The Unbroken is a North-African inspired sapphic fantasy with a central theme of colonialism. My expectations were high with that kind of promising tagline, and it generally didn't disappoint!
My favourite aspect of the story was the nuanced and thought-provoking discussions about colonialism, rebellion and ruling. This is particularly clear in Touraine and the 'Sands', who will never be equal to the colonisers but no longer feel like their home countries are home. There was no easy way out for either Touraine or Luca, and the stakes are consistently high with real consequences for their actions (which are sometimes painful to read because there are many bad decisions made, but you understand why they did it). Touraine and Luca's relationship itself felt slightly underdeveloped and I didn't feel particularly invested in it, but it served to explore those themes and expose their true loyalties. Sometimes, especially at the end, character's actions didn't align with their thoughts and felt out of place with the rest of the book, but for the most part the characters were developed and complex. The plot was intricate and unpredictable, and the pacing felt fairly slow but packed with political intrigue. The magic was another interesting addition to the story that I think will be revealed more in the sequel. I'm going to have to wait a while, but I'm excited to see where the rest of the series goes!

The Unbroken is set in a queernorm North African inspired fantasy world, where Balladaire –a French style nation– has expanded and colonised Qazāl, a desert city, banning their religion as uncivilised, taking advantage of their people for menial labour, and stealing their children to raise them as soldiers for the empire. This is where Touraine, one of our main characters, comes in. She was born in Quazāl but at five years old was taken by the Balladairans and trained to be a soldier. She was given an education, and she rose in the ranks of the “Sands”, as the conscripts from Balladaire’s colonies are called, to become a lieutenant. She believes that if she works hard enough, and proves her loyalty, she can rise even further and gain recognition and prestige for her troop.

Now, however, Touraine and her soldiers have been shipped out to her homeland to maintain order in an environment full of tension; rebels are growing bolder, and the death of the Balladairan king who first added Qazāl to the empire has thrown the balance of power. This is why princess Luca Ancier, the king’s daughter, has also travelled to Qazāl; she needs to reestablish control over the colony to give her regent uncle no reason to deny her the throne. When she arrives however, an attempt on her life will lead her to Touraine, and they will find that they need one another to reach their goals.

It is an absolutely wild ride, let me tell you! I don’t generally read military fantasies, but the amount of praise this book has already generated from fellow reviewers and other genre authors made me want to read it, and I’m so glad I did. It’s beautifully executed. It has a diverse and well-rounded cast, with Touraine and Luca being the two point of view characters (third person, past tense narration, for those of you who like to know). However, I will say that you should not go into it lightly. This is a story of war, rebellion, and imperialism, and not everyone will live to see the other side.

There is a lot that goes on in this book, and a lot of the time I found myself groaning as either Luca or Touraine did something stupid that had terrible consequences (which would usually turn me off of a story), but it all felt very in-character, and I loved watching their relationship develop. Touraine, with her strategy and soldier training, and her beautifully muscular arms (I definitely stared at the cover of this book far too long), and Luca with her academics, idealism, and desire for power. Not to mention the fact that one woman is the product of the colonialism of the other’s family. They definitely butt heads, and yet there is also a respect and tenderness there that I really enjoyed reading.

The themes tackled in The Unbroken are incredibly contemporary; the effects of colonialism and forced cultural integration, the dismantling of religion and the question of faith, the value of human life over the continued wealth of those already in power… It was particularly interesting for me to read the nuances of the dispossessed characters in this story; Touraine and her “Sands” are not from Balladaire, and yet they have been given a Balladairan-focused education, have been stripped of their first language, and have been beaten out of their faith. When they return to Qazāl they do not relate to the locals, but those born in Balladaire will never see them as equal. As a person who has lived in a few different countries by choice, it is already hard to reconcile cultural identities, so I can only imagine a sliver of what it must be like for those who have no say in the matter. This is actually addressed in the book too, which was really interesting; some of the children of Balladairans who live in Qazāl have grown up there their entire lives, and they too struggle to know where they fit in. Clark has created a complex, chaotic world that feels incredibly real.

There are so many other things I could say about this book! There are so many little details I picked up, and I know that on my next read I’ll notice even more. My favourite detail has to be grief rings, which people wear to commemorate lost loved ones, generally spouses or children from what I understood. I don’t know if this has any equivalent in a real world culture, but it was something that really struck me. I also thoroughly appreciated that one of the characters is a bookseller, and he was probably my favourite minor character. Go Saïd!

Overall, a stellar debut, and I will be eagerly awaiting book two in the Magic of the Lost series. I hope we get to explore a little more of the map, and perhaps see a bit more of the magic.

I loved the way this book was written, I love dual perspectives and this didn't disappoint. However, it did take some time for me to get into the book, it wasn't until I was about 30% of the way through that I really connected and couldn't put this down. This is because the first few chapters felt like scene setting, we were getting to know Touraine and some of her fellow conscripts (aka the Sands), her relationships with those in power and her thought process. This book does start with a bang despite my lack of connection at the start: we see Touraine in action and we get to watch as that one action eventually decides her fate.

What I definitely loved most of about this book though was the way it discussed colonialism and focusssed on its affects on language, faith, culture, loyalty and relationships. We get to see Touraine essentially deprogram herself from the Balladairan mindset and start thinking and feeling and making decisions for herself and her people. We see as she struggles with her loyalty and her heart and faith in a system that was never made to be fair.

Then there was Luca. The coloniser... but somehow a sympathetic one. Luca's need to get her Throne really colours her perceptions and actions to a point and while I do get it, I was always far more interested in Touraine and her crew!

Another bit I loved and SO wished played a bigger part in the story was the magic! The idea that magic can be harnesed by anyone, including a lowly soldier, stolen from a home she can't remember, programmed to be loyal to the hand that fed her and taught that magic was used by barbarians only... made the magic all the more interesting when it eventually appeared. I loved the idea that faith and magic were intertwined and connected because when you spend your whole life faithless, faith in an unknown entity isn't easy.

I would rate this 4.5 stars

“It’s in our nature to doubt. The key to faith is standing by someone anyway.”

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark is a North African inspired military fantasy and is the first book in the Magic of the Lost series. This story follows two main characters, Touraine, an army conscript from the faction “Sands”, and the princess Luca from Balladaire, trying to prove that she can lead the kingdom and take the throne.

The Unbroken is a fascinating fantasy story, which deals with some thought-provoking themes, such as colonialism, identity, faith and loyalty. Clark masterfully displays the effects of colonisation on people’s identity, hopes and culture. Furthermore, the reader is reminded of our past's historical realities and why colonisation is still affecting people to this day. Clark also focuses on the complexity of faith and how our experiences can weaken our faith in a religion. This book's themes make this a compelling and important read, and Clark deserves credit for dealing with these issues in such a powerful manner.

Moreover, Tourraine and Luca are terrific characters with depth and complex interests and motivations. While Tourraine struggles with her identity and her war experiences, Luca is a nobility with a privileged background. By making these two characters work together, the plot frequently takes on twists to keep the reader engaged.

My main criticism is the pacing in the first half of the book. I struggled with connecting with the characters and the world for the first 200’ish pages. Furthermore, this story takes place in quite a depressing world (which is intentional), making this a difficult read for me. Although the story is set in a harsh setting, I would have wanted some more lighthearted moments to help the readers push through the whole story. The serious tone made this book a bit dispiriting to read at times.

However, this book's second half is sensational, with high stakes, betrayal, epic world-building, and intense fight scenes. I am happy that I kept reading because Clark rewards the reader in the second half.
In conclusion, The Unbroken is a unique and important fantasy book that deals with issues such as colonialism and the complexity of faith and identity. Furthermore, Luca and Touraine are memorable characters. Although the first half of the book is a bit slow, the second half is phenomenal!

4 / 5 stars.

