The Broken Oath, a review

Booktube’s amazing Pablo Suarez, who is somehow making content whilst getting his medical degree, is making the rest of us seem even less productive because he’s also writing a book!

There’s no cover here this time round because I was actually lucky enough to be asked by Pablo to beta read his book. So the cover is yet to be revealed!

Edit: the cover has been revealed!!!

This is a fantasy novella that is set within an expanded universe, and oh boy does Pablo write a good fantasy. Also. Also. He uses his medical knowledge all through this book which really expands out the worldbuilding and it was so so interesting seeing him create magical medicine knowing that he has the technical background for it all? It’s honestly amazing.

We follow a few different POVs in this novella. One is of a young boy who is from the poor sector who has, thanks to a favour being called in, been learning about medicine in an apprenticeship with a very grumpy tutor. We also follow a woman who had been involved in a revolution. She’s not entirely trusted by those currently in power, and for good reason.

Despite this book being short, it’s a novella, I was so invested in the characters. Some of my feedback to Pablo was simply me CAP LOCKS SHOUTING from revelations and the plot impacting the characters.

Honestly I am so excited for anything and everything Pablo writes in the future. Please please check out Pablo’s YouTube channel so that you can see whenever he publishes The Broken Oath and any other books.

On CAWPILE I rated this: Characters: 8, Atmosphere: 8, Writing: 7, Plot: 9, Intrigue: 8, Logic: 9, Enjoyment: 8 which gives an average score of 8.14 and a 4.5* rating!

I was fully engrossed in this book and was so excited to come back to it each day and I’m really excited to pick this up when it’s published!! I honestly didn’t expect to love this quite so much, but I’m so so glad that I did!!

Highlight here for trigger warnings: blood, surgery, death, death of a parent, explosions, murder.

Every Heart a Doorway, a review

I’ve been hearing people talk about this on the Bookternet pretty much since I joined the community! So when I was able to grab the audiobook version, and with how short it is!, I knew I needed to read it.

I listened to the audiobook of this while I was at work. Yes I’m very lucky that I have a job where I can do that. Despite how short it is I was connected with the characters so quickly!! I was really invested in their happiness and loved seeing some of them blossom.

The “twist” I don’t think is intended as one because I had guessed it well before it happened. As in from probably around half way through. But I still loved reading about (listening to?) how the characters reacted and how their relationships changed. This is such a great little book and I see why so many people rave about it now!

On CAWPILE I rated this: Characters: 8, Atmosphere: 8, Writing: 7, Plot: 7, Intrigue: 8, Logic: 7, Enjoyment: 7, giving an average of 7.43, which is a 4* rating.

This is such a charming novella and I love the concept. I’m hoping I can pick up more of these books (I’ll be hunting for the audio) to continue with the series!

The Dawn Chorus – a review

Book 3.5 in The Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon, I picked this up after reading The Song Rising and The Pale Dreamer as it was the last unread book left before I picked up The Mask Falling!

Coming in at 92 pages it was just a short read, but wow did I love it!

Of course with this being so far through a series I can’t say all that much. What I can say is that this covers the transitional gap between books 3 and 4, and it does so really well. You don’t need to read it before you continue on with the series, but for big fans it adds an extra dimension to the world and the characters that I really appreciated.

Whilst there is some discussion of larger overall events, this novella is really focused on the relationship between two main characters. Due to events they spend a lot of time together and seeing this develop through the novella was so much fun to read, and for once Samantha Shannon wasn’t torturing her characters! A mini between book break for us all!

For my CAWPILE rating I gave:

• characters: 10
• atmosphere: 9
• writing: 9
• plot: 9
• intrigue: 9
• logic: 10
• enjoyment: 9

Which totalled at 9.29, a solid 5* read that I really enjoyed!

Highlight here to see trigger warnings: abuse, PTSD, torture, trauma

I really recommend picking up this little novella if you like The Bone Season series. In English it’s only available in ebook format, so that’s how I read it. But I believe there’s a little paperback version that’s published in Polish! This is such a wonderful little slot of time with our faves and a nice rest between two heartbreaking books!

The Pale Dreamer – a review

Another short book from the beginning of the year! I was determined I was going to catch up on The Bone Season series and this was the next step after reading The Song Rising at the end of 2020. I ended up reading all 90 pages in one day and I absolutely adored getting to see more into the world that Samantha Shannon has built.

This prequel follows a 16 year old Paige (who is 19 at the start of the main series) who has recently started working for Jaxon Hall, one of the most notorious mime-lords. She wants to prove her worth to him as the newest member and the latest event in the underworld is the perfect chance for her to do so, but of course this won’t go as smoothly as she’d like.

This is a fantastic novella, it provides another dimension to the relationship between Paige and the others within the underworld, both working with Jaxon and against him. It makes Paige’s reasoning for her decisions in The Bone Season much more understandable and explains the connection and the debt she feels towards Jaxon. It also gives us some more insight into the relationship between Paige and Nick, and also Paige and Eliza. These details feed throughout the entire series, and I’ve noticed threads of them in even the most recent book so it’s wonderful to see them here!

All in all this is a lovely little novella that I really wouldn’t miss out on if you’re a fan of The Bone Season. It adds dimension to the world that isn’t necessarily needed but is wonderful to have and it really deepens your connection to Paige and the others. So of course I rated this 5*!