The Unbroken is the epic fantasy debut of author C. L. Clark and one of the more hyped books I've seen among the authors I follow on social media for a while. It's an epic fantasy novel that deals heavily with themes of Empire and Colonialism, just like a lot of stuff I read nowadays (it's a pretty relevant topic), but it centers its story on a less usual area: conscripted soldiers from a conquered land, and the forces that tear them in so many directions. Add in the promise of a potential (F-F) romance to go along with it all, and The Unbroken was definitely on my TBR list even before I was lucky enough to land an early copy.

And The Unbroken definitely delivers a hell of a narrative, with an incredible central protagonist and a story that takes so many turns it will leave you dizzy. I'm still not quite sure whether the ending fully works - things get cleaned up a bit too tidy in the finale - but the story's turns and character developments had me gasping repeatedly in shock, and I was invested from the near start. So yeah, this is definitely one to watch for award consideration next year and - even though it has a satisfying ending - merely the start of a series which leaves a number of questions potentially open, which makes me eager to see where it goes from here.

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Lieutenant Touraine of the Balladairan Colonial Brigade (the "Sands") never wanted to return to El-Wast, the capital city of Qazāl, the city she was born. Touraine was taken from the city, from her long-forgotten parents, as a child and conscripted into the brigade, where she was taught by her Balladairan to be "civilized" and to fight for Balladaire and its Empire. But Touraine and the Sands are not treated the same as the rest of the Balladairan forces - the Sands are abused and made to take the dangerous assignments and treated by the normal army officers as little more than dirt. And now they're coming back to their original homeland, where the Shālan Empire once stood, in order to help the Empire police their own people and to snuff out any trace of rebellion.

Unlike her closest allies - her best friend Tibeau and her lover Pruett, her two sergeants - Touraine never had any dreams of the Shālans rising up against the Empire for a better future. Her goal has instead always been to rise up in the ranks all the way to General, where she can use authority to protect the only family she's ever known - not the Shālans or blood family, but the Sands she's fought and bled for.

But when an act of heroism puts her on the radar of the Shālan rebellion and threatens to end her military career - and any chance of helping the Sands, Touraine finds that her only way forward is to attach herself to the Balladairan Princess Luca, a woman who wants to prove her worth by negotiating a peaceful end to the rebellion...and wants Touraine to help her make contact with the people she left behind, people who would happily kill her fellow soldiers. And so, even as Touraine begins to be a little attracted to Luca, she faces a decision of how to act to save those she cares about....a decision that could throw the whole land into chaos.
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The Unbroken is kind of the story of two protagonists: Luca and Touraine, but Touraine is really the main focus. I've read a number of books with a similar basic setup as The Unbroken seems at first to have: two potential love interests from different sides of a colonial empire, one being from the colonizers and one being from the conquered people, trying to deal with the realistic situation of oppression and discrimination while also dealing with their own growing impossible attraction (in the most ordinary of those books, the colonizing love interest learns what her people have done and changes her ways to try and do what she can to fix it). And The Unbroken begins sort of in this same manner: with Luca wanting to try and remedy the wounds of colonization from the start - albeit for selfish reasons -
but it goes in a very different direction with her character and plot. And the book makes it clear through Touraine's eyes, the main eyes we see the world through, that Luca's actions have potential impacts far beyond what Luca can imagine, impacts that Touraine can't quite accept.

And that drives Touraine to make more and more bad decisions in a way that left me utterly breathless, especially due to how tremendously well done Touraine's character is in the story. As noted above, Touraine was taken from her homeland as a child, and any loyalty to it was essentially educated out of her....except that she and her soldiers still are treated like dirt instead of as loyal forces of the Empire. And so her first loyalty is not to her homeland or to the Empire, but to her soldiers, the Sands, who she considers her first and only family. A threat to the Sands is the quickest thing to driver her to act, and as she does act, she begins to see from the rebels point of view - how the Empire will never treat any of her people, loyal or no, with respect and dignity, how the Empire will seemingly never leave and how the Empire will simply take and take rather than truly act in friendship. Luca may want peace for her own ends, but she cannot understand that what she wants in return is to take something of Shāla, and Touraine can see that right on, especially as she sees more and more of what is going on in the homeland she left behind. And YET, despite these revelations, despite these changes in her sympathies, Touraine's first priority remains throughout with the Sands, her people, despite Touraine's actions often shifting her to other sides of the conflict potentially opposite them. They are, despite everything, her family - the Empire's actions have left her with nothing else at her core to believe in.