Thanks to Orbit Books and NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

It’s not that I disliked The Unbroken, it’s just that I think my expectations were raised a little too high so that when I actually started reading it, it just couldn’t live up to them and I was left feeling a little disappointed.

There’s nothing really wrong with the book. It’s strongest point is the world that Clark has created and I absolutely loved that aspect of it. The world is heavily inspired by French occupied North Africa and it deals with all of the issues that come with Colonialism in a very interesting way.

The story is split between two characters: Touraine, a woman ripped from her home at a young age and forced to be a soldier and Luca, the rightful heir to the throne of the nation who is oppressing Touraine’s home. She is fighting against her uncle and trying to quell a rebellion. I found Touraine to be the more interesting of the two characters. Despite the burgeoning romance between the two, I did find some of Luca’s actions to lean a little too hard on the white saviour side of things, especially when she buys Touraine to stop her from being executed. I did find it hard to root for her on occasion, especially when she was making some stupid decisions.

I’m going to be honest here and say that the thing that I didn’t like the most about The Unbroken is that it is rather boring. After the very interesting opening, the next three hundred or so pages were an absolutely slog to get through and it only picked up again towards the end. Maybe military fantasy just isn’t for me because talk of tactics bored the living daylights out of me and just made the already allow story feel like it was lasting forever.

The Unbroken is a book that a lot of people are going to love. It has a unique and interesting world and it is highly diverse but I just found the story to be rather boring for most of the page count. Clark writes well but the pacing could do with some improving. It’s not a bad book, it just wasn’t for me since I found the heavily military plot to be dull and it didn’t grab me at all. The characters were fine, although their romance moved a little too quickly and felt a little forced. Like I said, it isn’t a bad book, it just isn’t for me.

According to her author bio, Clark has a keen interest in post-colonial history, and this really shows in her writing. She has conceived engaging characters whose unique experiences serve to explore the complex fallout of colonialism from contrasting–but not necessarily polarised–points of view. This alone makes The Unbroken a worthy edition to fantasy shelves already packed with tales of invasion.

Cleverly crafted characters and complex relationships really lifted this story for me. Unlike many of the southern soldiers who secretly pray to forbidden gods and hold on to the hope that they will one day return home, Touraine plans to use her time back in Qazāl to earn a promotion and prove to Balladairan society that the Sands are ‘civilised’. Even when a Qazāli rebel recognises her face as similar to her lost mother’s, she judges the rebels harshly and discourages any sympathy for their cause. Her reality is certainly challenged throughout the book as circumstances and relationships change, but it is not an easy journey for her.

Then there’s Luca who claims she has the people’s best interest at heart, yet believes in her father’s legacy which was to break the Shālan Empire and subjugate its people. Luca is not always likeable, but she’s a fantastic POV character. I enjoyed the insight into her strategies and motivations, which made it easier to understand her. Fantasy books sometimes portray royals as distant and cold, perhaps cracking a window into their inner moral struggle and vulnerability, but I liked this more intimate take.

‘Flawed characters’ is a favourite phrase used by us bloggers to describe books with emotional depth, but in The Unbroken, I would simply describe them as angry. And justifiably so. There is not one relationship in this book that isn’t fraught with tension, often stemming from differing schools of thought. Yet almost all of the characters are relatable, and their decisions–good or bad–are usually understandable.

I loved the subtle use of magic in this novel, and how it is so closely tied with Shālan identity and beliefs; it’s the one thing that Balladair can’t take away from them, and like the hope that the rebels hold on to, it’s a powerful thing. I would like to have understood the magic a little more by the end of the book but I’m confident Clark will build on this in the next instalment.

Perhaps the only reservation I had about the story was the romance. It didn’t feel quite believable, though I understand what the author was getting at, connecting two characters who are outsiders with feelings of inadequacy. I think this relationship would have been just as interesting, and perhaps more relatable if it were a fragile friendship.

The Unbroken reflects its stunningly illustrated Tommy Arnold cover as a story about gritty characters determined to make their mark on the world.

Big thanks to Orbit and Netgalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The Unbroken, by CL Clark is an incredibly human and raw adult fantasy that is heart-wrenching and powerful.
4.75 Stars

Synopsis: The Balladairan Empire has long since colonised the land of Qazāl and oppressed it’s people. Touraine, a child stolen from Qazāl and trained to kill for Balladaire has only ever known her fellow conscripts, soldiers, as family. But when her company is sent to deal with the rebels in Qazāl, Touraine struggles with where she belongs and who she is.

Luca is the Princess of Balladaire, a Princess fighting for her rightful place on the throne. Luca needs to control Qazāl and quell the rebellion, and to do it she needs someone desperate enough to help her form a peace between Balladaire and the rebels.

As Touraine and Luca struggle to keep the peace, they come to realise the price of peace might be higher than they expect. And with lives on the line, they must determine what and who are worth the cost.

CW/TW: Threats of rape/past attempted rape/threats of torture/gore/mutilation/executions/public hanging/colonisation/colonial violence/ableism.

Rep: Queernormative society/LGBTQ+ rep/Poc rep/disabled rep

The Unbroken, by CL Clark is a phenomenal, gritty and hard-hitting fantasy that is a story of the horrors of colonisations and its effects on the community, family and identity of those oppressed by power hungry Empires.

The Writing/Narrative: Clark’s prose is captivating and powerful. Clark‘s writing is extraordinary, they manage to perfectly balance the outright and blatant horrors of oppression and colonisation alongside a more nuanced approach of how this impacts the individual characters and their identity, the broad and nuanced expressions of the themes are perfectly entwined to create a story full of depth and emotion. The prose is raw and passionate from start to finish, laced with emotion and tension that ranges from the internal to the external. Moreover, Clark’s descriptions are rich and vivid, creating striking scenes that are absorbing and engaging, and their characters are complex and dynamic. From the political scenes to the action, she captures you with it all, from the tricky details to the heart-stopping risks. The pace of the book does build slowly, however, this works wonderfully with the story, and there is enough action woven into the slower star to keep you engaged and to keep the plot moving. I liked the slow build to the story, it worked well to establish the characters, the Empire and specifically Touraine who is a complex mc that needed this build up for us to engage with her throughout the story.

The novel has two main narratives running through it: Touraine’s which follows her as conscript and soldier, and Luca’s which follows her as Princess and heir to the Balladairan Empire. Both narrative perspectives work incredibly well with the story and perfectly match the plot and pacing. Touraine’s narrative gives us insight into the ‘Sands’ and the action, and Luca’s gives us insight into the politics and royalty of the Empire. The narratives complimented each other well, had strong and distinct voices and allowed us a lot of insight into different sides of the story, while also maintaining tension, suspense and mystery throughout the book and thus they aided the pace of the story nicely.

The Plot/Story/Magic: The Unbroken has an incredibly engaging and heart-breaking plot that keeps you engaged from start to finish. I believe the story is North-African inspired and the Empire seems to have French inspirations – the plot is centered around the Balladairan Empire and its colonisation of the Qazāl. Balladaire colonised Qazāl, stole its children, and trained them to become soldiers (termed ‘Sands’) who fight for the Empire. The overarching plot is that of oppression and the rebels who fight back – this was executed phenomenally and Clark seamlessly tackles the issues of colonisation, racism, systemic abuse and white-privilege throughout the story while also balancing the individual characters, the politics and the smaller scale plot elements. The story is heart-breaking and one of family, freedom and identity.

