Book Review
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: YA Fantasy
Author: Tricia Levenseller
Format: Digital ARC
Publication Date: 07/04/22
ARC provided by: NetGalley
Publisher: Pushkin Press

A magical female blacksmith with extreme social anxiety ✅
A newly formed family of misfits ✅
An indestructible blade of pure power ✅
An all-conquering female warlord on the rampage ✅
An arrogant mercenary, a hidden soft side, and a total hottie ✅
Plot twists ✅

This is such a fun and exciting adventure story. The extreme social anxiety representation is *chefs kiss* and I could thoroughly relate at times.
Ziva, the main protagonist, has an inner monologue that’s brilliantly written by Tricia. She never makes Ziva appear weak, nor does she imply that Ziva needs to be "fixed."
The book had sarcastic banter, witty dialogue, and laugh-out-loud moments and I could not put it down.
The plot, although simple, I actually enjoyed it a lot.
I fell in love with Ziva, her sister, and their very “interesting” companions.
Warning - does contain a cliffhanger ending!
I'm very curious to see what happens next and I cannot wait for the sequel.

Excerpt
"A breath of a laugh expels from his lips as he leans to the side, near my ear. 'What is it like in that head of yours?' 'Busy,' I mutter."

Has there ever been a more relatable line in fiction?

Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press, who provided this ARC. This is my own voluntary and honest review.

Great YA fantasy following a teenaged magical bladesmith. This was an easy read – gobbled it up in two sittings – and I enjoyed it. The social anxiety aspect was pretty well handled and the characters were likeable. Didn’t entirely gel with the book but I’m not YA so that’s most likely why. Recommended.

Blade of Secrets is a Young Adult fantasy from the point of view of a protagonist with social anxiety. I loved this representation and related to Ziva so much. In fact, I loved a lot of this book including the closeness of Ziva and her sister Temra, the found family vibe going on and of course the romance. If you want a fast-paced read that has a light feel to it, I highly recommend Blade of Secrets

Ziva is the only magical blacksmith in existence, so people come from far and wide to commission weapons from her. She has created all sorts of crazy weapons from boomerang staffs to spears that never miss flesh, but when the warlord Kymora stops by Ziva knows she has to outdo herself. Distracted by a handsome stranger, Ziva accidentally makes a dangerous weapon that a) steals secrets from those it cuts and b) can kill people without contact. It’s the most powerful weapon that Ziva has made, and when she accidentally finds out Kymora plans to take over the continent, she knows Kymora can never have the blade in her possession.

Ziva lives alone with her younger sister Temra, so both of them have to leave the life they’ve built for themselves to try and escape Kymora and work out how to destroy the sword. They are joined by a mercenary the hire, Kellyn (hello handsome stranger), and a scholar called Petrik who is interested in interviewing Ziva for his book. I absolutely loved this found family dynamic, it was a joy to read with plenty of cute moments. I also adored that Ziva and Temra were so close, and that Temra was so supportive of Ziva and her anxiety. It reminded me a lot of my sister and completely warmed my heart.

The plot is very fast-paced so don’t expect a book that is full of details. I found this made it an enjoyable read for me as I didn’t have to concentrate too much, but also wished it didn’t wrap up so quickly. There is going to be a follow on book though which I am extremely excited about. It is written in first person present which I did find slightly irritating, but it was one of the better examples of books written like this. The romance is another thing that felt a little rollercoaster-like at times, and as we see Kellyn only from Ziva’s perspective it’s very back and forth in terms of whether she thinks he is a good character.

Overall this was a very fun read with amazing characters that I cared about a lot as I was reading. I’m looking forward to seeing where Tricia Levenseller takes the plot in the next book because it does end on a bit of a cliffhanger!

Thank you for my earc of this book! This is my 2nd Levenseller and won’t be my last!!
I loved the world building, and although I got a sense of the setting it didn’t feel too heavy.
I loved the anxiety rep in this book, and loved the sisterly relationship.
The found family aspect was brilliant and I loved reading the friendship dynamic in the book. I do wish there had been space for a bit more humour & romance but loved the story all the same.
Bring on book 2!!!

Finished reading 17 March – 5 April 2022

Less than 5-word critique; exciting, witty, gripping, fun, and dazzling.

This is my first Tricia Levenseller book and it did NOT disappoint! "Blade of Secrets" is an originally awesome fantasy tale full of action and adventure. With a unique and bada** female protagonist to lead the way.

