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Kindle Notes & Highlights
Korea has a rich mythology and vibrant culture all its own. And as a Korean American adoptee, I drew on my own personal story and experiences to fashion the world of Five Broken Blades. However, it is worth noting that this story is neither historical fiction nor fantasy based on the real world; it takes place in a unique setting that is inspired by my research of Korean myth, legend, and culture. Creative license has been taken throughout, but it is my hope that readers will leave the story with their lives enriched, as mine has been through the writing of this book. —Mai
The world will grab and pull at your humanity, try to strip you bare, but ultimately you decide whether to hang on or let go.
The second he touches me, a feeling rushes through me. Our hands fit together like a lock and key, but it’s more than that. He feels like home.
Chapter 7 and we already have Instant-Love
It’s a thankless kindness. And, therefore, the best kind.
Sometimes revenge is a long game and, as much as you want a small win now, the larger victory needs time to manifest.
Maybe we’d have survived, maybe we wouldn’t have. But that’s what life is. A little off, a little too slow or fast, a little too early or late, and everything would be different. Life is timing, and timing is luck.
He’s so casually strong. And the way he took on the pirates, the way he killed to protect me, was…something. I cross my legs. It isn’t wet-undergarments time. And I probably shouldn’t be turned on by unflinching murder. But “shouldn’t” is meaningless. It’s not the same as “won’t.”
Gag
Her face is frozen in agony, her skirts raised, and her legs spread. No dignity, even in death.
TW!
She was, undeniably, his favorite. But girls cannot inherit under our laws. They can’t in Wei, either. Only Khitan allows that nonsense.
THAT NONSENSE?!?!
She stares me dead in the eyes, not the bubbly lady or the cocky little thief but something else. Something made of flint and teeth. A tiger staring down a lion, waiting for the other to turn or attack. But she’s not a tiger. I could break her in two without even trying, yet she doesn’t back down or shy away. And that takes guts. Or a real high level of madness. Maybe both. But a feeling flushes through my chest—admiration. She’s worthy of some respect.
A woman? Worthy of SOME respect?!?
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“I just… I saw what she can do, but I still…” he begins. “I don’t know if we need to rely on girls.” I can’t control my heavy sigh. Of course gender is the hang-up. The Baejkins lack many things—empathy, an ounce of conscience among them, human decency, mercy—but sexism, they have to spare.
Ah, yes—worse than relying on someone female is depending on a commoner. Like with Sora, Euyn will need a full demonstration of Aeri’s abilities to even begin to believe in her. He wouldn’t need it from a nobleman. But that is how the Baejkins think. They’re as narrow as they are exhausting.
“You know, you’re really not very fun,” I say. “You’re not paying me to be fun,” he says. “How much extra does that cost?”
Victory lights up inside of me as Royo raises his arms and punches the air. Then he remembers he’s Royo—the man who hates everything and can never be happy because he made mistakes in the past. But I saw it—his pride. His boyishness returning for a second. He’s so unexpected.
Yao from Mulan?
The game seller reluctantly hands me a stuffed animal from the prize shelf. It’s a colorful little dragon—mostly red, with wings of blue, a yellow belly, and dashes of green. I hug it to my chest, thrilled as we walk away. Royo doesn’t acknowledge I was right, and it’s bothering me. I really hope he’s not one of those men who think they get through life solely powered by their own brilliance. “I’m going to call him Royo,” I say. “He’s my angry little dragon.” I hold the toy by Royo’s face and roar. Royo blinks at me and then sighs. “Fine, you were right. Can we go now?”
Yao from Mulan?
I swear, he’s a mule in men’s clothing.
best metaphor in the book... and it's not even great
“Why do I feel like you’re not a guardsmith?” Mikail says to me. Sora looks over as well. “Because he’s not. Not really,” Aeri says. Mikail’s sharp eyes bounce from me to her. “Then how are you two involved? Romantically?” I fight the blood that threatens to race to my cheeks. “She’s paying me to guard her.” I glance over at her legs… Face, I mean. Face. “It’s just not what I normally do.”
gross
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Loving somebody is needing two hearts to live instead of just the one. You’re better off alone.
Every minute Sora is gone, the more likely it is she’ll be killed, raped, or sold.
She’s very smart for a girl, but then again, she is an assassin. Maybe I should give her more credit.
"FoR a gIrL"
The scandal wouldn’t be because we’re the same gender. No one would bat an eye about that. No, the issue is that Mikail isn’t noble. Class is more important in Yusan than simple differences like skin color or sexual preference. And I am at the top of the hierarchy, and Mikail is a commoner.
The servant stands in the corner, holding a towel and a scrub brush. She’s just a girl, but I dismiss her. I’ve seen what harmless-looking girls are capable of on this trip. Particularly Sora. Aeri is a mystery, though. She’s not a professional killer like Sora. She should’ve been a wreck after the murders in the warehouse. But…she wasn’t. Not even that night or the next day when the shock had a chance to wear off. So why wasn’t she? Is it perhaps because she’s killed before? I’d point it out to Mikail, but he’d tell me I’m being paranoid…again. Besides, she’s just a girl.
"Besides, she’s just a girl." The point is right there!
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I miss a step and stop. Heat flushes from my toes up to my face and takes a really long detour to pool in my hips.
“Because I’d know you in this life and the next hundred.” He states it plainly—not the romantic declarations of acting troupes but a resigned fact. And something about that is more moving.
You know what else is more moving? Not telling me that it was more moving and let me see that.
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The bond with these people is made of water, and it will evaporate after today.
The goal of tuhko is real simple: score more points. But that’s easier said than done. Teams have to decide who’ll be on offense or defense and how many players on each. Defenders wait beneath the hoops to block attempts. Like in that carnival game, a shot from far away has gotta be perfect to go through. Violence is fine, but cheap hits, like dick shots, draw penalties. Judges in black stand on the field, ready to toss gold penalty flags. If a player gets one, he’s gotta sit on the sideline, and his team’s at a disadvantage for however long the penalty takes.
so it's Hockey?
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Euyn will hate me for destroying the crown. Honestly, he might kill me himself, but the price of one man’s life is nothing to free an entire nation. What I’m about to do, I’m doing out of love. Just not my love for Euyn.
I suppose we all are liars and hypocrites, outraged to be betrayed as we planned to double-cross one another from the start. Liars and killers don’t make the best lovers.
“We did the unimaginable—we didn’t just meet at the arena from four parts of Yusan; we worked together. We killed and bled for one another. We were able to gain one another’s trust, while lying and deceiving the whole time. If we can do that, we can find a way to make the queen our ally. And then we will use her to get everything we want. Including revenge.”
Mai writes award winning children’s and young adult books under Meredith Ireland.
Now that makes a lot of sense.