Touraine is a conscript, stolen from Qazāl, who is now being sent back with her soldiers to help fight the rebels. Touraine’s story is complex and heartbreaking – she goes through one of the biggest personal journeys over the course of the book. Touraine’s story starts with her being sent back to Qazāl, she is loyal to the Empire believing she can still become respected if she rises through the ranks – she feels no ties to Qazāl having been taken at such a young age that she doesn’t recognise it nor remember the language. As Touraine’s life becomes tangled with Luca and the rebels, she begins to see that maybe the Empire really is oppressive and cruel. I loved Touraine’s storyline but it is a painful journey full of emotion and conflict. Touraine’s storyline is complex and multi-dimensional, and it kicks off by diving straight into the brutality of this world in two ways. Firstly the opening conversation immediately sets a heart-breaking tone of loss and absence with the conscripts (“Sands”) discussing Qazāl as home – Touraine, feeling no ties due to being taken at such a young age, claims it isn’t home at all. This immediately builds tension between those who remember Qazāl and Touraine but also sets the tone for the rest of the book – it illustrates how easily the Balladairan Empire erased Touraine’s identity and turned her into a loyal soldier. It is a powerful opening scene that perfectly sets up for Touraine’s character and development over the course of the book.

Secondly, the brutality of the Empire is then shown in action, with the rebels committing their first act since the conscripts arrival. To avoid spoilers I won’t detail this too much but the cruel nature of ‘justice’ is quickly shown and the cruel side of the Balladairan ‘education’ given to the conscripts is shown through Touraine’s loyalty and blind obedience. Clark does an incredible job at showing the widespread and individual effects of colonisation through action scenes and violence but also through simple conversation and this is maintained throughout the whole book. Touraine’s story is full of twists and turns arising from uncertainty – she makes many questionable and harmful decisions that, as a reader will be frustrating, but the motivation behind these actions and how it ties into Touraine’s conflict of where she truly belongs makes these decisions understandable and while still a bit frustrating, it is more painful because we are seeing her struggle.

Touraine’s story is highly personal but we also get a broad scope from her narrative, insight into the conscripts (her family and friends), insight into the nobility through Luca, and insight into the rebels through the work towards peace. I loved Touraine’s links to all of these separate strands and found it worked incredibly well having her tie it all together. All three elements were interesting and intriguing, I enjoyed the dynamic with the rebels, and with Luca – all of which helped build a brilliant and complex story.

Luca’s story is much more political and aided Touraine’s narrative wonderfully. Luca, the Princess, is fighting to get her uncle off the throne, peacefully, so she can take her rightful place. To do this she must prove herself by dealing with the rebels in Qazāl. Luca’s aim is to do this through peace, which initially sounds fantastic, but her peace still keeps them under the Balladairan Empire’s control – and Luca is after something more too. Luca’s story is interesting because in some ways she is admirable, her strength comes from her intelligence (particularly as she is often seen a less than capable due to her disability – she uses a cane). I loved how Luca was in her head forming plot after plot, it made her narrative incredibly interesting. However, Luca’s story is complex because the politics is fantastically written and engaging, but Luca is Princess to the Empire that colonised the Qazāl, and while she seemingly frowns on their cruel treatment, she only steps in when it will help her. Not only that she has dubious goals that speak to her ignorance of the pain colonisation causes because though she makes effort to aide those her Empire exploits, she still wishes to take more from them. Luca’s story leads to some interesting changes on her part, particularly as she develops a relationship with Touraine.

The romance between Touraine and Luca is subtle, more angst and suppression than anything (though there are some heart-racing moments!) but I actually like this for this book. I think it worked well because at this point in time Touraine doesn’t know where she belongs and Luca is too obsessed with her throne and other goals. I loved the dynamic between them and thought the relationship between them worked well with the wider story.

Finally, the magic. Clark does an incredible job at subtly weaving the magic into the story – it is not the focus because religion has been banned by the Empire, but it is there and present in a nuanced way that worked really well. The Qazāl have magic, though we don’t learn how, why or what it is until later. However, you do learn it in little pieces that slowly tie together, and the more you learn the more interesting it is. I frankly adored the magic system that exists in this book and liked its subtle presence and how it comes into play in bigger ways over the course of the story. I can’t say much about it because of spoilers but the magic and beliefs behind it are incredibly rich and woven into the story so well that you don’t even realise how much there is too it until you think back!

Overall, the story/plot/magic is all fantastic and so well constructed, the themes are perfectly explored both broadly and in a more individualised way, the narratives perfectly compliment each other, the scope is perfect and allows for tension and suspense and the magic is woven into the story perfectly. Honestly I could go on and on about the plot but I wont because you just need to read it!

Characters. Every single character in this book is absolutely amazing, well built and dynamic, even all the side characters are incredibly distinctive and well crafted. The story consists of multiple LGBTQ+ characters, PoC characters, disabled rep and the society is queernormative. There are A LOT of characters, so I’m just going to focus on the MC’s of the book because you simply need to meet the rest by reading because they are all fantastic.

Touraine. Touraine is a fantastic character who happens to make lots of terrible decisions. Touraine is quick, strong, and smart in her own way, though naive about the Empire and it takes her a while to see the truth. She develops well over the course of the book, and her relationships with the other characters are complex and realistic. Touraine can be frustrating but her story is raw and emotional, and her decisions make sense in the context of the story and her personality. She is such a hard character to explain because she is so human, Clark did an incredibly job giving us a raw, realistic character who has suffered and doesn’t see just how much she has. One thing I particularly liked was that Touraine is a soldier who will keep fighting for those she loves but she has symptoms of her suffering – Touraine exhibits panic attacks and the way she deals with them is written very well and draws on actual ways of dealing with them (i.e counting what you can see, smell etc…) this little detail is so important and was done very well. I love this character for so many reasons. (Also yes I have joined the TOURAINE’S ARMS crew!)

Luca. Luca, the Princess, was a character I loved but also was frustrated with at times. Firstly though, she is our physically disabled character who uses a cane (I didn’t know this book had disabled rep so I was pleasantly surprised.) Luca’s chronic pain in her legs, the weakness she feels, all of it was written incredibly well and I was thrilled (I was also thrilled that she turned to other strengths and didn’t become obsessed about being healed). Ok, moving on! Luca is incredibly clever and manipulative, she is a master of many plots, though she can be impulsive which leads to others being harmed. Luca was interesting because she did seem to want peace and did not like the cruel exploitation of the Qazāl but as part of the colonising Empire she didn’t exactly want their freedom, and she made some bad decisions regarding the Qazāl making her frustrating. However, this portrayal was perfect because Luca is privileged and lived a grand life supported by this exploitation so her ignorance to its harms was realistic and handled well. Her development is interesting over the course of the book too.

As I said, all the side characters are also amazing, I particularly loved the mother-daughter relationship that is explored throughout the book which was devastating and complex. I loved the band of rebels, the conscripts were interesting and the nobility had its fair share of intriguing characters. Not to mention some characters that I seriously wanted Touraine to murder outright (The first is him, the creepy, sickening, spine-chilling man who struts around the conscripts, when you meet him you will know. The second a noble who I wanted to bash around the head – and yes you will know when you meet him too.) Anyway, Other well built characters to look out for are Pruett, Tibeau, the General, and all the rebels (and more!).

Overall. This book is an amazing read with a gritty complex and hard-hitting story full of raw and realistic characters, interesting magic and a phenomenal world. I loved this book, it was well paced with beautiful prose that will keep you engaged from start to finish.

I highly recommend this to everyone who loves military fantasy! Readers will love this if you liked/are interested in The Jasmine Throne, by Tasha Suri and She Who Became The Sun, by Shelley Parker-Chan.

*I received an eARC via #Netgalley from @Orbitbooks in exchange for an honest review! Thank you so much for the eARC! *

It's hard to get my thoughts into a straight line to review "The Unbroken". It is dark. It is violent. It had me in tears more than once. It is quite possibly the most beautifully written book I have ever read. I want to read it again and again and again. I want the next book in the series. I want hardback and paperback and ebook copies. Yes. I loved it that much. It's a cracking good story, too - please read this book!!

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Summary: The Unbroken by C.L. Clark is a biting, tumultuous, tension-filled tale about a soldier trapped between two worlds and belonging in neither, and princess trying to prove herself in an impossible situation. It’s a suitably messy take on colonialism, rebellion, lust and power, but that messiness often makes it difficult to completely connect with the story.