We follow Ziva, the eldest of two sisters (in one of the best and fun sisterhoods in YA fiction history), who is magically gifted when it comes to making weapons. She simply prefers metal over people. When a famous warlord asks her to make a powerful sword, Ziva is shocked to discover its abilities; one of them hearing someone's secrets. She hears one that reveals the warlord's true intentions about the weapon which leads to Ziva and her sister Temra leaving everything they know and love behind, and attempting to rid the weapon once and for all. Unfortunately for Ziva, it involves people. The kind that could be the key to aiding them in their quest.

Levenseller's writing is vividly brilliant, full of adventure and banter.
The characters are vibrant, entertaining, and shine as their own beings.
The settings are described magnificently and make one feel they are in Arthurian times.

I'm excited for the sequel; "Master of Iron" coming this July.

Recommended to those who enjoy;

*Mental health representation (social anxiety)
*Magical weapons
*"Forged In Fire" fans
*Fantasy
*Slow burn romance
*Intriguing, fun, relatable and strong-willed characters
*Relatable and strong heroine
*Sisterhoods (polar-opposites)
*Action and adventure packed scenes
*Life-changing journeys

Firstly, huge thanks to Pushkin Press and Netgalley for ARC of Blade of Secrets in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Tricia Levenseller does it again! She delivers a fast paced fantasy, with great characters, a whole world and of course magic. What more can you ask for?

Ziva is a magical blacksmith, who lives a solitary life in her forge, protected and cared for by her sister as she struggles with her anxiety, social anxiety and struggle to cope with people and society.

Just when Ziva thought she was close to her goal of creating a whole new life for herself and her sister, her world is turned upside down by a Warlord’s commission, when she mistakenly crafts a blade that can cut without touch and steals its victims secrets. A blade that in the wrong hands could destroy the kingdom. Ziva is left with only one choice, to run, and so starts her adventure and her worst fear, going out into the world.

A really great, fast paced fantasy that doesn’t fear to face up to mental health challenges, with great descriptions and depictions of the impact of anxiety, struggles with social interactions and more.

Accompanying the pace of the story, there is family, romance, and friendship. Ziva and Kellyn’s relationship was so well done, with true reflection of Ziva’s struggles, and Zellyn’s patience, care and true self-knowledge…it was a joy.

The only downside for me was the rather abrupt ending, which whilst being a brilliant step to the next book, definitely left me hanging as a reader, but that means I’ll definitely be picking it up!

Levenseller had been an author whose books I anticipate coming out months before their publication, and 'Blade of Secrets' is no exception. Levenseller has an amazing writing style that is both witty and easy to read, which is often hard to find in NA fantasy, making her books perfect for a quick read.
I found the characters to be varied and complex, from the charming yet longing for adventure Temra, the strong, female protagonist, Ziva, and the mysterious and wanderlust-filled Kellyn.
I enjoyed reading these characters both for their strong and different personalities, but also for their flaws. I firmly believe that, despite the fantasy setting, the characters can be related to every reader, as their emotions and emotional journeys are also followed through the story.
A lot of content is packed into this novel, making it fast paced, though it would be great to have some world-building chapters and quiet moments in the already-antipcated second novel to this duology. Doing so may present an opportunity for stories from side charactera to be considered, similar to Vengeance of the Pirate Queen, which I am also looking forward to.
This book is not to be missed!

Side note separate to the review: A small error I spotted was the misspelling of 'shear' on page 278. I am noticing this as a British person, perhaps the spelling changes in American dialect, but in the line 'how to sheer sheep,' sheer should be spelt shear.

A crew of misfits, a magical quest and a warlord on the hunt - what a fun ride!

Blade of Secrets is a fast paced fantasy with a lead you can't help but adore. When Ziva, our socially anxious blacksmith, is forced to go on the run with her sister, a magic scholar and a mercenary, chaos ensues. I quickly found myself consumed by this story and appreciated the way Levenseller deals with Ziva's struggles with anxiety. I also liked the character growth, the slow burn romance and the relationship between the two sisters.

If you're looking for a heartwarming read that is full of action, intrigue, magic and high stakes, Blade of Secrets needs to be on your TBR.

Tricia Levenseller delivers once again with an amazing, fast-paced book. I absolutely adored the character of Ziva and how strong and independent she is and I also adored the mental health rep in this book! I can't wait for the sequel to come out!

I really enjoyed Blade of Secrets.
The plot was exciting and I liked the characters. The social anxiety rep was well done.
I’m looking forward to reading more of Levenseller’s books.

