Five Broken Blades: Discover the instant Sunday Times bestselling adventure fantasy debut taking the world by storm (The Broken Blades)

Five Broken Blades : By Mia Corland.This was an absolutely brilliant standout read! One of the best books I've read this year.The king of Yusan must die.The five most dangerous liars in the land have been mysteriously summoned to work together for a single objective: to kill the God King Joon.A disparate band are gathered together for the job, each of them liars, killers, with deep dark secrets, you have the exiled Noble, the spy master, the assassin, the thief and the hired heavy they must learn somehow to trust each other to carry out the impossible task. The world building is really good, the plot clever, crafty and fast paced, the action is short sharp and bloody, but the characters and their interactions are something else, it reminded me at times of an early Ambercrombie book the characters were so well crafted, so not only morally grey, but complexed as well. As they neared the final act I found I both wanted to find out if they would be successful but also for it not to end. I am very very much looking forward to book two .

Five Broken Blades by Mai CorlandRating: 4/5Release Date: 7 May 2024Five Broken Blades dives into a thrilling world of action, intrigue, and unexpected twists that await you at every turn.Five of the most deceitful liars find themselves forced into an uneasy alliance to carry out a high-stakes assassination. The narrative unfolds through multiple first-person perspectives, each character distinct in their personality and motivations for the mission.I appreciated how the world-building unfolded organically throughout the narrative, avoiding overwhelming info dumps. Learning about the world and its inhabitants gradually as the story progressed made it much easier to immerse myself in the plot.Initially I was concerned about keeping track of the characters, I was however pleasantly surprised to find their stories intricately interconnected. This cohesion made following their individual journeys a seamless experience.Among these characters, Sora stands out as a favourite, dubbed the "poison maiden" for her extraordinary skills and backstory. Sold into servitude, she endured a harrowing upbringing in an illicit poison school, where she mastered the art of toxicity to become a formidable force and in doing so, protecting her sister.The story is enriched with a plethora of engaging tropes— from the dynamic of grumpy versus sunshine personalities, to themes of protection and camaraderie, interspersed with witty banter, and of course, forced proximity.Don't miss out on the excitement, grab your copy and prepare for a riveting adventure!

I absolutely loved this thrilling fantasy read; it’s storytelling at its best – enthralling, hugely entertaining, and a twisty plot riddled with secrets that leaves us wanting more!The addictive writing makes it impossible to put down as we are propelled into a dangerous world packed with myth, magic and vengeance where being ruthless is a necessity! As the complicated dynamics, duplicitous scheming, and power plays unravel everything is left hanging in balance – I was hooked and didn’t want it to end!The world-building is top-notch – immersive, fascinating and so well crafted sweeping the reader up into all it has to offer as it magnificently comes to life off the pages.Oh the characters! I love a morally grey character to root for and we are gifted a superb cast of fierce characters strikingly brought to life and capturing our hearts. Each has ulterior motives and past mistakes clawing into the present creating a stirring pot of emotions simmering away just waiting to explode! I loved that each chapter is a distinct voice and we really get to see inside the mind of each one and experience the journey from every perspective, adding depth and creating the perfect momentum.What could an assassin, strongman, thief, Prince, and spymaster all have in common? They all have something they are willing to die for, and as the lines between enemies and allies blurs we are kept in total suspense as to who will be the ultimate winner in this deadly battle where anything is possible and nobody can be trusted. My heart was in my mouth as the final chapters played out!Five Broken Blades is a must read for fantasy fans, it’s a cunning tale of love, survival, and sacrifice – I need the next book asap!With thanks to @ElliePilcher95 and @ZaffreBooks for the proof copy.

