Look if you saw my TikTok about Five Broken Blades you will already know how much I love this book. But this fantasy story swept me away and I had to find out what was going to happen. Talk about keeping me on the edge of my seat. Keep reading this book review of Five Broken Blades for my full thoughts.
Summary
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.
He has it coming. Under his merciless immortal hand, the nobles flourish, while the poor and innocent are imprisoned, ruined…or sold.
And now each of the five blades will come for him. Each has tasted bitterness―from the hired hitman seeking atonement, a lovely assassin who seeks freedom, or even the prince banished for his cruel crimes. None can resist the sweet, icy lure of vengeance.
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.
Review
I listened to Five Broken Blades on audio book and had to stop it 30 minutes from the end to finish it faster. Because yes of course I also had a copy of the book, but adored the narration from Donald Chang, Greg Chun, Zion Jang, Sophie Oda, Jaine Ye & Roger Yeh. When there’s a multiple cast of readers, I am always more inclined to listen to the audio book. And if you sometimes struggle with multiple POV and keeping them clear in your mind, this is my best tip!
As a whole, it’s a heist story featuring different specialists who are all navigating their own motivations and whoever’s holding the strings. For those who love a found family, this is for you! In Five Broken Blades it’s about the people we love used against us, the pressure points in our lives, and ghosts we thought we put to rest. Five Broken Blades relies on its character dynamics. On the dances of trust and betrayal. The push and the pull of half truths and closed doors. I was on the edge of my seat and I had to read the last 15 pages so I could finish even faster!
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In Five Broken Blades Corland also explores if we can truly love, connect, with someone even if they are hiding things from us. Can we love someone we don’t know? It’s a story about figuring out how much we really know about someone. But also how much we know about ourselves when push comes to shove. And what we thought were leaps of faith were dives down a cliff.
Find Five Broken Blades on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.