Luca by contrast feels the need to prove herself to take back the throne from her essentially usurping uncle. She has a bum leg due to a horse injury as a child she has worked to get around, and decides that peacefully ending the rebellion will show her worth to the Empire and allow her to take back the throne: oh she believes that the way the Empire treats the Shālans is often cruel and should stop, but it's less important to her than her future as an Emperor who could possibly stop everything. And so she can't see what Touraine explains to her about freedom, about the fact that she wants Shālan magic when it is not hers or her people's right to have it, even if she does have good intentions for using it. And so when her plans start to fall apart (and this is not a spoiler because you'll see that coming) and Touraine starts throwing things into chaos, she too finds herself making more and more bad decisions for both the Empire and most devastatingly, for Qazāl as a nation with its conquered people. Luca may be good at heart, but she comes from privilege and thus her attempts at doing good, for selfish and unselfish reasons, cannot escape that.

This all winds up as you might imagine with a plot that takes an incredible amount of twists and turns, with more betrayals than perhaps in any book I can remember (I kept thinking of the Baru Cormorant books, not because they're very comparable other than being books about Empire and Colonialism, but in sheer number of betrayals). The story as mentioned above deals heavily with the impacts of Empire and Colonization from the perspectives of practically everyone touched by it - the conquerors, the children of the conquerors who live in the conquered land, the conquered adults who remember the past, the children who live in the land who don't, and the children who were taken from the land by the conquered and taught only what the conquered want....etc. It's a fascinating examination of all that, and it does not provide any easy answers (Because there aren't any).

One interesting twist incidentally that this book contains that I don't recall similar books having is its emphasis on faith. The magic possessed by the Shālans and other rivals to the Empire is tied to their faith and religion, a faith that some like Touraine have trouble with after everything bad that has befallen them. And more interestingly, it is hinted that there once was Balladairan magic, but as the Empire reacted to its enemies' powers with a hatred of religion, they decided to suppress any religion within their own borders and may have sacrificed their own magic as a result, leaving them more vulnerable to the elements. The idea of a conquering land trying to suppress all religion instead of just promoting its own is more European (French particularly) than American and Clark uses this idea to argue it is a further weakness of Empire.

This book does end up in a satisfying ending as it seeds plot elements here and there for future books....although the final act ends in a way that is perhaps a bit too tidy and reliant upon deus ex machina. But I don't really care too much, and the book ends in a tremendous fashion - just don't expect a happy ending, even if what you get is certainly not the utterly tragic one I thought this had to be building to 80% of the way through.

So yeah, the Unbroken is an incredible story of Empire and Colonialism and the impossibilities of people trying to choose to move forward once touched by it to do so in a way that results in happiness and order. The past cannot be returned to, and I could talk a lot more about other choices of this book, the minor characters on both sides of the conflict for example and how they illustrate more of this theme, but well honestly you should just read this instead and think about it yourself. Definitely a highlight of 2021 to start.

This is a rough and tumble fantasy about rebels, colonialism, family, and so much more.

Features that I liked:
- an great story arc for our main character, Touraine
- Insightful main themes of colonialism, internalized racism, and generational trauma
- Diverse cast of compelling and mostly queer characters
- Queernorm, gender equal fantasy world
- A book mostly about badass queer women so that’s always a win

Cons:
- The pacing really lagged at points, especially in the beginning
- The writing was a little dry at times
- I didn’t love Touraine and Luca’s romance as much as I hoped I would. The power dynamics were flirting a blurred line and that’s not usually what I prefer in romance.
- While I loved overall loved this story, I was left a little wanting from the characters in terms of emotion and strong personality, and I wanted more details or explanation in the world-building.

4 stars for racial, LGBTQ, and disability representation! Fantasy is my favorite genre, and it’s been gratifying to see underrepresented groups start to be placed front and center. The Unbroken breaks away from a lot of other fantasy books that are set in thinly veiled European locales, and is instead set in a version of Northern Africa. The world building and secondary characters help the book stand out, though I would have liked more explanation on how the area’s historical conflicts impacted the main story, as some of that was unclear to me.
The romance between Luca and Touraine takes a backseat to the military and social upheaval, which suited me fine because I thought that their “connection,” was the one real weak point of the book. Even though Luca’s motives and intentions are deliciously complex, the societal differences between her and Touraine felt too big for the book to overcome.
I would definitely recommend this as a palate cleanser from your “usual” fantasy read, and it would be a great entry point into the genre for readers who prefer non-fiction, historical books.

The Unbroken
By. C.L. Clark
P. 464
Format: eArc
Rating: ***3/4
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I received an e-arc from @Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
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The Unbroken is the first book in the adult fantasy series Magic of the Lost. Touraine was taken from her people as a child. They trained her, and the other stolen children, to be soldiers. Her birth culture was taken away from her and Touraine desperately wanted her adoptive culture to acknowledge her worth. Instead, they were used as fodder in the many wars. Except now they brought the stolen children back to their birth country. Touraine finds that she has nothing; she doesn’t fit with her countries conquerors or with her own people.

