A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair

Description from Goodreads:

Keera is a killer. As the King’s Blade, she is the most talented spy in the kingdom. And the King’s favored assassin. When a mysterious figure called the Shadow starts making moves against the Crown, Keera is forced to hunt the masked menace down.

She crosses into the magical lands of the Fae, trying to discern if her enemy is Mortal, Elf, or a Halfling like her. But the Faeland is not what it seems, and neither is the Shadow. Keera is shocked by what she discovers and can’t help but wonder who her enemy truly is…

The King that destroyed her people? The Prince that tortures them? Or the Shadow that threatens her place at court?

As she searches for answers, Keera is haunted by a promise she made long ago. A promise not only to save herself but an entire kingdom.

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My Review:

I was nervous to read this book as I had seen it all over BookTok, but I have found that I typically am not fond of the popular BookTok books. Surprising myself, I actually really enjoyed this book. It was a bit of a slow starter for me, but I became hooked a third of the way through.

I really liked Keera. I loved that she recognized she had a substance problem and had the resolve to do better. I thought the author did a great job of showing her going through the process of recovery and withdrawal. I enjoyed her thought process when trying to navigate the King and her Shades. I originally liked Riven, but what he did at the end of the book really turned me off. Spoiler Warning! Skip to the next paragraph if you do not want to be spoiled. I absolutely hated when he essentially slept with Keera and then this huge secret is revealed where he's been working with one of the princes all along and he wasn't even THERE when this is revealed. He sets her up for this kidnapping. It's plain gross and manipulative. I'm not very interested in him as a love interest anymore. I don't understand why the author couldn't just have waited to have them get together like that until after this reveal. Maybe it was for the shock factor, but it just soured the character and his relationship with Keera. What a waste.

I really liked learning the lore and details of the fae and elves. While I did enjoy getting some bits and pieces of the abilities of each race, some of it did feel a bit muddled. It may be on purpose to keep the mystery of Keera's origins, but I do wish there was a bit more information about the setting of the world and races.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read. I will be reading the next book as I am interested in seeing how Keera and the rest of this rebellion take down the King. However, I am no longer reading for the romance aspect.