Today I come at you with another fantasy review. This is a book I chose as my Book of the Month in May, and since then, have seen all over Instagram. This book is HYPED. But is it worth it? Here are my thoughts. 

In case you haven't heard of it, Five Broken Bladesis a Korean-inspired fantasy that follows multiple perspectives of six Yusan citizens, summoned together for one task: to kill the king. While agreeing to work together, they all have their own secrets and motivations for this coup. A royal, a spy, a thief, a poison maid, a strongman, and a noble. Will they succeed or will they all betray each other? 

Before I jump into my review, a quick note about the author. Mai Corland is a Korean-American attorney and writer. She has also published under the pen name Meredith Ireland. Currently, Mai lives in New York with her family. 

I recently discovered an amazing rating system from Hatters Bookish Blog (found on Pinterest) called CAWPILE, where you rate each tenet to create an overall rating: Characters, Atmosphere/Setting, Writing Style, Plot, Intrigue, Logic/Relationships, and Enjoyment. I'm going to try this out. 

Characters: There are a few things I'm a sucker for. One of those is a third person multiple perspective story, where we can see where everyone is coming from before coming together. In this way, I learned to love these characters, or at the very least, understand their nuanced motivations. And I have a soft spot for Aeri. I couldn't relate to her more. She had her own secrets, but she was awkward and loved pretty things, and I loved that about her. Overall, I'd give the characters and their development an 8/10. 

Atmosphere: The worldbuilding in this novel was fantastic. Of course it was; it came with a map! I love how Corland developed a whole kingdom with the complicated politics of having different sectors that counts would rule over and where different rules and beasts roamed each specific location. The way the characters had to travel to the capitol gave us a perfect excuse to glimpse the cultural differences between each place. This tenet gets a 10/10. 

Writing Style: There were things I liked and disliked about the style. At first, I loved it. I loved some of the vivid descriptions. I love how each character had their own distinct voice. But around the halfway mark, the writing style lagged a bit as the characters tried to relate to each other, and some of it fell flat. (For example, the constant repeating of "but I can't love her or him, love is a weakness, etc." drove me crazy). Writing gets a 7/10.  

Plot: The plot, after all, is what first drew me to the book. I love reading about spies, assassins, heists, etc. Plus plots like these provide ample opportunity for my favorite trope: found family. This plot did not disappoint and there were plenty of obstacles and secondary plot points that the characters needed to overcome. Plot gets a 10/10. 

Intrigue: I was satisfied that there were secrets, betrayals, and paranoia between all of the characters that amped up the stakes. However, I am afraid a lot of the betrayal that DID occur was too obvious. The plot twists were ones I could see coming, except for the set up for the second book--which yes, I'll still be pre-ordering. So, I guess, I'll give intrigue a 6/10. 

Logic/Relationships: This was the most disappointing aspect of the book. As aforementioned, found family is my favorite trope. But the character's relationships too each other grew too fast too soon that it felt unrealistic. Some of the character's decisions in regards to each other didn't make sense with their own arc and personalities. Even if some of that could be slowed down, I think it would make much more sense. This tenet will get a 4/10. 

Enjoyment: Despite some of the hang-ups, I still really enjoyed this book and always wanted to keep reading instead of putting the book down. The pace was fast, plot interesting, characters relatable, and I was immersed into the world. I love fantasy and I did love this. 9/10 on enjoyment. 

According to Hatters Bookish Blog, the next step is to add up the scores and divide by 7, which ended with 7.7/10, or on a five star scale, a 3.85. 

But for purposes of rating on places like Goodreads, I will be rounding up to four stars. And I do recommend this book to high fantasy lovers and those who similarly like morally grey characters, found family, and political intrigue. 

The next book, Four Ruined Realms, comes out in January.