I predict that The Unbroken will become the most talked about adult fantasy of 2021. The writing is excellent and the plot is amazing. If you love books that are strong in plot then you will fall for this book. There is so much going on, it is beautiful crafted, and it will leave you hooked from beginning to end. Colonizing is, tragically, nothing new. However, the way that Clark presents it in this book makes you connect to the trauma. Not just of death and war, but also having your entire identity taken from you.

I am a strong character reader. I found the pacing to be a bit overwhelming at times. So much happened in one sentence that I would have to go back and find when an event took place. It was also harder for me to connect to the characters. The characters themselves were vivid, dynamic, and memorable. They just take second place to the plot. I had to put the book down a few times and read something else. I always wanted to come back.

Also, the main relationships are f/f, so LGBTQ rep. It is a natural part of both cultures which was great.

If you are looking for a good fantasy then this is a great pick. I ended up pre-ordering the book, and plan on picking up the sequel.

I am so sad that I didn't enjoy this book. It's exactly the kind of story I gravitate to and the concept and cover art is awesome. Unfortunately though, I got lost while reading the story and spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was going on. The world building in terms of language used was complicated to the point where I was second guessing the phrases used and which character we were talking about. I kept reading in hopes that I would begin to understand what was going on but it didn't help. I can absolutely see readers who love the complicated spec fic world loving this book, but it just wasn't for me.

The Unbroken is a North-African inspired military queernorm fantasy following Luca and Tourraine, a princess (soon to be queen) and soldier. Tourraine is a member of the Sands, a group of Balladarian soldiers from the empire's colonies kept separate from the rest of the ranks. She's worked her way up to Lieutenant but is still held with disregard by some Balladarian soldiers who see her Quazali heritage as problematic. As Quazali (a colony) is on the brink of rebellion, Tourraine's company is sent to manage the territory in wake of Princess Luca's visit. Mere minutes after stepping off the ship, an assassin attempts to murder Luca and is thwarted by Tourraine, setting up a plotline that results in Tourraine becoming a member of Luca's staff and a liason to the rebels. On the magic side of things, Luca is also desperate to find magic to stop a plague in her empire.

The central plot of this book is embedded in the theme of colonialism (as well as imperialism to a certain degree). This is by far the strongest part of the book, as the theme goes beyond plot to impact Tourraine and Luca's relationship as well as Tourraine's inner thoughts and relationship with nearly every character. I think Clark really understands how to weave themes into fantasy well - I often get annoyed when fantasy plots lack a greater message, but I have no qualms here with that!

I thought that Quazali itself was really well constructed. The worldbuilding was honestly lacking a bit beyond that, but the issue may also be that this is an arc and I had no map :/ I rely on maps a fair deal for fantasy books. Quazali itself though - the culture, the political context, etc. were great!! C.L. Clark had a very clear view of it.

Tourraine and Luca are really well developed characters. Even though they infuriated me at times (Luca especially) and made me want to throw my e-reader because of the choices they were making, they were also defined well and their frustrating actions made sense for who they were. I can't wait to see more from them in book 2. I definetly think the romance was lacking a bit. Besides the mutual attraction, the two didn't have many scenes that built on the romance (conversations beyond ones about the rebels). I almost wish this book left it at mutual attraction with the hint of something more here, and possibly explored a complicated romance in book 2. I can't say I'd be rooting for it since I think their relationship is toxic as hell, but I think it would explore an interesting dynamic

One complaint I have is that the magic system is very confusing. Probably because it's book 1 in a series, but even so, I felt like the Taargen's and the different magic of different areas was very loosely explained. I expect this to pick up more in book 2, I just think it lacked a lot of clarity in here.

I think my main downside to this book was that some scenes felt underwritten. Patchy is the word I use. It wasn't something I always noticed but some scenes felt like I was missing important details, minor things, but things nonetheless that were important to scene clarity.

I have a few other thoughts but I'll save them for a recent reads or a full review.

3.5/5

There is a lot to like in 'The Unbroken' - a well-drawn world (modeled on North Africa in the 16th century or so), a serious treatment of the corrosive consequences of colonialism, some interesting characters, and a strong ending.

However, the two main characters are pretty weak scaffolding for an epic fantasy: most of the plot, including massive death and destruction, is driven by the dithering and bad decisions of these two. The writer spent way too much time in their heads and not enough time giving us insight in the strong - more interesting - secondary characters.

Based on the ending, I suspect future volumes of the story will be more satisfying.

The Unbroken features complicated characters and examinations of rebellion, identity, and colonization. It's full of a past that needs to be uncovered. Prejudice and discrimination. Touraine is embroiled in a political and colonial situation, a battle of 'civilized' insults and a group of soldiers forced to fight. The Unbroken feels like a mix of inevitability and the journey to becoming something no on expects. To realize that when deeply entrenched in colonization, there isn't a situation that doesn't involve sacrifice or bloodshed. That, despite our best efforts, we would always end up like this.

