Week 22
Hmmmmmmmmmm unhappy about it being the last week of May!!! Not super comfortable with that tbqh!!!!
Today’s reads: The Unbroken by C.L. Clark, The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick
#34) THE UNBROKEN by C.L. Clark
Hmm, this is…a hard book to review, to be perfectly honest.
THE UNBROKEN is about empire and oppression, and does not flinch away from the implications of that. It follows Touraine, a conscripted soldier, returning to her homeland for the first time since she was taken as a child. After saving the life of the empire’s princess, she is brought into a situation where she must reckon with herself and her history, caught between empire and her own people.
I think that THE UNBROKEN is a really well-crafted novel, and one that provokes a lot of thought and a lot of connection. It’s definitely a book whose plot and characters are going to stay with me for a long time, and one that I look forward to returning to in order to chew on it.
At the same time, though, the primary emotion I had while reading this book was frustration. Which I think is intentional! The choices that the characters make and the way in which it veers from well-meaning people attempting to fix things to those same people scrambling and making things worse - it’s compelling in the way Shakespearan tragedies are compelling, but it’s also madness-inducing.
For the most part, I think this works. It definitely brings to attention the difficult position the characters, Touraine in particular, find themselves in, and how all choices can seem like bad choices when you and your people have been oppressed on such a scale. Even when her choices didn’t make complete sense, I could empathize with where she was coming from to some degree.
The one thing I do wish had been a little more developed was the relationship between Touraine and the princess, Luca. Not from a shipping point of view, I realize that’s not the point, just from a character development point of view. I felt like the story was trying to sell me on a connection between them that I…didn’t quite see, and didn’t quite buy.
Regardless, I’m interested to see where the story goes from this point on!
#35) THE MASK OF MIRRORS by M.A. Carrick
Another book where I do not remember where I got the rec, but my expectations were definitely exceeded!
MASK OF MIRRORS follows Ren, a girl who grew up on the street and is now attempting to pull off the con of her life: pose as a long-lost cousin of a wealthy, influential family, and get them to bring her into the fold. Also, there’s some background magic, children who are going missing/dying, and a masked vigilante.
There’s a lot going on in this book, but it all kind of works? The story is long (my copy ended up being about 530 pages), but it used its space well to flesh out the story, the characters, and the world. I liked that it jumped between the different characters to explore what they were doing, especially as the book approached its climax.
I found the book exciting, got easily wrapped up in its story, and I really enjoyed the development of the characters. In particular, I thought that the development of family, and Ren’s relationships with both the family she grew up with and the family she was trying to join were very touching.
The one thing I would mention, though I am not the best person to pass judgment, is on the cultural elements of it. Ren is biracial, and is able to pass as a pale-skinned noble and also as a darker-skinned member of the lower class ethnic group depending on makeup. Furthermore, as part of her culture, she reads cards and tells fortunes.
In my reading, the cultural things in this book are not meant to be directly analogous to any real-life cultures, but there’s an obvious connection to Tarot there. I can’t really speak to how well any of this is handled, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
Also, if there’s anything that does kind of fall by the wayside in this book, it’s the revolutionary angle. The book doesn’t necessarily shy away from the corruption of the upper classes and the oppression that the lower class people face, but it also doesn’t explore it as much as I would have liked? Especially when it comes to there being a group of rebels that…ultimately end up being pawns for the big bad.
I’m hoping that might be expanded on in the next book, which I’m genuinely looking forward to reading!