Recommended for those looking for a messy Sapphic romance
Not recommended if you like plots to be tied up neatly and follow traditional structures
Recommended for those wanting to ready fantasy set in an African-inspired setting
Not recommended if you can’t handle protagonists making many stupid decisions
Touraine, our first POV, is a conscript, stolen from her home at a young age, forced into military service for the Ballairdans . Her company (known derogatorily as Sands) are mistreated, despised and marginalised, and only allowed weapons when situations require. In the novel they are sent back to the city of her origin, to help quell the building rebellion. Touraine is a conflicted character in the best way. Her training has made her want to be the perfect Ballairdan soldier, but the longer she spends in the city, the more she realises she will never be accepted by the country that stole her away. The only thing she does have are her fellow Sands, and they are in increasingly more danger as the rebellion looms.

Then there’s Luca, the other POV. Luca is a princess being blocked from inheriting the throne of Balladaire by her uncle, the current steward. She has come to the same city as Touraine to quell the rebellion, and prove herself to those who would back her claim to the throne. An old injury has left her partially crippled in one leg, and she is determined to find more about the area’s hidden magic, magic that might prevent another plague like the one that killed her parents.

The setting in this novel is incredibly well realised. The city of Qazal, the melting pot of people who live there, its architecture, food, culture, all come together wonderfully to give a picture of a place of deep history, and it’s truly fascinating to see the two protagonists uncover events of the not too distant past.

Clark has come out swinging in this debut with a very distinctive style that feels very punchy and tactile, although I found this occasionally veered into something more terse than I might have liked. The plot zips along, with not much time to ruminate on things before a new event sends things shooting in a different direction. Whether you enjoy this or not is very much down to personal taste, and I definitely found this worked better for me in the second half of the book than in the first.

For the characters – I like Touraine – her inner conflict stirs a lot of powerful feelings, and the things those feelings drive her to do are always understandable, even if those choices have terrible implications for the people around her. I do feel like we didn’t get enough of her interactions with the Sands – her loyalty to them drives a lot of her actions, but they often feel like an afterthought in the plot, with exceptions.

Luca however is a different matter. On face value, she’s a fairly cliched character. The bookish princess in a foreign land trying to prove herself in an impossible situation. Unlike the usual way this goes though, she’s kind of terrible at it, and finds it distressingly easy to use people as tools to her own end, more so as the book continues. At a certain point, it’s hard to want to see her succeed, despite her partially noble goals and initial wish to reduce the suffering of the native Qazali. I think this was purposeful by the author, and I definitely applaud Clark’s refusal to take the easy way out, even if the end result made me start to dread reading another Luca section.

The crucial relationship in this book is the one between Luca and Touraine, a fraught and complex relationship full of ups and downs throughout. Whether or not the book works for you or not will probably hang closely to how much you buy into their relationship. And, well, it didn’t quite work for me. I found that certain feelings seemed more heightened than I would expect given the timeframes and what we were shown on the page, and unfortunately that made some events have less impact later on in the plot (although the overall climax was a very strong showing).

The Unbroken is a very hard book for me to rate. It’s messy, and powerful, characters repeatedly make terrible, yet understandable decisions, and there’s a constant feeling of dissonance between the two protagonists and the setting they are in. It’s a bold and adventurous book that, for me, doesn’t always hit the mark. I would recommend this book for those looking for epic fantasy that’s different to the norm, and people who want to see characters in messy, no-win situations.

Rating: 7/10

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an advanced copy in exchange of a honest review!

TW: violence, gore, attempted rape, torture.

This book is military fantasy set in a North African inspired country called Qazal, which has been colonized by another country across the sea (France inspired, heh), Balladaire. It follows two main characters: Touraine, a lieutenant in Balladaire’s conscript army, who, like the rest of her company, has been born in Qazal but taken by Balladairans as a child, to train and serve the metropole; and Luca, the princess of Balladaire, who is trying to get her throne back from her uncle regent’s hands. To do so, Luca needs to show her people that she is fit to rule, so she is sent to Qazal to stop the rising rebellion among the colonized people. To Touraine and the rest of the conscripts’ company (called “Sands” by the Balladairans), this means returning home after a lifetime away, but to follow officers’ orders to oppress their people, like they have been oppressed in the metropole.
The Unbroken deals with the repercussion of colonialism, and what it means to have your identity stripped away from you. It also deals with what you’re willing to do to have more power – do the ends justify the means to get it? And it’s not an easy read. The characters are flawed, and they make mistakes that cost a lot. But, at the same time, what makes this story so compelling is how the author makes you sympathize with these flawed characters. Both points of view are extremely fleshed out, and I could feel their pain, their helplessness and their desires. In a conflict like this, there is no easy way out, and they know it.
My favorite character, no doubt, was Touraine (and her arms, which are a character themselves). Throughout the book, she is struck with the feeling of not belonging anywhere – not with the people who took her from her home, and not with the people she was taken from –, and it’s heartbreaking and yet so true to so many people. She struggled so much in this book, but her development was just amazing to witness. Her relationship with the other Qazali (especially the Jackal) was one of the highest points of the book to me. I just need her to be happy.
And Luca… oh, Luca. HOW I WANTED TO HATE HER, but I don’t. She is smart and does have a big heart, but she also has her own ambitions, and she’s not willing to let go of them. Her journey in this book left me oscillating between frustration, hope and rage, and, well, it was everything that I wanted to feel while reading a book that follows a monarch. I think the author truly nailed it with her point of view, because her struggles were palpable and I could understand where her every action came from, even though I didn’t agree with them.
The politics machinations and the action scenes were chef’s kiss. I admit that I struggled a bit to truly dive into this universe, but it was more because of the dark themes than the writing or the narrative. Also, against my expectations, the book wasn’t too heavy on romance, but I was glad for it (because it would have crushed my heart even more). The pull that both Touraine and Luca have towards each other is undeniable, and it was amazing to read about, because we can see how they affect each other's points of view – sometimes for the best, sometimes for the worst. I loved all of their interactions, especially as Touraine got bolder enough to confront Luca about the things she was pretending not to see.
With an amazing worldbuilding and magic system, the author set the stakes really high, and by the end I was not disappointed at all. I can’t wait to see what the second book holds for these characters. Hopefully many hugs, because they certainly need it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Unbroken is an adult high fantasy following Touraine, a soldier serving in the military of the empire that stole her from her homeland as a child and trained her to kill, and Luca a princess being held from her throne by her regent uncle until she’s able to prove herself capable of ruling. They are both sent under duty to Qazal, a desert city, to crush a rebellion.

The plot in here initially seems fairly standard for high fantasy, a royal in political turmoil and a soldier dispatched to shut down a rebellion, however, it’s Touraine (and her fellow conscripts, called the Sands) struggles with returning to her homeland and the disparity she experiences that set this story apart for me.
Touraine was taken from Qazal as a child and initially seems firm in her convictions that her Balladairian masters are right in disbanding and executing the rebels, however, as the story progresses Touraine learns more about the impacts colonisation has had on her life and her people.
The discussions of colonialism and both Touraine and Luca’s morals surrounding it showed their complexity as characters and often it was hard to pinpoint their exact viewpoint or belief which, while true to life surrounding difficult issues, sometimes meant I felt less connected to the characters as I didn’t always know what they were feeling or what was motivating their actions.

It is a very slow burn, there are bursts of action which is written well and I didn’t feel the need to skip through as I often do with battle/ fight scenes. There were also intriguing mysteries within the worldbuilding I hope will be expanded on as the series continues.