It's a deadly combination when prejudice outweigh logic and they have the power over life and death. How should Touraine feel? How do you choose your own future when you were ripped from your home and molded into a weapon? Do you choose destruction on your own terms? Are we heroes if we steal weapons to save ourselves? The only family Touraine has ever known is stuck in a conflict between their allegiances and their masters. Unable to win either way, in a society that will always look down on them and hated by their own people, the Sands made my heart ache.

Kind of torn with this one. It was a little flat and never really grabbed my complete attention. I'm not sure if this was the result of a debut author coming into their craft. It also could have fallen victim to the fact that I had just reread "The Shadow of What Was Lost," which I love and might be the best book series ever. There wasn't enough fantastical elements for my tastes. Regardless, I wish the book all the success in the world and hope it does well.

Touraine is a soldier. Stolen as a child and raised to kill and die for the empire, her only loyalty is to her fellow conscripts. But now, her company has been sent back to her homeland to stop a rebellion, and the ties of blood may be stronger than she thought.

Luca needs a turncoat. Someone desperate enough to tiptoe the bayonet's edge between treason and orders. Someone who can sway the rebels toward peace, while Luca focuses on what really matters: getting her uncle off her throne.

I struggled a lot to rate this one. Like most things I have complicated feelings about, a "love vs hate" list is in order.

***Things that were awesome: ***

This is a slow burn sapphic romance, and the burn is yes, actually slow. While the characters don't interact very much and it was slightly underdeveloped, this romance has it all. Pining, drama, tenderness..more pining. A love triangle with a third woman. It's very fun.

I liked the world. It was fairly easy to understand and wrap your head around. It's not overwritten and it's fun to explore both physical and political elements. You get a very clear sense of the character's values, the values of the bad guys, etc. Lots of moral ambiguity as well.

It's fast-paced for the most part. Rarely are you left dragging on about something uninteresting. CL Clark provides just as many details as she needs to without overdoing it.

It provides an interesting look at colonialism. Touraine was educated by her colonists and feels a sense of "owing" them. At the same time, she can't ignore the atrocities around her. Luca is a colonist and also wants to be a "good" one- but no amount of goodwill can really un-do the destruction of an autonomous state. The people she's trying to "help" don't want her as a queen. They want to be free. That's not to say at all that this is an "all sides" type of book,. rather, the author seems to have put a lot of work into getting into the head of a colonialist or apologist to make these characters more than just cardboard cutouts (which actually makes them scarier villains).

**The Bad**

This is a lot to gush over, so why give this a 3?

The last quarter of the book was extremely messy- and this is my biggest complaint. Characters are changing allegiances and literally CORE BELIEFS about who they are left and right. Touraine in particular literally went from being completely wishy-washy to "I believe wholeheartedly in this cause and will die for it". Nothing really triggered the change. We don't get her thinking deeply about her choices or why she changed. Luca acts chaotically as well, but by and large, remains more in character.

The first leg of the book was very slow-paced but strong. The last leg of the book, is both very fast and very slow. Radical shifts in the narrative, and at times you'd get a handful of information faster than you could really process what exactly is going on. At the same time, you'd get tons of slowed down moments meant to get you to know the rebels more...but at this point, you are really just wanting to know what will become of the main characters. This pacing issue is really jarring, and also in my opinion diminishes the journey of the two main characters significantly.

Lastly, the book seems to be based on north Africa, with the colonial group clearly being French-inspired. French laicite/irreligion is a HUGE part of this book- but it wasn't really a part of colonialism at the time of the North African invasion. I was really put off by the author's feelings about atheism/secularism in general and tying it to a colonial narrative when apostasy laws literally exist in some of those countries today and anti-atheism discrimination is an issue. It felt like an attempt to merge modern issues and French laicite with French colonialism. Again, considering the world safety of Atheists is still severely questionable, this felt a bit bad taste to me (but might be fine for other readers)


Overall, I think the folks who will get the most out of The Unbroken will LOVE this book and series. The slow burn sapphic romance and strong inclusion of POC and female characters as the default is sure to be satisfying to many. I think this will be a favorite for folks in 2021. For me, it did a lot of things right, but I do not think I will be picking up the next book.

