The Unbroken

CW: mentions of past rape(or attempted), violence and gore, torture

I've been so excited to read this book since the first time I saw the stunning cover and realized it was sapphic fantasy. And I truly never expected Orbit to approve my request for the advance copy, so I'm definitely thankful to them for being able to read this wonderful book sooner.

The writing in this book is stunning... that's it. I don't even wanna extrapolate more about it because the author's words speak for themselves. The vivid descriptions of the desert city make you feel the heat and dust, the characters' inner monologues makes you feel so connected to them, and the unfairness of the world makes you feel despair. The pacing is also perfect (though not everyone might agree with me) - it starts off slow and takes time to get interesting, but the buildup the author creates makes for excellent payoff towards the end where everything happens at breakneck speed and we are left catching our breath. But the book is also pretty grim throughout with hardly any levity nor much hope, which can make for a depressing reading experience but the excellent writing, exciting plot and complicated characters more than make up for the bleakness.

I mentioned in another review of mine recently that I seem to gravitating a lot towards fantasies these days which explore the themes of colonialism and prejudice and racism, and this was no different. The author shows through her world how centuries of colonization entrenches prejudices, which become so ingrained that people don't wanna look past them even for the sake of their own prosperity. It just becomes easy to oppress and punish and subjugate the colonial subjects, rather than treat them like an equal part of the empire; even if it foments rebellion leading to destruction for both sides.

The author's exploration of identity, through the eyes of the soldiers who were long taken away from their homes and trained to fight for the empire, now being turned on their own birthplace, was pretty emotional. It was heartbreaking to see these soldiers unable to forget their years of training and hope for some equality and respect, while also being conflicted about oppressing the people who are their own. Not feeling like they belonged anywhere was quite distressing and the author perfectly captured this anguish.

The cast of characters are splendid. Touraine, the conscripted soldier and Luca, the rightful queen make for an excellent source for conflict and yearning and the author does it to perfection. They are also immensely flawed, making many decisions without thinking through the consequences, leading to most of the unexpected twists and turns throughout the book. This makes them not likable at all times - there were moments I hated them and then wanted to hug them right after - but they both are immensely sympathetic characters and you hope that things go in their favor. My only gripe is that the amount of yearning and the number of loving interactions they had with each other didn't feel proportional, and I wish their relationship was developed more.

The side characters were also equally well written and memorable, I kept wanting to know more about them. Particularly Aranen, Djasha, Bastien, Gil - I wanted to know more of their backstories coz they were so interesting. There were also quite a few who I truly despised but they were not the kind of mindless villains we sometimes encounter, so I enjoyed their portrayals too.

Truly, this is an excellent debut and I'm glad that I got to experience another new author this year. If you want rebellion and intrigue and magic interspersed with complicated characters you don't know what to feel about, then this is perfect for you. If you can wait out the slightly slow buildup and don't mind your fantasy worlds bleak, then you'll be blown away by the time you reach the end. I definitely was and I can't wait to see where the story goes next.