Monika

Not a fan of the first person/third person pov switching but loved how messed up Rue was and how her and Eli's relationship progressed.

I got to read the ARC as part of Shalini's street team.

This Blade of Ours has it all:

• Various shades of antagonists, from shameless and unrepentant in their villainy, to ones you can't help but pity.
• Cunning protagonists who, nevertheless, get things wrong because they're still flawed humans.
• Anek, the best, sassiest, most relatable neutralis this side of the Kaycakh Mountains, continuing to shine as my favourite side character.
• A woman craving power to ensure security for herself and the people who are being failed by the existing system, and the man who would give her all his power or burn it all for her if she asked but supports her handling things the way she sees fit.
• Kadra's slutty, slutty robes “accidentally” falling off his shoulder in a bid to influence Sarai's decisions.

This Blade of Ours is a wonderful sequel to This Monster of Mine, one of my all-time favourite books. Both are written in a way that inspires you to create something yourself, which I believe is the best way for a piece of art to affect its audience.

In the sequel, Sarai and Kadra find themselves facing the consequences of their triumph over the antagonist of the previous book, trying to work within a system they broke, and solving a new case — one that hints at a threat to all of Ur Dinyé.

Dealing with greedy Guilds, religious zealots, and the dubious joys of being in the centre of public ttention while trying to keep a crumbling empire and its people safe from destruction is no small feat.

This sequel is everything I could've wished for, balancing between compelling political intrigue, a revenge plot years in the making, and the challenges of Sarai and Kadra's relationship. It made me wish I could cancel all my plans and binge-read it in one sitting.

It highlights how it's not enough to gain power, you have to find a way to keep it, which may be difficult without compromising your ideals. Between Sarai, Kadra, Cassandane and Harion we are presented with vastly different ideas on how to be a good, effective politician and it's fascinating to see them implemented to varying degree of success.

On a personal level for Sarai and Kadra, the story delves into what it means to find comfort and love with someone deeply scarred, both physically and psychologically.

Neither of them are magically free from trauma and pain just because they fell in love with each other. They both have their pasts and the ghosts that still haunt them. This is particularly emphasised in Kadra's POV chapters which allow us a glimpse into what has made him the force of nature we know.

If you love This Monster of Mine you’re going to love This Blade of Ours just as much.

It was amazing getting to know those we met in Priory as side-characters and getting a glimpse into their lives before the main events.

I fell deeply in love with Marosa as a character and hope we get to see her healing her country in the Priory sequel.

I didn't expect to love and mourn Marosa and Aubrecht's engagement

Did not have praise kink + face sitting + traditionally published historical romance (all in one box!!!) on my 2025 bingo but, thank the gods, here we are. And to think I was gonna skip books 1 and 2 and just read Knockout because it seemed the most interesting!
The sex scenes felt like fanfiction and I mean it as the highest praise possible because no one does smut the way fic writers do ??????

I really liked the story at first, though the way Clarissa's nearsightedness was described was a bit extreme, but her nit having glasses and then only using them when she was alone once she got another pair dragged on way too long. It required many characters to be way too stupid for it to work, even with suspension of disbelief.