I loved this book, it sucked me in right from the beginning and did not let me go.The plot in this book focuses on a heist, an elaborate scheme to steal from the King and end his immortality.We follow the story through the lens of five characters - as a group they don't have any connection and only some have ever met each other before these events. They are an unlikely group and as a reader I found myself spending a lot of time working out how they had all come together.The suspense in this book is so cleverly done - throughout the book I was always aware that there was a grand schemer in the background and I could not for the life of me work out who it was. I must have changed my mind so many times through the span of the story and in the end I still turned out to be wrong.This is a real slow burn, but I didn't find it a slog, each chapter flowed and I just found myself devouring this book.I liked the characters; they are a morally grey bunch but all have redeemable qualities. I still feel like there is so much more to find out.My only criticism is that this book is billed as a fantasy and as yet it hasn't had many fantastical elements. I get the sense that these are going to grow as the series continues and I am absolutely here for it.I really enjoyed reading this book, I am praying that we don't have to wait too long for the next one.

I really wanted to like this book, but in the end, it was just average.I have mixed feelings about the story. The premise is great: a group of ruthless killers has to work together. To quote, "They can agree on murder. They can agree on treachery. But for these five killers - each versed in deception, lies, and betrayal - it's not enough to forge an alliance. To survive, they'll have to find a way to trust each other... but only one can take the crown. Let the best liar win." Sounds great, right?Unfortunately, the writer wasn't able to deliver.The six POV characters don't feel distinct enough to differentiate between them. If you read a chapter without knowing whose POV it is, you wouldn't be able to tell. They lack unique voices and character traits (maybe with one exception), so the book might have just worked better with a third-person omniscient or limited narrator where the lack of personality wouldn't be so obvious.What the story needed most was just more time for everything. The idea that "they'll have to find a way to trust each other" needs time to have a real impact. In the end, it just feels rushed. They kind of do trust each other from the very beginning. I never got the impression that the characters were distrustful of each other. They SAY they don't trust the other people in their group, but they don't behave like it. Trust needs time to develop, especially given the circumstances. Who would trust assassins, spies, and thieves right away? But as soon as they become a group, they fight and protect each other without any real hesitation or previous bonding that would justify this. Especially because each character has their motivation to kill the king and for some of them it becomes the most important thing to be successful. Important enough to maybe even betray the people they are working with or to be willing to sacrifice one of the less important group members (importance is here measured as importance for the plan they came up with to work).The story needed more moments where the characters interact, question each other's motives, more tension between them. Instead, it takes very little for them to come together and like each other. In the end, all the "distrust" is just verbal, not shown through actions, which is a pity because I liked the premise. It's just a classic example of "show, don't tell".One good example for this is the relationship between Aeri and Royo. He is the grim muscle for hire with a haunting past, and she wants him to join her immediately because she likes him. How did she find him and know she could trust him? Doesn't even matter, because she likes him based on their first interaction. Maybe we can even say, fair enough, it fits her naive character presented in her first POV chapter. Although, for me, she lost some of her charm after that because she lost most of her awkwardness and nervousness almost immediately. She is just called weird again and again because she is happy and bubbly, but it gets lost in her POV chapters.Apparently, she judges him right because, after maybe a day or two (it's hard to tell since the story isn't great at conveying the passage of time), he opens up about his past and does everything to save her life (and vice versa). Why? I have no idea. Because he thinks she's nice, I guess. There was no bonding experience that naturally evolved between them or justified the deep talk they had. It also didn't have enough time to lead to something deeper because they are immediately attacked by pirates.It's the same with events after they become a group. Everything feels rushed. Everything involves action or focuses on romantic subplots between the three pairs. Why do all the POV characters have to be romantically involved with someone else in the group? Why create these pairs? Why develop two of these relationships during the mission? Shouldn't they focus on something else, like - I don't know - killing the king? Wasn't that the goal? The story is more concerned with developing the relationships inside the pairs than showing any real distrust toward the people outside the pairs. This made the end, where one of them states they learned to trust each other despite all the lies, weird and undeserved.I can only hope that some of these problems improve in the second book, but the cliffhanger already says they only have five weeks for the next mission, so I'm not hopeful that the story won't feel rushed or that the character development and relationships will be deserved.After all this, I am left deeply disappointed and feel a bit cheated out of a better story. I am sure some people will enjoy this book, and I can't blame them. However, I wouldn't recommend it because I think readers deserve better.

Cover came in damaged on multiple places on the back.. I was very looking forward to this one so very disappointed.