It makes me ache for her, as she feels like she doesn’t really belong in either group.

She struggles with coming to terms that maybe her way of looking at the world is just flawed and puts her people down.

Touraine has to fall again and again in order to learn–she was taken by her colonizers from a young age, and indoctrinated into their way of life. Then again, this is just the first book in the series so there is room to grow. Her relationship with Luca is very slow burning, and I felt like we needed a few more scenes with them giving into their emotions in order for us to really be shipping them. Touraine makes a ton of mistakes throughout the novel, ones she is able to come back from, others not so much… Her relationship with her mother is also one full of struggles and heartache. Not her friends, not the person she is supposedly falling for her. I felt the MC had a lot of responsibilities on her shoulders, and nobody really got her struggles. I did find some of the side character’s behavior (mainly Pruett’s) to be questionable and off putting (overall I hated Pruett’s character–she was not a very good friend). Just be in the correct state of mind before you throw yourself head deep. The Unbroken tackled colonialism and what it does to everybody involved, internalized racism as well as just racism in general, cultural appropriation, the melding of two cultures, religion and the lack of… I really think it does so in a wonderful way. The romance is full of tension, and it is uncomfortable to read at times because of the power difference between the characters (it feels intentional though, it fits well within the narrative). Set in a rich setting, with multiple queer characters (in fact, sexuality and identity is a non issue and very fluid I would say with the entire cast), there is a lot to love.Īs I read it I thought The Unbroken reminded me of The Winner’s Curse, only for adults. But that is on me–this book explores colonialism in multiple facets, giving us a very deep and detailed view of the unfairness of the world, the damage colonialism has through the generations, and how hard it is to break the chains that bind. I wanted escapism, but I got grounded real quick. There is so much tragedy and unfairness and sadness… and I have plenty of that in the real world. I see a lot of people are going to fall in love with this harsh, queernorm, absolutely wonderfully built world.

The unbroken cl clark sequel