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A review by mawcehanlin
The Flowered Blade by Taylor Hubbard
5.0
**THIS BOOK WAS PROVIDED AS AN ARC IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW**
The Flowered Blade has easily shot up to one of my favorite comfort reads of all time, and I’m already looking forward to reading it again and again and again! Hubbard truly has crafted an adorable and beautiful story that expertly weaves together a cast of well-rounded characters and a world full of unique cultures and exciting tension. Hubbard did a wonderful job taking some of my favorite tropes and making them something unique and new, and while the overall plot of the book was fairly predictable just by nature of being a romance novel, Hubbard constantly had me on the edge of my seat to see what would happen next. There were plenty of times I thought I knew where something was going only to find myself pleasantly surprised when we ran in a completely different, and better, direction.
While this book has a wonderful plot that had me itching to keep reading, the characters are really where Hubbard shines in this book. This story is centered around two main POV characters: Silvyr, the elven heir to the kingdom of Athowen, and Brokil, the orc chief of Ghizol who kidnaps him to force the king’s hand to allow Ghizol its freedom. Though it’s incredibly hard to pick a favorite, if I had to, it would be Silvyr. He’s an adorable little brat who is as stubborn as he is anxious, and is in desperate need of being shown what love truly feels/looks like. Brokil is no less rounded and interesting, and I am obsessed with him. He has a deep connection with his people, the desperate hope to be as good of a chief as his father, and the perfect mix of “gentle giant” and “daddy” that had me absolutely weak for him.
Aside from the two main characters, we have a wonderful cast of secondary characters that truly shine on their own in a way a lot of books fall short. While they often act as support for the main characters, helping them through difficult revelations or acting as a segway of information for us the reader, each side character still feels fully rounded and real in a way that shows they can stand on their own as well.
Something very important to me as well, Hubbard does an amazing job representing Silvyr’s trans identity in a queer-normative world, we even get to learn about how this world deals with top-surgery and get to see Silvyr learn to make a tea that helps with “feeling like his true self” (basically the fantasy version of t-shots!) Hubbard also broaches difficult topics extremely well and respectfully, like Silvyr’s devastating self-worth, his autism and anxiety, and his trauma from a lifetime of abuse.
Overall, The Flowered Blade is a fun romance with plenty of deeper emotions to have me truly invested in the characters, their well-being, and their relationship. (And that’s not even starting on the toe-curling smut scenes. Hello, Daddy Brokil.) I absolutely cannot wait to read more about them, and I’m already looking forward to my next re-read of this book!
The Flowered Blade has easily shot up to one of my favorite comfort reads of all time, and I’m already looking forward to reading it again and again and again! Hubbard truly has crafted an adorable and beautiful story that expertly weaves together a cast of well-rounded characters and a world full of unique cultures and exciting tension. Hubbard did a wonderful job taking some of my favorite tropes and making them something unique and new, and while the overall plot of the book was fairly predictable just by nature of being a romance novel, Hubbard constantly had me on the edge of my seat to see what would happen next. There were plenty of times I thought I knew where something was going only to find myself pleasantly surprised when we ran in a completely different, and better, direction.
While this book has a wonderful plot that had me itching to keep reading, the characters are really where Hubbard shines in this book. This story is centered around two main POV characters: Silvyr, the elven heir to the kingdom of Athowen, and Brokil, the orc chief of Ghizol who kidnaps him to force the king’s hand to allow Ghizol its freedom. Though it’s incredibly hard to pick a favorite, if I had to, it would be Silvyr. He’s an adorable little brat who is as stubborn as he is anxious, and is in desperate need of being shown what love truly feels/looks like. Brokil is no less rounded and interesting, and I am obsessed with him. He has a deep connection with his people, the desperate hope to be as good of a chief as his father, and the perfect mix of “gentle giant” and “daddy” that had me absolutely weak for him.
Aside from the two main characters, we have a wonderful cast of secondary characters that truly shine on their own in a way a lot of books fall short. While they often act as support for the main characters, helping them through difficult revelations or acting as a segway of information for us the reader, each side character still feels fully rounded and real in a way that shows they can stand on their own as well.
Something very important to me as well, Hubbard does an amazing job representing Silvyr’s trans identity in a queer-normative world, we even get to learn about how this world deals with top-surgery and get to see Silvyr learn to make a tea that helps with “feeling like his true self” (basically the fantasy version of t-shots!) Hubbard also broaches difficult topics extremely well and respectfully, like Silvyr’s devastating self-worth, his autism and anxiety, and his trauma from a lifetime of abuse.
Overall, The Flowered Blade is a fun romance with plenty of deeper emotions to have me truly invested in the characters, their well-being, and their relationship. (And that’s not even starting on the toe-curling smut scenes. Hello, Daddy Brokil.) I absolutely cannot wait to read more about them, and I’m already looking forward to my next re-read of this book!