'The Unbroken' is an upcoming fantasy of colonialism and belonging, and a soldier who can't really be a part of either nation. It's got a good tight focus on two characters, the princess heir to the empire trying to prove herself by managing a colony, and a soldier taken and raised by the empire but unable to be seen as worthy of it. The uneasy dance between the two of them as they orbit each other is good and shows off the colonial mindset well; I really enjoy the trend in fantasy recently of things that say that empire is bad for everyone, on all sides, and this is definitely part of that movement. (I want to compare this to 'The Traitor Baru Cormorant' for books about relationships bent under the pressures of empire, and about trying to find your place when everyone has reason to mistrust your loyalty, including yourself.) The only downside of the close focus on their relationship is that it does mean there are major happenings that we don't see - the end of the book is a chain of reactions to events that both ladies only find out about in the aftermath and are swept along by; there are good realistic reasons for them to have not seen it and for things to be under-emphasized in the reports they hear, but it does make it feel a bit like the empire is overreacting, and that's an odd place for a book where we've had such a good view of the decisions the rest of the time. That said, really enjoyable and I'm curious where a sequel might take things from here.

The synopsis of this book was enough for me to claim it as one of my most anticipated releases this year. That, and the gorgeous cover, of course. But clearly, these were not enough to prepare me for the magnificence of this book. The Unbroken is a military fantasy that is tense, brutal, and unabashedly frank about the complexities of love, loyalty, and imperialism/colonisation.

The Unbroken revolves around our two main characters, Touraine and Luca, coming to El-Wast in the country of Qazal, a colony under the Balladairan empire. Despite being polar opposites (one being an indentured conscript and the other a princess and rightful heir to the throne), their destinies entwine. We see Touraine and Luca try to deal with the impending rebellion with different ideologies and loyalties, and we see them go through betrayals, bad decisions, battles, pining, and attempted assassinations.

First of all, the writing style in this book is exquisite. It’s gritty, honest, and suspenseful in its own way. The pacing was slow, yes, but it was deliberate and necessary for this kind of story. And even though you think, there’s not much action, you’re actually absorbing a lot of details as you go on. Details about their world, the politics, the characters, the magic. It was all so well-executed for me.

The characters here in The Unbroken definitely surprised me, Luca most of all. I thought I already knew what kind of character she would be, but as I was reading, I found out she was so much more. That said, she was not perfect of course. And Touraine. I loved Touraine’s character. I loved her because throughout the book, I was able to see her loyalty get tested, I was able to see her character shift, I was able to see her learn and grow and change. Touraine’s character arc is no small feat, and if anything, it’s a whole damn journey. And as a reader, I felt so honoured that I got to witness that.

The romance and the dynamic between the two characters is quite interesting for me. Though the chemistry is there, there’s still some significant differences between Touraine and Luca’s personality, and we see this affect their relationship throughout the book. That said, there was pining and angst between them you can’t ignore.

The plot, on the other hand, keeps you on your toes. This book dives deep into politics and military tactics, and at first I thought I would have a hard time following it all, but instead, I was enamoured. I was enamoured because the way this book discussed the intricacies of political ideologies and military strategies were so detailed and real. Instead of getting confused, I gained an intimate knowledge of the politics present in the story which just made the plot and the overall situation so tense for me.

The Unbroken also showed the complexities of colonisation so openly in this book which I really appreciated. I think it’s rare that I get to see a fantasy novel like this, where colonisation is such an integral part of the plot and a significant theme in the story. We see just how much it can divide a country and its people, and affect generations and generations of lives. We also see how the loyalty of people can shift once they see reason, once they embrace their identity, once they believe in something and want to fight for something. It’s one of the reasons why I loved reading the story through Touraine’s perspective, because she was there experiencing all of these herself.

The worldbuilding and the magic system were fascinating as well. The magic is not that widespread, unfortunately, since in their world, they think believing in magic or having magic is uncivilised. It was also interesting to see that magic in the different countries was tied to their faith or religion, and it was a turning point in the story, especially for Touraine. I would have loved to know more about the magic itself though, and the other countries and its people. I’m hoping we get to see more of that in the second book.

Overall, The Unbroken was an epic journey from start to finish. It’s brutal, it’s suspenseful, but most of all, it punches you right in the feels.

*4.5 stars*
Content Warnings include: colonizing, sexual assault, torture, influenza/pandemic, death

The Unbroken is a standout debut novel that is North African inspired adult fantasy, set to come out March 23rd . Tourraine was abducted from her home as a child and forced to become a soldier to her colonizers. Now, she has to return to a people she hardly remembers and face a past she would rather stay buried. Luca is a princess and rightful heir to the throne. Desperate and denied her birthright, Luca turns to an unlikely alliance to finally broker peace. Both will grapple with the destruction of colonialism in this searingly sharp, brutal and biting novel from C.L. Clark.

There is so much to unpack from this story and I am thoroughly impressed. Clark's mastery of their characters is a thing of beauty. Tourraine and Luca were so incredibly dynamic. They naturally drove the plot forward. While they may be deeply attracted to one another, both are individually motivated and find themselves more and more at odds with each other and I just ate that shit up. Tourraine's arc especially, was phenomenal. If the next two books are just Tourraine and Luca staring at each other, I'm down.

