Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland (book review)

GENRE: Fantasy Romance

LENGTH: 474 pages

 

PLOT

A mercenary, a thief, a poison maiden, a count’s son, a banished prince, and a spy master must all work together in order to kill the god-king ruling their country.

 

CHARACTERS

We follow six main characters in this novel. For the most part they are strangers to each other thrust together due to their skillsets. Despite hardly knowing each other they are surprisingly synchronized as a team, working well together. At the same time, they are always trying to backstab each other for their own personal gain. All of them are morally grey.

Royo is a mercenary who is hired by Aeri, a thief, to protect her. Their dynamic is one of the romantic trope of grumpy-sunshine. I won’t lie, Aeri irritated me for a while at the start because her bubbly personality was such a stark departure from the overall tone of the rest of the novel. While she never became my favorite, I did start to like her and genuinely enjoyed watching her and Royo go from reluctant allies to falling for each other.

Euyn is a banished prince and the younger brother of the god-king. I had a lot of sympathy for him at first, but his actions and attitude made my opinion on him shift – he’s a misogynistic brat. Mikhail is Euyn’s lover and a spy for the god-king who has turned against his master. I love that one of our main couples were a LGBT+ pairing. They also fall under the romantic trope of second chance romance – one of my favorites. Even though Euyn wasn’t my favorite, I was still rooting for him and Mikhail to somehow work out. Euyn certainly needs Mikhail more than Mikhail needs him.

Sora is an indentured servant who is forced to work as a poison maiden – someone who kills men with poison – by a wealthy count. She is a gentle yet strong soul who is fiercely protective of her younger sister Daysum. Her love interest is Tiyung, also called Ty. He’s the son of the count Sora is indentured to but, despite Sora’s initial beliefs, is unlike his father. He’s in love with Sora and only wants to help her.

I’m not sure if you noticed, but there is a running theme between these pairings and that is that they are all opposites-attract couples. We have grumpy (Royo) and sunshine (Aeri), born rich and entitled (Euyn) and someone competent who worked his way to his position (Mikhail), and a poor girl (Sora) and rich boy (Ty). I classify this book as a fantasy romance because the relationships between these characters are such a central part of the story. That being said, while this is an adult book, there are no explicit scenes, so if those make you uncomfortable fear not.

The characters don’t actually meet until about 200 pages into the book yet once they do it’s like they’ve always been a (somewhat dysfunctional) team. Mikhail takes on the role of de-facto leader to the six of them.

 

WRITING

The novel is told from the perspectives of all of our six main characters. The most well written part of this novel, in my opinion, is how Corland puts us inside of these characters’s heads and we know them so intimately. Yet, at the same time, they are unreliable narrators who still manage to shock the reader.

The world building is very well done. The writing is descriptive and immersive. I was transported into this book and felt like I was right there alongside the characters on their journey. The magic system is simple and accessible, revolving around magical relics that each grant the wearer/user different powers. Through the plotting to take down the god-king, we also get a good sense of the politics of this world. I know that’s not something that probably interests a lot of readers, but I always find fantasy politics way more interesting than real life politics.

I would compare this book to a YA book, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Both feature a group of characters from different backgrounds working together in an impossible heist. Both are also character driven stories that don’t skimp on the world building. If you loved Six of Crows then definitely check out this book!

Trigger warnings for violence, child and animal death, sexual assault, genocide, indentured servitude, and substance abuse.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This was one of those books that felt like it was written with me in mind. Obviously, Corland doesn’t know me, but this book has all the elements I look for in a fantasy; high stakes, a thrilling plot, an entrancing world, and well developed, nuisance characters. This is the first book in a series, and I look forward to getting my hands on the next one (especially after that ending)!

 

FINAL RATING: 5⭐️