Take a photo of a barcode or cover
buffyreads 's review for:
The Shattered Lands
by Brenna Nation
The Good
To get it out of the way: No, this book does NOT have the reverse racism trope I think some white reviews think "If black, powerful, and evil then reverse racism trope." When that's not what that means. I don't think people who commented that finished the book. I'm glad I read this book despite these warnings. Sapphire is lovely, smart, and patient. I love that she knew how to play people and did it in subtle ways. I read this book specifically for a black wlw main character and got a great one. I really felt she was good balance between the usual too sweet protagonists or the super badass protagonist. I was more invested in the plot than I thought was going to be. There was some dragging in the middle but it was worth it.
The Bad
I feel as though that Sapphire's blackness wasn't felt in this book. Which, this being written by a white author is to be expected. Sapphire could've been white and her characterization would have been exactly the same. I think when writing characters of color, especially main characters, there is a way to insert blackness into them without also writing stereotypes. I do appreciate this author's respectful approach to writing characters of color but it's missing an essential ingredient.
The romance aspect was lackluster. I think for a book with the couple on the cover and heavily used as the lead promotional factor of this story, you would think it would be a large part of the book. At 50% of the book they have only briefly interacted with each other and while it did aid the plot, no relationship has built. Their interactions then were full of banter that felt hallow. Ashes has valid reasons to dislike Sapphire because of her position but Sapphire is only negative back because of Ashes hatred for her. Their interactions weren't full of tension, it felt flat and repetitive.
The ending was really unsatisfactory. I felt lost as confused as the main character. I can't make heads or tails of what's true or not and it's not confusing in a "I want answers way" it's exhausting in a "I'm glad that's over way.
Format:
Ebook
The Rating
I give this book a 3/5
To get it out of the way: No, this book does NOT have the reverse racism trope I think some white reviews think "If black, powerful, and evil then reverse racism trope." When that's not what that means. I don't think people who commented that finished the book. I'm glad I read this book despite these warnings. Sapphire is lovely, smart, and patient. I love that she knew how to play people and did it in subtle ways. I read this book specifically for a black wlw main character and got a great one. I really felt she was good balance between the usual too sweet protagonists or the super badass protagonist. I was more invested in the plot than I thought was going to be. There was some dragging in the middle but it was worth it.
The Bad
I feel as though that Sapphire's blackness wasn't felt in this book. Which, this being written by a white author is to be expected. Sapphire could've been white and her characterization would have been exactly the same. I think when writing characters of color, especially main characters, there is a way to insert blackness into them without also writing stereotypes. I do appreciate this author's respectful approach to writing characters of color but it's missing an essential ingredient.
The romance aspect was lackluster. I think for a book with the couple on the cover and heavily used as the lead promotional factor of this story, you would think it would be a large part of the book. At 50% of the book they have only briefly interacted with each other and while it did aid the plot, no relationship has built. Their interactions then were full of banter that felt hallow. Ashes has valid reasons to dislike Sapphire because of her position but Sapphire is only negative back because of Ashes hatred for her. Their interactions weren't full of tension, it felt flat and repetitive.
The ending was really unsatisfactory. I felt lost as confused as the main character. I can't make heads or tails of what's true or not and it's not confusing in a "I want answers way" it's exhausting in a "I'm glad that's over way.
Format:
Ebook
The Rating
I give this book a 3/5