, and he is taken to Thorda the leader of the resistance. Thorda wants to turn Cyrus into a masked vigilant known as the Vagrant to give the people someone to believe in again.
This makes me think of the movie Mask of Zorro and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. Cyrus is a young prince who had everything taken from him, including his parents, and he has to hide his pain with a mask. His world has been destroyed and he is given the responsibility to fix it. I like how Cyrus is full of rage, but he also has a conscious. The other characters have watched so much horror they can’t let go of their anger. Thorda will do anything, including putting innocent people in danger and is desperate to fix the mistakes of the past that led to Everlorn killing their Gods and conquering them, as well as killing his husband. His daughters have been training with their father since they were children and they’ve been in this war for so long they know no other way. The youngest, Mari, is sweet and caring, but she also has the ability to be a vessel for Gods. She struggles like Cyrus, because she is a kindhearted person, but holds the bloody thirsty God, Endarius, the Lion God, inside of her. Cyrus’ tutor Rayan still believes in his Goddess Lycaena, but everyone around him has lost faith, because of the Everlorn Empire. Arn is a bitter and angry character, who was formerly part of the Everlorn Empire, but has since turned turncoat. Each of the characters have suffered so much by Everlorn and they handle it in different ways. The antagonists are religious fanatics, who will doing anything to prove their beliefs are better. Sinshei is the scariest of the bunch, because she is calculative and works behind the scenes rather than give into anger like Magus does. Dalglish writes exciting sword fights that a rhythm to them that described with vivid detail. His fight scenes are some of the best parts. I also enjoy how the story includes one of my favorite tropes, using religion as a source of power and control. Thanet and Everlorn have different beliefs and Everlorn force their beliefs on Thanet convincing themselves that their religion is the true religion. They’ll never be convinced otherwise making them all the more dangerous. This is a great first book in a new trilogy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Murder, War, Blood, Colonisation, Death of parent, Gore, Torture, Violence, and Slavery
grimdark_dad's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, War, Religious bigotry, Blood, Death, Alcohol, Child death, Genocide, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
paper_bound's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
Great!
Overall I enjoyed this book quite a lot. Upon starting, I fell into the normal pattern for me and fantasy- it's a bit of a slog but I know I'm enjoying the story - and by the end I was begging for the second book to be out now.
While it slowed the plot some, I appreciated that time was taken to train Cyrus and to build to the height of the revolution. (hint: it took a few years). I found that acknowledgement of time realistic and helped make the hero actually believable. No Mary Sue here.
The action is amazing. Every chapter someone was getting their butt kicked and I loved it.
I am really looking forward to getting to know the characters even better in the second book, especially after some of the reveals at the end of the first.
Overall I enjoyed this book quite a lot. Upon starting, I fell into the normal pattern for me and fantasy- it's a bit of a slog but I know I'm enjoying the story - and by the end I was begging for the second book to be out now.
While it slowed the plot some, I appreciated that time was taken to train Cyrus and to build to the height of the revolution. (hint: it took a few years). I found that acknowledgement of time realistic and helped make the hero actually believable. No Mary Sue here.
The action is amazing. Every chapter someone was getting their butt kicked and I loved it.
I am really looking forward to getting to know the characters even better in the second book, especially after some of the reveals at the end of the first.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Transphobia and Homophobia
Explores the conquering of another people/country. The bad they do is clearly seen as bad.definitelynotreading's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Things I Liked
-writing style - super engaging, fast read despite its length
-character relationships - they seemed realistic and honest, although I have a hard time calling this "found family" because I tend to think of that trope as a little more fluffy than the relationships between these characters, there were also some great character development moments
-worldbuilding - I want to know more about how this world works and I now have even more questions than ever
Things I Didn't Love
-everyone in this book is motivated by revenge, yes they have their individual reasons for wanting it, but they all want revenge
-this motivation makes for an extremely violent and bloody book - so many fight descriptions
-the found family aspect felt forced, they didn't feel like a family to me
The end does give me hope of some redemption of these characters, but I'm still not 100% sure that I'll keep reading the series. I do love Cyrus' decision at the end and I want to see where it leads him.
.
Overall - 3.5⭐
-writing style - super engaging, fast read despite its length
-character relationships - they seemed realistic and honest, although I have a hard time calling this "found family" because I tend to think of that trope as a little more fluffy than the relationships between these characters, there were also some great character development moments
-worldbuilding - I want to know more about how this world works and I now have even more questions than ever
Things I Didn't Love
-everyone in this book is motivated by revenge, yes they have their individual reasons for wanting it, but they all want revenge
-this motivation makes for an extremely violent and bloody book - so many fight descriptions
-the found family aspect felt forced, they didn't feel like a family to me
The end does give me hope of some redemption of these characters, but I'm still not 100% sure that I'll keep reading the series. I do love Cyrus' decision at the end and I want to see where it leads him.
.
Overall - 3.5⭐
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Death
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