Personally, I found the writing style a little difficult to be fully immersed in. I often had to read sentences multiple times to understand the meaning. This meant that I ended up reading this book really slowly and felt frustrated and tempted to DNF with around 150 pages left, that and not feeling emotionally tied to the characters so not desperately caring about what will happen to them. I ultimately decided to stop trying to read so closely to just finish the book and really enjoyed the last few chapters.

However, having been close to DNFing towards the end, I am so glad I continued because of THAT ENDING!

I received a copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. Clark manages to write about a fictional world/characters that resonates with todays racism and colonialism. Magic is touched on but I really hope the next in the series has much more of it in there.

The main character is likeable and will resonate with a lot of people today. She is little better than a slave, brainwashed to love the Empire and to die for it, despite the fact no one respects her people. At times I felt myself frustrated with the decisions she made which is part of the reason I have given this 4 stars. There were just too many silly things she did. There is a lot of LGBTQ+ representation in the book which is written about beautifully.

Don't expect big battle scenes and blood and gore. If you're after a book that's political, romantic and a little magical then this is worth a read.

The Unbroken is one of those titles that I have a hard time reviewing. Not because I hated it, but because it was so good. It was the sweeping epic I needed, and I found that reviewing it in a critical lens was somewhat beyond my capacity. So, I hope you all can be satisfied with this ramble-fest instead!

There isn’t enough SFF that deals with colonialism, and I’m frankly happy that more and more SFF is starting to tackle this topic. While I very much appreciated the exciting world-building based on North Africa, I found myself appreciating this book’s take on Franco-African relations more. It was disturbing, it was poignant, and more importantly – it is eye opening to the more gray areas of colonisation.

Themes abound are people being taken from their home as children by an empire, with the intention of assimilating them into the empire’s culture. But that often doesn’t work out that way, does it? Ultimately they don’t fit in the empire’s culture (not to add the stress of being seen as a group less than human), and then they don’t fit in their home culture either – ending up with no real home. Mistreated by those who’d raised them (complete with the entire Stockholm syndrome package), and continuously derided for the fact that they’d shed their roots in favour of the empire. This struggle comes across in a poignant, heart-aching way.

Such is the life of Tourraine, a soldier conscripted to face the heaviest tolls in skirmishes (and more) by the empire of Balladaire with other children from other cultures like she had been from Qazāl. She faces racism throughout the book, regardless of the fact that she had gained a high-rank and the princess’s trust. It also does not matter that she had Balladairan education, had her birth name chucked out for a Balladairan one. The fact remains that the empire simply does not view her as someone belonging to the empire. Tourraine, along with her fellow conscript soldiers, have some degree of Stockholm syndrome; and a resignation to their fate.

Not even Tourraine’s return to her Qazāli roots served as a magic end-all-be-all cure for her deep-seated loss as she faces the fact that while she does not belong there, neither does she belong in her original culture. She’s left with a permanent sense of disconnect with the country that birthed her and the people fighting for its freedom (one of whom she turns out to have a personal connection to). There’s lots of trust issues, resentment, and estrangement to go around – all of which are mutual.

On the other side of the Empire, is Princess Luca – desperate to wrestle the throne from her uncle and foster peace to save her empire from a deadly fate. To do so, she has to establish herself as the empire’s “rightful” queen and heir by proving herself as a capable ruler.

The politics in The Unbroken are incredibly personal for both lead women; and when their paths cross, neither are truly aware of what they’d start when they work towards a different kind of peace than the Empire or the rebels think of. Both women may desire peace for different reasons, but they are in for a rude awakening when they have to grapple with the full implications of peace negotiations. Who sets the terms for peace, and what would it entail?

The Unbroken is a slow-burn book, and I do mean slow-burn. Clark takes a lot of her pages to set up the political and socio-economic grounds (based on real world influences and their implications) for this military fantasy, so that the stakes are both personal and imposing.

Tourraine, for one, keeps getting thrown into the best and the worst of circumstances — in which she discovers herself both as an individual with her own personal loyalties (her fellow conscripts, with whom she’d gone through thick and thin with); and a woman reconnecting with her roots to discover where her ideals lie. All her decisions and actions, for better and worse, form a gorgeously complex and emotionally-engaging character arc. She’s flawed, and she’s a mighty chaotic character. Her decisions also tend to lean towards terribly unwise with her already terrible luck as the cherry on top. Tourraine is the very personification of the saying “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

While Tourraine is mostly lead by her heart, Luca tends to follow her head with her shrewd cunning. When she crosses paths with Tourraine, it becomes increasingly clear that Luca is a little over her head and too idealistic in her pursuit for peace. It also doesn’t help her case that despite the crackling embers of their romance, Luca tends to be overshadowed by Tourraine in this book. She has a major potential to become a more active figure in the chessboard, and I hope the next book will see her truly in action.

Speaking of romance, I had fun reading Tourraine and Luca’s relationship progressing over time. It’s kind of quick but also kind of slow, it’s messy, and it’s deeply poignant. As the book goes on, Clark forces them in almost every interaction to confront their ideals and their reality. Doesn’t make for the sweetest, fluffy romance – but totally makes for one that constantly pushes each other to reflect and grow.

I also enjoyed reading the side characters. Tourraine’s fellow conscripts are fire-forged friends (with a dash of past romances here and there), the rebels have the wise and the prickly characters with backstories of their own, and there are definitely villains that you’d love to hate.

The Unbroken is not your typical military fantasy starter as it is a very slow-burn book; but where it slightly lacks in big action set pieces, it fully makes up for it with its deep, complex exploration of the personal marks from colonisation through the lens of a flawed protagonist. Clark sets up a lot of elements in her slow-burn, and its culmination in The Unbroken‘s violent climax proves a magnificent pay-off.

Ironically, The Unbroken has left me utterly broken and wracked with a lot of feelings, which I cannot do anything about other than clamouring for the sequel. It had been a book particularly bereft of triumphant moments, but there were constant embers of hope just waiting to be sparked in the Magic of the Lost following books.

Who is The Unbroken? It sure ain't the reader!

Thank you Orbit and Little, Brown UK for giving me an advance review copy of The Unbroken! I am grateful to have been provided a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark is a North-African inspired fantasy novel featuring an in-depth analysis of colonialism and rebellion in a fun, easily digestible way. Also, sapphics! I was certain I'd love this book, but I was blown away by just how brilliant it is.

This book follows two perspectives: Touraine and Luca. Touraine was taken away from her homeland by the colonial Belladaire when she was a young child. She can't speak the language, and she doesn't have any memories of her home. Despite growing up in Belladaire and having a military education, she's still thought of as a second-class citizen. The military has arrived in Qazāl to squash a brewing rebellion, and Touraine is drawn into its heart. In contrast, Luca is the Princess and future Queen of Belladaire. She's desperate to prove herself, as she'll be unlikely to rise and take control of the empire if she doesn't succeed in her mission to stop the rebellion. She's shocked by the violence the Qazāli people face at the hands of the colonialist Belladaire, but her desire for power keeps her hands tied. When Luca has the opportunity to bring Touraine in as an envoy between the two groups, the fate of the country will change forever.

The analysis of colonisation and how strongly that tied into the setting and character arcs was pure brilliance. The Unbroken delves into all the little heartbreaking details involved in rebelling against a colonial force. Touraine struggles with where she belongs. She'll always be seen as too barbaric for Belladaire to accept her. The violence and racism she faces from her commanding officers are intense. They treat her like an animal, discussing the best way to train and discipline her people. At the same time, the rebellion doesn't feel like home either. She can't speak the language of her homeland, she's treated with constant suspicion, and viewed as another colonial force. She was my favourite character purely because of these internal conflicts and nuance; it was painful to read about. All I want in life is for Touraine to be happy. Luca tries to appease the rebels, offering free education to the Qazāli children. The rebels refuse. The education Belladaire thinks is high quality is just another form of taking their children away and turning them into tools for the Empire. Luca is a sympathetic character, and you can see why she thinks these offers would be helpful. At the same time, you're just screaming 'get out of here and never come back' alongside the rebels.

