June 2024 First in a Series BOTM - Five Broken Blades, by Mai Corland

[Alaina]

It’s the season
for treason…

The king of Yusan must die.

The five most dangerous liars in the land have been mysteriously summoned to work together for a single objective: to kill the God King Joon.

He has it coming. Under his merciless immortal hand, the nobles flourish, while the poor and innocent are imprisoned, ruined…or sold.

And now each of the five blades will come for him. Each has tasted bitterness―from the hired hitman seeking atonement, a lovely assassin who seeks freedom, or even the prince banished for his cruel crimes. None can resist the sweet, icy lure of vengeance.

They can agree on murder.

They can agree on treachery.

But for these five killers―each versed in deception, lies, and betrayal―it’s not enough to forge an alliance. To survive, they’ll have to find a way to trust each other…but only one can take the crown.

Let the best liar win.

**This BOTM thread will be open until July 5th @ Midnight (in your time zone)**

[Sibil]

chapters 1-14
(view spoiler)[I love that we have short chapters, and I also enjoy that we have multiple POVs, but they are a bit too much at the moment. I think that a bit farther in the story things will become easier, but at the moment I can't fully immerse myself in the story because of this and so I am going more slowly than what I like but... I hope things will get better soon!
At the moment my favorites are Royo and Aeri, but I am curious about the others! (hide spoiler)]

[Sibil]

chapters 15 - 37
(view spoiler)[It is still slower than what I was hoping, but I am not really complaining about it. And now that all the characters are in the same place maybe we will get more traction. Or at least, I hope so!
It is also quite intriguing that secrets kept popping up at every turn. It makes it all more interesting, sure, but it won't be bad if we get a couple of answers here and there!

On the characters' side, my favorites are still Royo and Aeri, and I really hope that Sora's sister will still be alive by the end of the book, but I am starting to doubt it. (hide spoiler)]

[Sibil]

chapters 38 - 61
(view spoiler)[We have a lot of secrets, and they keep growing in number but we don't get explanations or anything, and that's becoming irritating. I mean, I am not expecting that they all will reveal their secrets to the others just like that, but some of those yes, like the fact that the prince is not really of royal blood so the crown would probably kill him. I mean, this one is relevant for all of them! And we get to add mystery upon mystery. It is a bit too much.
I am still enjoying Aeri and Royo, but I want to know what she is hiding!! (hide spoiler)]

[Felicia]

Sibil wrote: "chapters 1-14
I love that we have short chapters, and I also enjoy that we have multiple POVs, but they are a bit too much at the moment. I think that a bit farther in the story things will become ..."

I love Aeri. I think she is so weird but fun. She has Hit Girl energy from the Kick-Ass movie and comics.

[Felicia]

I got to chapter 30 and so far I am liking it. If you have read Malice by John Gwynn, it has a similar feeling but unlike Malice, the characters names are different enough that you don't forget who they are. Plus they aren't all men. I like that the women in this story are important.

[Felicia]

Chapter 65. I think I know what is going on. I think (view spoiler)[ Aeri is lying and might be testing them in some way. She keeps disappearing and sending messages to her father. well who is her father? (hide spoiler)]

[Felicia]

Just finished. Lots of chapters and overall a good book but I'm conflicted. It's all so secretive and of course there is a whole nother book to wait for.

[Sibil]

Felicia wrote: "Sibil wrote: "chapters 1-14
I love that we have short chapters, and I also enjoy that we have multiple POVs, but they are a bit too much at the moment. I think that a bit farther in the story thing..."

Weird and fun are perfect for her!

[Sibil]

Felicia wrote: "I got to chapter 30 and so far I am liking it. If you have read Malice by John Gwynn, it has a similar feeling but unlike Malice, the characters names are different enough that you don't forget who..."

I liked Sora and Aeri too! And I was happy to see that they had important roles and POVs but I was not so happy with the strong opposition to woman in their country! It was soooooo annoying!

[Sibil]

Finished
(view spoiler)[Okay, I didn't see this coming. I mean, I was suspecting Aeri of something, and I was dying to know who her father was but I didn't see this coming! And I like that the end is quite ambitious, but overall I don't know if I want to continue this series. This book wasn't bad, and I admit to being curious but... But this one was, on the whole, quite a meh book. (hide spoiler)]

[Sibil]

Felicia wrote: "Chapter 65. I think I know what is going on. I think [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I was dying to know who Aeri's father was!! (hide spoiler)]

[Jessica]

Chapters 1-10
(view spoiler)[ This is an interesting set up. I'm glad we didn't dive straight into all five POVs because I'm too easily confused by that. I think I'm starting to see how it will come together. I'm very interested in what Sora's sister was saying. I like Mikhail and Euyn, yay for some Queer rep. The lore with the crown is really interesting. Thus far I'm not as interested in Royo and Aeri, her insta horniess is distracting. While I love romantasy, this feels out of place here. (hide spoiler)]

[Jessica]

Chapters 11-34
(view spoiler)[ Oh shit he's a bastard. This just got interesting. I mean it was before but not like this, now I'm feeling the stakes. It's nice to have them all together now. I'm still most interested in Mikail and Euyn, but Aeri and Royo are growing on me. I'm worried about Sora's sister, why does she think she's dying and she had better not be correct about that. Also feeling like Tiyung is going to end up dead, but maybe instead he can get rid of his dad and take his place. (hide spoiler)]

[Jessica]

Chapter Sixty Three
(view spoiler)[ Oh that's why she wants the crown, I really should have put that together earlier but here we are. Her kiss isn't poison there's no way, but hopefully she tests that out and realizes. I'm into Aeri and Royo now. It took a while for me to appreciate them but now I'm enjoying all of our MCs. (hide spoiler)]

[Jessica]

Finished
Okay first off I was super tired when I finished this and I totally thought I still had a few pages left, so was very confused when I just opened it to the acknowledgments.
(view spoiler)[ It's interesting that Joon set that all up. I figured Aeri had to have magic, but I did not realize that Joon was her father until that reveal. There were aspects of this I really liked, but it felt so slow. I also almost fell asleep in the midst of the climax. I put it down in the section where I should have been gripped (and then completely forgot that I ended up picking it back when I couldn't sleep). I really don't like stories where most of it is people travelling to a place, which this was and so that didn't help. Now that I know and am invested in these characters I think I'll really enjoy the next one. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Today is the LAST day to add comments for BOTM points!