I think it must be impossible for TL to write a book that I don't love! Each of her worlds is so unique and she writes such compelling characters you can't help but fall in love. I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel

Many thanks to Pushkin Press and Netgalley for ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ziva is a magical blacksmith who locks herself away in her forge to protect herself from her crippling anxiety, leaving all the social niceties to her younger sister who deals with their customers.

Her life is upended when she makes a sword for a warlord, one which she mistakenly imbues with the power to reveal its victims secrets. Hearing the warlords plans for the sword, Ziva is left with no choice but to take her sister and flee into the frightening world outside.

This was a good, fast paced fantasy with a wonderful depiction of anxiety. I really empathized with the main character Ziva and her need to just hide away from the world. The way she second guessed every word and thought the worst of herself and others was so realistic and I really related to her dislike of social gatherings haha. The depiction of mental health is SO well done and the main reason for my rating.

I did find the world building a bit lacking. I would have loved to know more about the magic system in place. It wasn't really fleshed out as much as I would have liked, and the world building suffered a bit for it.

One part I did enjoy though was Kellyns introduction and his subsequent relationship with Ziva. He was such a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of the grumpier love interests, and the way he respected Ziva's insecurities and gave her the space she needed was lovely.

The ending was really abrupt! There was so much action going on and then everything just finished, leaving me really unsatisfied. It does set up well for the next book and I'm definitely interested in what is going to happen next for Ziva and the gang.

I've loved Tricia Levenseller's previous book, The Shadows Between Us, so my expectations may have been a bit too high going into this one. Regardless it was a solid book overall and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an enjoyable, quick fantasy read.

Thank to NetGalley and Publisher for providing the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Plot:
Ziva is uniquely talented in creating magical weapons. She could pour a purpose into a blade using her magic. One day a powerful warlord commissions one such sword from Ziva and she creates an extraordinary Sword that could topple a kingdom with its strength and ability to know opponent's secrets. Before delivering the sword, she unintentionally learns of the Warlords intentions and she flees with her sister taking away the sword. With little ability to safeguard themselves, they take Kellyn on their runaway journey to protect themselves. Things escalate when they get hunted down by the warlord and they barely survive at the end of the book.
My thoughts:
I liked the unique plot and fierce characters. But, the romance between the main characters was happening in snail pace with no much interest shown by either of them. They often had this selfish streak and habit of blaming the other first and then thinking about their actions later. Ziva's sister, another character who travels with them and the evil warlord did their job well. At times the plot could've been better without prolonged roundabout way of falling into traps. The story could've been a little more crispy. I will definitely continue the series.

I don’t know if it is the smartest or dumbest idea to write an MC with social anxiety. On one hand, every single person who reads will instantly relate. On the other hand, I feel attacked.

When Temra and Ziva talk about asking follow up questions? People have had that conversation with me! Ziva being completely fine-but then she starts THINKING! This is me! And I swear-if ONE more person says they hate the ‘I’m not like other girls trope’ I WILL CRY/SHOUT AND VAGUE THREATS.
Ziva doesn’t think she is better than other girls because she isn’t similar to them-she has an anxiety disorder. It hurts that people hate her for it because that is me!

Ziva is kinda my role model. She is insanely awkward yes, but she also has this kind of irrefutable confidence? She knows she is strong and great with weapons. And it just makes me so happy to see anxiety represented in such a realistic way.

This book had great action, great banter, great ships and just an overwhelming cuteness. And now I have to wait a year for the next one *sobs*

3.5⭐️🗡- An enjoyable fantasy read with an empathetic depiction of Anxiety and a swoonworthy love interest😍

Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Having read, and enjoyed, 3 other books by Tricia Levenseller I knew I HAD to read Blade of Secrets. I found the premise really interesting and unique- a young woman who can imbue magic into metal, more specifically weapons, to give them powerful abilities and it was such an easy and enjoyable read!

As someone who suffers from mental health issues, including generalised anxiety disorder, i found the depiction and exploration of Ziva’s anxiety was done really well and was so easy to empathise with- it was so refreshing to read about mental health and actually think ‘Yes! That is exactly how it feels’ when usually it is so hard to describe it and all too easy to feel isolated or alone in your experience because you can’t articulate it into words.

Kellyn was 😍 and I loved how the relationship between him and Ziva began to develop and how he was so keen to understand her anxieties, being patient with her and giving her space when she needed it. The general friendship between all 4 of the ‘group’ was super cute!