One aspect of The Unbroken I thought was especially interesting is that Belladaire is non-religious. Religion is viewed as primitive and illogical and is outlawed in much of the Empire. In our world's history, Christianity has often been tied to colonial forces. It was forced upon people as the 'true' religion, and every other belief was demonized. In the world C.L. Clark has created you can see these arguments being echoed, but it's exemplified through this contrasting religious vs non-religious dynamic. This is also where the magic of the world comes in. The Qazāli have magic that's heavily linked to their faith, while the Belladaire either deny magic's existence or squash it down at any opportunity. I'm especially interested in one of the reveals regarding Belladaire and how that'll come into play later in the series. Luca wants to understand this magic. She doesn't dismiss it like most of her people do, nor does she dismiss the idea of religion. The book uses this as a way to explore how colonisers will cherry-pick aspects of a culture that they find useful or interesting while simultaneously oppressing and destroying it.

Luca and Touraine have an especially interesting relationship. After Touraine is framed for a crime she didn't commit, Luca sees an opportunity in saving her from the gallows. Touraine is given more freedom and power than she's ever had, but she's aware that everything is conditional. The pair are attracted to each other, and rumours fly around that they're in some form of relationship. The power dynamics and complexity of their relationship is always at the forefront. Touraine will never be equal to the Princess of Belladaire. Luca will never understand how Touraine is being torn in two by her divergent allegiances. I can't wait to see how this will continue because they're such an interesting pair, although I'm not sure if I could ever see them as happily together due to their fraught history.

I'm sure you can tell from this review that I have lots of thoughts and feelings around this book. I could say a lot more, but this review is already a lot longer than usual. The Unbroken is a fantastic beginning to a trilogy that promises to bring something new and impactful to fantasy. The tactical depth, the strength of the themes, the compelling characters, all of these features come together to make a truly fantastic read. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys political fantasy; you're in for a treat.


If you love political intrigue, this book will be an exciting read for you. The level of tactical play and political manoeuvring on behalf of Belladaire and the rebellion is incredible. C.L. Clark never loses sight of the impact this violent rebellion will have on the people of the city. Everyone is impacted, tensions rise and fall, violence breaks out, ordinary people die, lose their homes, lose their resources. The world feels vibrant and alive. Actions always have consequences. In one moment, Luca gives the population extra food to disrupt the influence of the rebels. In another, the rebels use tactics that wipe out the army while putting their people in harm's way. The Unbroken leaves you on the edge of your seat as the power of each side grows and falls with every decision they make, every ally they forge, every enemy they create.

Love, Revolution and colonialism.

So I have literally just finished reading The Unbroken, and I have to say my thoughts are mixed on this one. There is quite a lot to like about this book, and these things outweigh some of my reservations about the book. In the end, it was a 3.5 star rating from me.

As with many books by an author that I am unfamiliar with, my interest was piqued by the gorgeous cover art by Tommy Arnold. I love the way that the cover captures the desert setting of the book and the inner strength of Touraine pushing against both sides of the conflict that she is placed in the middle of.

The story takes place in Qazal. A country that is viciously governed by the expanding empire of Balladaire.

It’s main characters are Touraine, a conscripted member of Balladaire's armed forces, stolen as a child to be used as a frontline soldier in the ‘Sands’ regiment of the army. The children are ‘educated’ from an early age, with their belief systems and personalities modified to believe that they are fighting their former home for the greater good.

The other is Luca, the young monarch of Ballardaire who is sent to Qazal in order to quell the rebellion and prove her ability to rule Balladaire to her uncle, who is currently the regent and does not want to relinquish the power of the throne.

The Unbroken is quite an interesting read. It is based in a North African setting with the Balladairans resembling the French empire of the late 19th Century. Now, I found this to be quite an original premise and not one that I had seen in a fantasy book before. Clark does an amazing job of building an extensive and believable world that lies outside a normal fantasy setting. She catches the vibrancy of the country that she is describing, even though the country of Qazal is a suppressed country. She also captures the cruelties of the ruling classes and the poverty of the people. She regularly highlights the disparity of the situation, showing the nihilistic attitudes of the nobility on the one hand, with lavish balls and the like, and the abject poverty of the people that are being oppressed.

Additionally, she shows the dehumanisation of the Sands (the regiment of the army that is made up of the conscripted nationals), regularly peppering the book with descriptions of the casual cruelty that is metered out to the people of Qazal, both the everyday people that live there and also to the ‘Sands’.

The basis of the plot revolves around Luca’s obsession with her obtaining her rightful place as leader of the Balladairan throne.However, Luca wants to step away from the normally brutal methods that have not worked and actually wants to negotiate with the rebels. In order to initiate this plan she needs an intermediary to go between both parties.

This is where Touraine comes in.

At the very beginning of the book, Touraine foils an assassination attempt on the Princess’s life. Thus gaining her some favour with the princess who grants her a boon for her valour. When Touraine is disgraced in an incident later in the book,she calls in the Boon and the princess sees her chance to set her plans in motion by employing Touraine as her personal emissary.

What ensues is a story of two opposite individuals learning about each other and the feelings that grow between the two, as well as learning about different cultures and wrangling with the political machinations of both the Empire and the rebels.

Like I said there is a lot to like about this book. The setting, the romance between Luca and Touraine, the political wranglings and a twisty turning plot that takes you in lots of different directions.

However, I did find it a little hard to get into at first, and I found it difficult to relate to the characters initially. The pacing at the beginning of the book revolves around a lot of plot building. And at times, I found that this hampered the pacing for me, thus adding to my difficulty in relating to the story.

However, when we get to the second half of the book, the pacing picks up and I have to say it leads to a pretty climactic conclusion that had me turning pages at a rate of knots as I wanted to find out how the book will end.

On the whole, I enjoyed the book despite my initial difficulties with the pacing and eventually related to the characters.

I have a feeling that C. L Clark will be a fantasy writer to keep an eye on, and will go from strength to strength.

Its been almost 3 days since I finished this book and I can’t stop thinking about it. I haven’t read anything since, I haven’t done any work, I haven’t been able to focus on anything I watch, all I’m doing is thinking about this book and how long I’ll have to wait to read the sequel.
In case it wasn’t obvious, I loved this book. If we’re being pedantic, I loved every page from chapter nine onwards. The first eight chapter (20%ish) I found too slow and the world building felt dense, the only thing that got me through that was the characters and then chapter nine happened and it all fell in to place for me.
What I think is the most incredible triumph with the writing is how human Clark made the characters seem. Every one of them reads fully formed and it means the book feels as if you are hearing someone’s life story rather than fiction. From the beginning their motives were apparent, but the further in to the book you get the more you understand the layers of emotions they are feeling and what pressures they are putting on themselves. There is no holding back from the realities of living in a politically hostile environment and the effects of war, physically and mentally on everyone involved. Every mistake a character makes has consequences and no one is shown to be unaffected by the hurt and despair they cause.
This might be my favourite book of the year.

So, like I said take this rating and review with a pinch of salt. I anticipate being very much the minority opinion and my experience with this book was absolutely influenced by the fact that it took me over a month to read - partially because of a reading slump, but I also just could not connect to these characters and felt like the plot was pretty meandering for a good chunk of this.

To start off positively, the themes in this book are really solid. The story revolves around Qazal, a country that has been colonised by Balladaire, and the rebellion brewing against the empire within the city. Touraine, our main character, is a soldier for the empire who was kidnapped from Qazal as a child and raised within Balladaire. Clark very competently shows us the wider consequences of colonialism as well as the effect it has on people at a personal level. I did find the book took too long to get into the rebellion content - in general I think this book has pacing issues for at least the first hundred pages - but I really liked that unlike a lot of other fantasy where characters join rebellions on a whim, rebellion in this is treated how it should be; it's dangerous to oppose an empire, it takes convincing to want to join a cause that strips you of your comfort and it is rarely if ever an equal war. Touraine takes time to feel sympathy or allegiance with the rebellion and it made for a far more natural development. I also liked that Luca was not the usual sympathetic royal; she has sympathetic leanings but at heart is an imperialist and the book does a great job of highlighting her hypocrisy.