I absolutely loved C.L. Clarks themes and writing. Her characters, plot, and prose make the consequences abundantly clear, without having to spell it out to the reader. However, they also make the reader directly face the inherent violence and utter brutality of colonialism. Which I personally think it is incredibly valuable and relevant, especially to see this in sff.

I deeply enjoyed the setting and the world building. The world was excellently established. I was able to picture the various areas quite well. The added element of magic and religion was a great touch (they also tied into the themes phenomenally well btw). I also can't wait to see the future of this world. Clark sets up some interesting things in this book and I'm excited for the payoff in the sequels.

I have a bit of a nitpick regarding the writing. I occasionally got lost with some action scenes and didn't think Clark was always successful in communicating exactly what was happening when big climatic things were going down.

I think this book has a chance to increase in my feelings upon reread. I can't wait to see where the story take us and I am DYING for book two.

The Unbroken is by far one of the best new books I've read. Between it's diverse cast of characters (featuring a variety of ethnic identities, racial groups, and sexual orientations) and it's setting, the world Clarke has created is highly enthralling and immersive. The comparisons to the Baru Cormorant series are understandable, in that they are both political dramas centering around a colonizing world power trying to tame an 'uncivilized' nation, but The Unbroken features characters that are much more relatable. The story opens when Touraine, the Sands (soldiers taken from Qazal as children and raised to fight for Balladaire), and Luca (Balladaire's would-be monarch) arrive in Qazal to try to assuage the growing tension between the native Qazali and the Balladairian ruling class. Touraine must reconcile her desire to climb the proverbial ladder in the Balladairian army with her mixed associations regarding her birth nation. The current king regent, Luca's uncle, has tasked Luca with reestablishing Balladaire's control over the Qazali as a challenge to help determine if Luca is ready to take over the throne. Luca's task is made all the more complicated by her attraction to Touraine and her desire to learn more about a rumored, forbidden Qazali religion which grants it's practitioners magical abilities. I loved the characters in this story and felt like they were vastly different than any kind of characters I've read in this genre before. The storyline was engrossing and kept me wanting more, even through the final pages. This story was thoroughly enjoyable and I cannot wait for the next book to come out!

The Unbroken is a stunning debut novel. It's hard-hitting, full of passion, and constantly engaging.

Touraine was stolen from her home in Qazal at a young age and conscripted into the colonial army where her culture was beat out of her. As an adult, she has no memory of her homeland and is a firm believer in the Balladairan way of life and her military career.

Luca is the queen in waiting and in Qazal to staunch a rebellion in order to prove to her uncle that she is a fit queen. She is willing to do what it takes in order to secure her position, no matter the cost.

The dynamic and tension between these two characters was so well written. Touraine's struggle with her identity and her ties to the Sands felt very real. Her motivations were always clear and watching her grow and change felt organic. Luca was not a likeable character, but somehow I still liked her. As a colonizer, she does want to help the Qazli people but not at the cost of her own power.

I honestly just loved this book so much. The worldbuilding was solid, the characters were well developed, and the plot was political and tense. I really liked the magic and its ties to religions. I loved the characters in the rebellion, especially Jaghotai. Touraine and Luca's character arcs were both engaging. The ending sequences were exciting heartbreaking. It ends in a satisfying way that feels almost like a standalone while leaving plenty to tackle in the sequel.

Thank you to Orbit for providing me with my copy for review!

I was immediately sucked into The Unbroken, and never wanted to put it down. For me the standouts of the novel were undoubtedly the female characters and their relationships, as well as the representation of LGBT+ characters and a disabled main character. I also was incredibly intrigued by the magical system, which sadly, I felt was a bit vague. My biggest issues with The Unbroken revolved around the main romance between a princess, Luca, and one of the people she colonized, Touraine, and the lack of credibility I felt of those characters in their respective positions.


"'Too many died in a war that's not theirs.

'Your rebellion would be another one.'

'You'll have to fight for one side or the other. Why not fight for the side that gives you freedom?'

'Because I can fight for the side that's winning.'

'Winning isn't everything. It's how you win that matters most.'"


I really loved the family dynamics in The Unbroken, which explores all types of families. Touraine was kidnapped and taken from her mother at a young age, only to meet her again as an adult, serving the colonizers her mother fights against. I really enjoyed how The Unbroken explored their often cantankerous relationship and believably dealt with the resentment Touraine felt towards her mother for the hand she was dealt in life. I also enjoyed how her mother, Jaghotai, coped with the harsh truth that her daughter had essentially been brainwashed by their colonizers, after a life of fighting in units of other kidnapped Qazali—known as the Sands—and being educated to serve the Balladairan empire, at the expense of their own culture, family, language, and entire way of life. The Unbroken does a great job of demonstrating all of the differences in beliefs, and the emotions both mother and daughter were feeling. It was nice to read a parent-child relationship that was anything but perfect.