While I was able to theorise a couple of plot points/ twists correctly there was one that I didn’t see coming at all which is always a good thing for me as i’m constantly guessing and trying to work out what’s going on so it’s nice to be surprised!

I wish there has been a little bit more world building/ exploration of the magic system and lore as I would have loved to know more and in some places I felt like the pacing was a little off with things just happening ( being told it had happened rather than being shown it) which is why it I haven’t rated it higher but equally I did like that it was a fairly quick/short read.

The book also seemed to end a little suddenly for me- I wasn’t expecting it to end where it did but I can’t wait for the sequel which is out in a few months time!!😍

I know this book is going to stay with me for a long time to come.

Blade of Secrets tells the story of a magically gifted bladesmith on a journey to stop her latest weapon falling into the wrong hands. With her on this journey: her flirtatious and carefree sister, a scholar studying her magic, and a (gorgeous) mercenary.

I have never read a fantasy book that has captured social anxiety the way Levenseller does in Blade of Secrets - Ziva’s anxiety is an integral part of her character that is described perfectly through a first-person narrative. I couldn’t stop highlighting passages because “oh my god, that’s exactly how i feel!!”, the nature of anxiety has really been captured here.

As a character-and-relationship-driven reader, I am obsessed with the development of the relationships (both romantic and platonic) throughout the book.

Overall, this was a really exciting read and I really cannot wait for the sequel!

I think it's safe to say that Tricia ranks among my very favourite authors. Everything she writes is pure gold to me, and this one was no exception. I loved everything about this: the characters, the plot, the pace, the setting, the romance, everything. The main character's mental health issues felt very real to me, and I loved how it was portrayed in this book. I cannot wait for the second one!

I have never read anything by this author before and after reading this book, I don't really know why but now I need to hunt down every book she has ever written. The writing was so good with a captivating storyline and characters that are believable and incredibly well developed. The world building was also exceptional.
As someone who suffers from anxiety and panic attacks I really appreciated this aspect of the book and it is written about perfectly.
This is a stunning read that I would highly recommend.

This was such a lovely surprise! I'm probably in the minority of people not having read a Levenseller before, but I heard amazing things about the author and the book description sounded amazing. The book turned out to be just as good as I hoped it would be.

"Blade of Secrets" is the first book in a ya fantasy duology and introduces us to one of the most memorable ya heroines I've read in a very long time. Ziva is not only a giant compared to all the other heroines out there, she's also a magical weapon smith who can dual wield hammers and has severe social anxiety. I love her. I adore her. I want to protect her and at the same time watch her, you know, dual wield those hammers a lot. She's unique, and her "awkwardness" as she tends to call it is well-written and finally not just used a cutesy gimmick as it oftentimes is, especially in ya fiction. The other characters are amazing too, honestly, I love them all.
Did I roll my eyes really really hard at the "two girls, two boys, two couples" composition of their little group? Yes, and I will never ever not roll my eyes at this, but at least these two couples were cute as hell. Kellyn is an AMAZING love interest, and the sister relationship is the heart and soul of this book. There is some commentary about codependency that I think might take a more central role in the second book (it definitely should, imo). There is lots of banter and flirting and general cuteness.

The plot is nothing groundbreaking but it's fun, with good pacing and enough action sequences to never get boring. Yes, some parts of the book feel a little hectic (the whole sequence of the sisters meeting their family was INCREDIBLY short and almost gave me whiplash), but it's a quick and lovely read with unique ideas. The world building is, so far, a little shallow but the book definitely shines through its characters, so that's totally fine with me.

A very solid 4 star read that anyone who's into ya fantasy should read, in my very humble opinion. Because it's fun, because it has a lot of heart, but mostly because of Ziva.

I just want to start off by saying how much I appreciate the representation of anxiety/panic attacks in this book, how Kiva is able to explore her magic despite it and how her sister supports her every step of the way.

This was a little slow for me at the beginning, so much so I did leave it a couple of times and came back to it determined to finish it and I'm glad I did. Once the adventure kicked in, I was completely engaged and intrigued and actually finished it in one sitting. I like the use of the magic system but I would like to see more world building and development so that we get more history/how it works.

There were also a couple of surprises/plot twists I didn't see coming.

I was a little disappointed with the ending and couldn't believe I had finished reading so suddenly but I do look forward to reading the next book when it is released.


*Thank you to @netgalley and the publishers @pushkin_press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review*.