Unfortunately there wasn't much else about this that worked for me and although the ending picks up, if I didn't receive an ARC I would have DNF'd very early on. Touraine for the first 150 pages felt a little flat - she definitely improves when the plot picks up but it takes a while for plot to pick up - and Luca is probably my new least favourite character in anything I've read. The fact that one of the core components of the plot is a romance between them just served to make this even harder for me to read because I just found their dynamic uncomfortable and increasingly unrealistic. Luca hires Touraine as an "assistant" to help her reach out to the rebels and attraction ensues. The book is 100% self-aware of Luca's biases but I didn't think the book appropriately justified why Touraine would continue to be attracted to Luca especially as the plot and rebellion progresses.

Plot also felt a little back and forth; though it was realistic for Touraine to be conflicted over her allegiance, I did feel like it got repetitive. There's also an unbelievable amount of side characters who don't really get any depth and do not exist beyond their connections to Touraine or Luca, and therefore did not feel like they existed when they weren't on the page.

This was a huge disappointment for me, but I definitely think I'll be the unpopular opinion. I'd be interested in a different story by the author because the worldbuilding and themes in this were very impactful, but general plot and characters were very much a letdown.

The Unbroken was a very compelling read that explored themes of colonialism, rebellion and family in an engaging and entertaining way.

The world building was first class and the struggles of Touraine and Luca, our POVs, were perfect mirrors of each other. Not only was the book very readable, it scratched that rare spot in being a fantasy novel that makes you think. About the world. Society. The past. The way in which we interact with our fellow people.

C.L Clark does a brilliant job in showing us the struggles between the colonials and the colonised. The theme of the Sands being 'war booty' is comparable to the feelings of some communities looking back at the British Empire. In fact, Clark perfectly encapsulates the colonial attitude through her characterisation of the Balladairans. The idea that they are the civilised. The chose. Their thoughts and wishes and dreams are the most important and it is through their benevolence that others, lessers, can live.

We see the corruption of the nobility but more interestingly we see the so-called saviours. Those who claim to want to better the lot of the enslaved while refusing to listen to what they actually want.

Clark's story is a brilliant fantasy, don't get me wrong. As much as I enjoyed the colonial discourse, it also has all the elements of a damn good story. War, politics, religion and the mysteries of magic and the supernatural. Love, taboo-less and yet still forbidden. Rebellion, found family, friendship. There's something for everyone to enjoy and I'm very excited to see the future after the events of the book.

I'll end this somewhat rambling review to recommend you all pick this up!

“We pray for rain.”

Trigger Warning : decapitation, mutilation, gore, death, war, abuse, slavery, torture, attempt of rape, public executions, graphic animal attack

ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

After years of occupation the rebels is ready to make their move, in the middle of it all is a scholar princess with ambitions to win back her throne and a conflicted soldier discovers her true path in a society that forced her into a life of military obedience. The Unbroken is a riveting fast paced adult fantasy debut by C. L. Clark.

Looking at the books that I wanted to read this month I had to put The Unbroken high on my list as it was one of my most anticipated releases in 2021. Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for the ARC (Advance Readers Copy) for me to read. The first thing that caught my eye is the magnificent cover designed by Lauren Panepinto and art by Tommy Arnold, the artist that also made the art for The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir. Tommy did a wonderful job bringing to life Touraine and the architecture of the Shal temple. With the Balladairan banner in the back too! The cover is stunning that itself is enough reason for anyone to go and read the book. Going into this book I knew nothing about the story, not even the synopsis. I wanted to maintain a degree of mystery so I can go into it with zero thoughts. From the rating above it was an enjoyable read. For those who are interested in reading an excerpt of the book, it is up for free on the Orbit website (click here).

The Unbroken is the debut and the first instalment to the Magic of the Lost trilogy by C. L Clark. The story takes place in El-Wast, capital city of Qazāl, Balladaire’s southern colony, a place inspired by the deserts of North Africa. There are two main characters in this story, Touraine, a conscript of the Balladairan Colonial Brigade and Luca, the crown princess of the Balladairan Empire. Lieutenant Touraine is a Sands, a derogatory word used to call the Qazāl born conscripts in the Balladairan military. All her life she has prepared herself for this moment, a moment where she will rise and become an exemplary soldier for the Balladairan military just like the General that she looks up to, Cantic. Which will help the Sands by showing them that they can thrive with Balladaire. Next, Princess Luca crown princess of Balladaire. A princess that lost her throne to her uncle is driven by her ambition to prove to him that she is capable to rule her empire. Given the task by the king to handle the rebellion in Qazāl, the idealist scholar princess tries to find peace that can cement her reputation so Luca can get closer to her throne. To do this she needs someone to be her representative that can tether between Balladaire and the rebels. Since their first encounter together Touraine caught Luca’s eye, after a series of unfortunate events Touraine’s reputation is jeopardized. Luca seeing an opportunity bargains with Touraine, taking her in as Luca’s assistant to negotiate with the rebels.

Colonialism is the main part of the world building, Balladaire is an empire that is reminiscent of France one of the European countries that colonized North Africa in the 18th and the 19th century. As cited from “North Africa Within the Past, the Present, and the Future” by Amin Shaker, translated by Halla from Halla’s Corner or @incernadine on Twitter.

“The French conquered Algeria in 1830 and began an extensive colonization program that led to Algeria’s annexation in 1870 as an integral part of metropolitan France. Yet annexation brought unequal benefits to the residents of Algeria. French settlers in Algeria enjoyed full citizenship rights and were represented by their own deputies in the French parliament. The indigenous people of Algeria were colonial subjects, reduced by law and practice to a subordinate status in their own land.”

The people of Qazāl doesn’t share the same rights as Balladairans that colonized their land. They live in poverty and is exploited by Balladaire to meerily exist as second class citizens that isn’t deserving of freedom. They are mistreated and underpaid by many Balladairans, for example Beau Sang, a Balladairan nobleman that is very fond in inflicting violence towards his servants. The Balladairans enacted a compulsory military service for the people of Qazāl by kidnapping their children and then training them from a young age to serve in the military. Alienating the children from their family, their culture, their language, and they are forced to antagonize their own people by calling them “Uncivilized”. The use of conscripts, Sands, in the story is hugely inspired by history, during the 18th century France has forced the military might of African soldiers in the World War. Cited from the same book, “North Africa Within the Past, the Present, and the Future” by Amin Shaker.

“… the French continued to recruit and conscript North African soldiers for service on the Western Front. Over the war years, more than three hundred thousand North Africans – 180,000 Algerians, eighty thousand Tunisians, and forty thousand Moroccans – served in France as soldiers on the Western Front.”

Based on history the colonial countries values the lives of the African soldiers as lesser than a white man. Colonial African troops during the war are known to be in the front lines just like the Sands, they are the first one to be sacrificed, as they are stationed in the most dangerous posts and the first one to engage the enemy. If one of the Sands chose to desert, the consequence is death by the hands of a stranger or a fellow Sands. As mentioned in a letter by a senior officer responsible for West Africans’ training in the camp of Fréjus wrote in a letter in January 1918 that African soldiers were “cannon fodder, who should, in order to save whites’ lives, be made use of much more intensively.” (cited in Michel, Marc: L’appel à l’Afrique. Contributions et réactions à l’effort de guerre en A.O.F., Paris 1982, p. 323). Below is a quote from The Unbroken that depicts the position of Sands during warfare times in the story.

“Who is closest to the conflict? Who walks with it through the streets? How many times had Touraine told her the Sands were always at the front? And if the Sands were at the front, they would see the most.”