"Touraine was starting to think it was impossible o come from one land and learn to live in another and feel whole. That you would always stand on shaky, hole-ridden ground, half of your identity dug out of you and tossed away."


Besides this interesting and well-developed representation of a parent-child dynamic, I really enjoyed the representation of a disabled main character who isn’t helpless or a victim of her disability. Princess Luca was in a horse riding accident at a young age, which left her with a disabled and often painful leg. She copes with chronic pain on a daily basis, but still manages to even train herself to use a rapier for self defense (which she even keeps in her cane), and to govern the colony in a bid for her rightful throne, all while seeking the secrets of ancient Shālan magic. I was thrilled that despite Luca’s disability and search for magic to heal her people of a Withering Plague, her leg is never magically cured. I feel that in a lot of fantasy novels with disability representation, the pesky disability is just magicked away, like a less than abled body character isn’t worthy of being a main character. So I was really happy that she remained disabled and that The Unbroken even showed her coping with the chronic pain on multiple occasions.

"In the back of her mind, however she thought about how easy it would be to rule Balladaire if she had magic on her side. If magic actually existed. How people would look at her if she managed what her father could not."


I was less thrilled with the main romance of the novel, which does provide LGBT+ representation as well. When I read the blurb of The Unbroken, I inferred that Princess Luca and Touraine would be on more equal footing in their plots. I thought they would be scheming plans in a council and enacting them together. But to my discomfort, that is really not the case. The romance between Luca and Touraine is very much that of the oppressor/colonizer/privileged and the oppressed/colonized/less privileged. Luca has complete control over Touraine’s life, saving her from death, granting her personal freedom, and disowning her on a whim. This romance was regrettably not in any way a partnership and I was puzzled how either character was able to pretend it ever was. Luckily, there are other LGBT+ relationships in The Unbroken that are healthier, but they don’t play as big of a part in the story.

"If the soldier could play her role well enough to learn about the magic, all the risk would be worth it. Luca got a weapon; the soldier got her life. If the woman was loyal."


What does play a huge part in The Unbroken is the countless mistakes both Touraine and Luca make in the course of the novel. Their awful decision making has huge consequence for the entire colony and the empire as a whole, and I was often gobsmacked that anyone followed their orders or believed them. I don’t understand how Princess Luca was not trained her entire life for the throne that her uncle currently holds as regent, and how she was sent to govern an entire colony with no advisors other than a few bodyguards and a mere tactical self-help book she uses for vague guidance. I know her uncle wants to set her up for failure and to make excuses that she is not fit to rule the Empire, as is her blood right, but I don’t understand how any young noblewoman is so underprepared for the task at hand, especially since the entire reason she was sent to Qāzali was to gain governing experience. Isn’t part of the government learning to ask for help when you need it and to learn to take advice and from whom? Poor Luca is just thrown into the ocean and told to swim. We are never really told what kind of education she has as heir to the throne either, so it’s hard to feel that she is up to the task.

Likewise, I cannot even begin to comprehend how Touraine was ever fit for command. She makes extremely impulsive decisions, betraying her alliances countless times, and it was pretty miserable to watch. She was supposedly given an extensive Balladairan education throughout her life as a conscript, with a focus on tactics, and was even the protégé to the infamous Blood General, and I don’t understand how she ended up this underprepared for her leadership roles. Supposedly she was a pretty decent Lieutenant of the Sands, but readers aren’t shown any times where she handled her rank well, except at the very beginning when she thought quickly on her feet and saved the Princess from assassination. But I can assure you, quick thinking isn’t Touraine’s problem, it’s not thinking enough.

She makes decisions and split seconds, sometimes over time skips in chapters, and I was horrified to watch her make yet another reckless decision in what felt like out of nowhere. I wish The Unbroken had spent more time in the beginning establishing Touraine as a decent officer, maybe showing some of their other tours and how she handled difficult moments with aplomb. Instead, we are just told by her Sergeants, and sometimes General Cantic, that she is a good officer, but we never see it first hand. Instead, we see her destroying opportunities for peace at almost every turn. I felt like if characters interacted with Touraine, they were betrayed by her, plain and simple, without even being consulted. As a result of her poor and impulsive decision-making, which had huge consequences for everyone around her, I really struggled to like Touraine, especially when she didn’t feel that bad for the far-reaching consequences of her actions.

"Each path seemed like a different kind of powerlessness, but Touraine didn't know where else she could turn."

