“Even at my worst, I can be strong.”
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There are certain books that make you feel emotions you are scared to face in your heart and confront them. Some books depict such beautiful familial bonds. While some are so fun to read they make you laugh like crazy.
And, Blade of Secrets has a balance of it all.
Surprisingly, it has all the typical YA elements and that could be a hit or miss, particularly, when you’ve read a lot in this genre but Blade of Secrets still manages to hook you to the story. I wasn’t expecting to love and relate to it so much, but the author managed to make me love the characters, and their dynamic together.
Blade of Secrets revolves around Ziva, an eighteen-year-old bladesmith who lives with her younger sister, Temra, and crafts unique weapons imbued with magic, for their livelihood, using her magical gift. She suffers from social anxiety and spends most of her time tucked away in her forge, building these powerful weapons for warlords and mercenaries from all over the continent. Her sister handles most of the communication so, Ziva doesn’t have to deal with all that.
One day, Ziva receives a commission from a powerful warlord, and she accidentlly creates a sword capable of stealing its victims’ secrets. When Ziva learns about this warlord’s dangerous intentions through this sword, she goes on a run with her sister to keep the sword safe from the warlord’s hand, and destroy it or find someone worthy of wielding it. They are joined by a distractingly handsome mercenary, and a young scholar with extensive knowledge of the world’s known magics. Together, they go on a quest to keep this sword safe while being hunted, and end up forming these unbreakable bonds with each other.
The Characters: The main characters in this book grew on me as the story progressed! I love them so much. And Ziva, our strong and amazing lead, who would fight bravely to keep her loved ones safe, but who’s also kind and tender at heart. It was amazing to witness her character development.
It’s a beautiful feeling isn’t it to be able to relate to a character? I can’t explain the amount of warmth and strength Ziva’s character and story brought me!
I prefer metal to people, which is why the forge is my safe space. (that’s the first line, haha already sounds iconic, doesn’t it?)
Firstly, the social anxiety representation was quite well done, like the little moments where Ziva watches Temra and wonders how does she manage to talk so effortlessly. The feeling of unsafety around new people, panic attacks, or trying to keep up with conversations without making it awkward. The need for some me-time to relax and recharge. Overthinking every little thing someone says. This reminds me of a line,
He thinks you’re a beauty. (omg take shots at the number of times she repeats this in her head for the entirety of the book. It’s almost annoying but funny too.)
I also loved how she made deadly weapons, but couldn’t handle one in a fight at the beginning. Though, as the story progresses she slowly learns to do her best in physical fights. Let’s see if we get more of that development in the sequel!
Temra, her sister was such a good addition to the story. Again she’s the typical younger sister from YA novels, who’s loud, bold, feisty, gorgeous, and loves her sister very much. I liked how she understood her sister’s condition and provided support whenever needed, at the same time she was like the younger sibling, hiding things from Ziva, teasing her, and even fighting with her sometimes. I loved their sisterhood.
Kellyn, yasss my boy!! He is the distractingly handsome *mhmm cough* mercenary who accompanies the sisters on their journey. I instantly knew he’s gonna be my favorite with all the charisma that was overflowing as soon as he was part of the scenes.
I liked how he was not some prince from faraway land but a mercenary, and also a villager. He was spontaneous at times and said things before thinking it through. That made him sound rude and he apologized immediately for that, but this trait made him seem more relatable. And it is understood well enough during the part where the characters talk about their vulnerabilities and Kell’s like,” I don’t have any?” but then it’s revealed accidentally🤠(clichĂ© I know, but it’s so cute and well written)
Kellyn and Ziva’s chemistry was so captivating and passionate. I admired how he was so gentle with her, and also believed in her when she didn’t believe in herself. Theirs was an insta love jsvdgdbdb (the trope which I heartily dislike), but somehow Tricia developed their relationship so beautifully that I overlooked that. And can we talk about that KISS??!? hello, that was one of the most beautiful sequences in this book. *swoon-worthy*
Their banters were so entertaining too!!! This brings me to our fourth main character, Petrik.
He is the scholar who accompanies them on the run, he was so cute lol. Kellyn and his conversations were hilariously engaging.
The writing and the plot:
The writing was so engaging, it made me fall in love with these characters and their adventure. It’s an unpopular opinion but I like road trips/runaways in fantasy books. So, it was all the more reason to adore this book. The plot is also running smoothly along with the romance and individual character development. And the second half made up for the uneventfulness of the first. I’ll be honest, from the first few chapters I thought it would just be a silly story in terms of plot (nothing much intense or dramatic) but boy was I proved wrong! It got so much better in the second half with the action, new characters, and revelations. Again the credit goes to writing, it was fast-paced, nicely written, exhilarating, and balanced with good execution of all the familiar tropes we see in fantasy books.
Final thoughts:
I read Blade of Secrets and fell in love with this story completely!
So, if you need a YA book that is a fast-paced story with brave & memorable characters, good social anxiety representation, and an engaging romance then this one is a good choice!
And can we get the sequel sooner? I cannot wait I want to know if everyone is safe! (Yes, it ends on a cliffhanger)