C. L. Clark has built a world that shows the inner workings of colonialism, that provides insight for readers that aren’t familiar with history that has long since been overlooked. Clark built this world with the intent of showing all sides of the conflict, from the rebels, the government officials, the Sands, and the innocent people in between. Social conditioning is used to control the Qazālis, especially the Sands. The world itself becomes the perfect base for a wonderful story.

Clark incorporated religion into the magic system, the religion of the Shal Empire gives their believers power based on their faith in the Shal. To be granted power by the Shal, one must pray and believe in Shal. Aside from that, one also must give something in order to gain something. There is balance to the magic system. The power Shal grants varies from healing, destruction, psychic powers, etc. With the power that is granted to the Shal believer depending on their intention it can also back fire to the user. C. L. Clark has done a wonderful job creating a faith based magic system that is very well balanced. There is also other variations of magic for example Many Legged, they use magic that has something to do with the connection between the worshipper and the animals they worship. It seems that the Many Legged are able to control the animals to do their bidding. The Balladairans on the other hand progressed as a nation, advancing in many fields such as : agriculture, medicine, etc; abandoning religion and their belief in Gods. Fear catalyzed the act of opressing the Qazālis as proven in their history when the Shal’s power was weaponized by Shal Empire’s last ruler to attack Balladaire.

“Every god had two sides, like a coin, and each gift had a price.”

The Shal religion is dying because of the Balladairan empire’s colonization of Qazāl. Religion is viewed as “uncivilized”, the teachings of viewing religious practices as “uncivilized” is deeply indoctrinated within the teachings of Balladaire. There are two doctrines that exist within the society, the Droitist and Tailleurist. Both doctrines engraves the belief that condemns religious practices, which is applied to the colonized citizens of Qazāl and the Sands. These social conditioning by Balladairans limits the activity and movements of the Qazālis, preventing them from having rights and making them a second class citizen. History is blurred to prevent Qazālis from using magic against the empire. Dwindling down the numbers of Shal magic practitioners to near extinction.

The Unbroken is a politically heavy character driven story, as we follow Touraine’s and Luca’s POV. Touraine as a character in the beginning of the story is strict, obedient, and the epitome of a model soldier. She has dreams of wanting to show other Sands that they are capable of achieving something more, if they stay, obey their orders and do their duty for Balladaire. Since her kidnapping she grew up in Balladaire and looks up to Cantic, a Balladairan general and mother figure to Touraine. Being raised from a very young age in Balladaire, all she knows is Balladaire and only Balladaire. Coming to Qazāl, Touraine views the place as a foreign land full of foreign people. Based on her upbringing it sparks inner conflict in Touraine that slowly grows more intense, as she questions her position and mission in life. Torn between two sides of the conflict, either defend the nation that has trained her and her friends or fight for the liberation of her people from colonization. This aspect of Touraine’s character is complex, Clark writes her struggles so raw and vulnerable. Readers can feel the conflict brewing inside Touraine as she juggles both sides all the while discovering her true purpose. The shift in Touraine’s views from a conscript to a valuable member of the rebellion is built up beautifully throughout the story. Each decision and each revelation is written full of purpose by Clark to show a steady growth in Touraine’s character.

“Why would a god direct her life to this moment, this side of the rebellion? No adequate weapons, no actual soldiers, and it was a lot harder to dig out an entrenched army than to rout a marching one. This looked like the losing side. It even felt like the losing side. It didn’t feel like the wrong side.”

Luca on the other end is a sheltered princess with a mission to win back her throne. Her scholarly background and her position in the story reminds me so much of Elend Venture from the Mistborn trilogy (I am making this comparison because I read The Well of Ascension before this book). They share an idealistic point of view in politics but they are different when it comes to their personality and approach. Luca is much more strict, rigid, and isn’t afraid in sacrificing anything to get what she wants. There is a power dynamic as well whenever other character interact with Luca. Her ambition to prove herself and to be a better ruler than her predecessors is unbending. Luca truly believes that she is capable of saving her people, squash the rebellion, all the while gaining supporters to get her throne back. Luca doesn’t shy from showing her power and stature to intimidate other people. As a character with disability Clark doesn’t boil her character down to that, Clark makes sure to show readers Luca’s strengths. Because Luca is the person that holds the highest authority as a princess, she is accustomed to getting what she wants in life unlike the Sands. There are moments when Luca doesn’t realize her position of privilege, even if she sympathizes towards the Qazālis she still has a lot to learn in becoming a better ruler than her predecessors.

I have learned your god says, ‘Peace above all.’ So let it be.”

Both characters shares the same drive to achieve their dreams and goals. But they also share responsibility for their actions in the story, Touraine’s and Luca’s judgement and decisions led to the outbreak of the rebellion. From this story arises the question of who is to blame for the series of events that led to the deaths of innocent people from both sides of the conflict. C. L. Clark portrayed both characters in a way that sparks conversations about the strain of colonization towards the people that are being oppressed, showing the real victims as they are forced in a situations of constant fear of violence and death. Relationship wise, watching the progress and growth of relationship between the two main characters is interesting. Clark showcased plenty of intimate moments between Luca and Touraine that is full of yearning and heated tension that leaves you breathless (Spoiler : leg massages). Their power dynamics is uneven and sometimes down right unforgivably unfair. But I’d say this is what makes the story of The Unbroken so impactful. Luca as a future ruler of the colonizer in this case is responsible for the havoc that her people has caused for the Qazālis, I hope in the sequel we get to witness this being done to see an outcome of movement toward decolonization. Though for me personally the way the final stand off reached its blowing point when the story peaks it wasn’t as I expected. Everything happened so fast and in the end it felt rather rushed. But this did not hinder me from enjoying the whole story.

Final thoughts! I am very surprised and impressed. If this is the first book from C. L. Clark, I can’t wait to read more from them. The world building, magic system, and amazing characterization is intricate and detailed. To make things even better the plot is fast paced, the moment readers start reading they can easily slip into the story. Besides the two main characters, the side characters are so well fleshed out and distinct. Though I must say, my most adored side characters lean towards the rebels more because of their found family aspect. One of my favorite side characters has to be Jaghotai, she is unstoppable, bad ass, and so snarky. Jaghotai is that bitch with sick boots and flying kicks. I love her! To make it even more perfect is how ruthless she is, not to mention that she only has one arm which makes her even more deadly. The reputation of her kicks knows no bounds! Jaghotai’s sub plot is also one of the best in the story, a woman as bad ass as her showing vulnerability and love is too emotionally quaking for me to handle. One thing I forgot to mention is the subtlety of the queerness is in this book. It is so classy and nonchalant the way Clark portrays the female / female romance. The tension and yearning is so deliciously lush *chef’s kiss*. All I want is for Touraine to wrap me up in her arms!

The Unbroken by C. L Clark did not disappoint at all! I am so happy I picked it up. Thank you again to Orbit and NetGalley for the arc for me to review. I highly recommend for everyone that loves political heavy fantasy with strong female characters, mysterious magic, and yearning! So much yearning! This is the book for you. Also another thank you to Halla for helping me with the historical references in this review. Here is a quote to end my review and to sum up my feelings after reading The Unbroken.

Luca’s stomach fluttered like the pages of an open book left in a pleasant breeze. It always came to this ache and flutter of her insides, this feeling that things could be more right.

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

Thank you for reading!

Works Cited :
- “North Africa Within the Past, the Present, and the Future” by Amin Shaker, published 1958, page 167 – 170, translated by Halla from Halla’s Corner or @incernadine on Twitter.
- https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/colonial_military_participation_in_europe_africa

GOOD BOOK!!
Maybe a bit slow and the characters motivations at times don't make sense but overall it is a good book. The prose is great. The discussions around colonialism and identity is great. The world is LGBTQ friendly!