And what’s worse, there were people Touraine could have consulted for advice, but she repeatedly chose not to, instead following her emotions and loyalty of the minute. It was just really frustrating to watch her repeatedly play turncoat. I felt really guilty liking Luca better than Touraine, as Luca is the freaking colonizer, robbing people of their religion and hanging them left and right, but sadly, I preferred her to Touraine. I felt I understood the reasons behind why she chose the course of actions she did, mostly because her back was up against the wall many times, and Touraine instead just did whatever she wanted willy nilly. Still, I am uncomfortable that I liked Luca, the colonizer, more, but I just related to her struggle with her disability more and liked that she was willing to consult others and research at least before making her equally bad decisions. It just goes to show that The Unbroken is a realistic and brutal military novel.

"Besides, guns kill people just as dead as magic does. Sometimes less so, and that's another kind of evil entirely."


That being said, I wish a little more of The Unbroken had dealt less with the military decisions and their consequences and had dealt with the world outside of the colony. I felt like I didn’t really know anything about the outside world, other than a few references to the Sands fighting up north against bear-worshippers known as the Taargens, who somehow use magic to suck out something from their opponents that leaves their victims as husks and allows them to shapeshift into bears. Other than that, and references that the Sands and Luca took a ship to the colony, I don’t know where the capital city of the Balladairan Empire is, or how big the empire actually is and how many people were conquered by them. I would’ve liked to know these things to get a clear picture of how big the consequences of all these military decisions were and what they meant for people outside of the colony.

Also, I felt that there wasn’t nearly enough time spent on the magic system. I felt, much like Luca who is determined to sniff out any knowledge about lost magics, that I was following trail of very sparsely laid bread crumbs. And maybe that is exactly how the author wanted the magic to be, mostly a mystery. Every now and then The Unbroken would drop another magic bread crumb, but it was so few and far apart that it felt like a tease more than anything. I hope the next novel in this series will devote more time to uncovering the mystery. I am particularly interested in the lost Balladairan God and what magical powers it might have granted its worshipers.

Regardless of what magical revelations occur in future entries in the series, The Unbroken is a promising debut fantasy novel. Though not being a huge fan of military decisions and what not, the character development, especially between mother and daughter and their conflicting loyalties, was enough to keep me interested, even when I found these developments to not especially be a credit to the characters themselves. I also really reveled in the disability representation in the novel, which I thought was handled better than the LGBT+ representation, which I found problematic. Despite this, I am interested to see how Luca and Touraine will grow independently of one another in future entries of the series, and can only hope that they will learn better decision making skills, and am also excited to see what new magics they will uncover.

Spoiler free review! This book is simply amazing. I love the world building and the way the author really brings out the characters. I would definitely recommend this book!

I ended up getting to 29% and deciding to DNF this one. The writing isn't grabbing me and the pacing is too slow for my personal tastes. I can definitely see why people are enjoying this one - it's an interesting world and the characters are diverse and interesting as well. It's just too much of a slog for me personally. I would absolutely still urge others to pick it up because I think lots of readers will enjoy it.

Thank you to both NetGalley and Orbit for giving me access to an e-arc of this book!

This is a title I was very much looking forward to and it does not disappoint! In this book we follow two points of view grappling with the very real challenges and violence of colonialism and imperialism. The story is set in the utter reaches of a crumbling colonial empire which reminds me of a North African or South American context. Without giving too much away, the plot mainly involves a colonial empire struggling to keep control of a city under its rule whilst a rebellion simmers among the people. This is the backdrop against which our characters meet and the story develops from there.

I would say this story is more character driven than plot-driven and as such we get to spend a lot of time getting to know our protagonists and their internal struggles as they make decisions that impact not only their own lives but the lives of people around them. While this means the pacing is at times slower, it also makes a lot of room for deep explorations of difficult ideas. Some themes brought up include belonging, found family, freedom, racism, and in some ways, ableism as well as homophobia. These last two are approached more tangentially through the actions and experiences of specific characters. I very much enjoyed those aspects of the story because I believe the author handled them very well. I also really appreciated how the romance evolved throughout the book! It was organic and believable while also eliciting reactions from me as the reader as I decided whether or not I wanted to see these characters get together in the end.

My absolute favourite parts of the story overall were the moments when the characters showed growth. The character arcs in this book are phenomenal! I had as many moments where I *quite literally* slammed my palm to my forehead in exasperation as moments where I felt genuinely proud and happy for the characters. Some of the places I would have liked to see more are with the secondary cast of characters. In many instances I wished I cared more about them. While I felt for the main characters and understood their reactions to certain events, as the reader I was less invested. And, finally, my one disappointment was the fantasy aspect. While magic is present throughout the story and (understandably) at the outer edges of the plot, I came into the book expecting it to be more integrated in the overarching story. I was sad to have it be such an elusive part of the plot BUT with the end of this book being what it is, let's just say I am READY and WAITING for book 2!

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves political intrigue, slow burn romances and stories that centre on found family and resistance in colonial contexts.