In a wild surge of fury, Tisaanah lashes out at Esmaris with her magic, and accidentally kills him. My name is Tisaanah. I am a free woman and yet still a slave. I am fragments of many things but a whole of only myself. I am a daughter of no worlds, and all worlds. Like I said, Tisaanah escapes captivity, bearing marks of what she went through, and this aftermath of the premise is where Broadbent’s skills truly shine. Tisaanah now must learn to use her magic and she throws herself at it with all the stubbornness (determination?) that allowed her to survive the “Look at me” chapter. And truly, the magic in this world is gorgeous. Fascinating and engrossing and at times terrifying. She’s being taught by her reluctant teacher Maxantarius (I love me a grumpy reluctant/positive sunshine dynamic) who is bitingly hilarious. Most of the passages I highlighted were because I laughed literally out loud at Max’s dialogue, or Tisaanah’s impression of him. For example: The great grumpy/sunshine dynamic. The author did an excellent job writing Tisaanah & Max's relationship. It unfolded so organically, from their introductions as wary & slightly unwilling allies, which slowly warmed into friendship, to a true, deep bond as they recognized each other as kindred spirits. It took almost the whole book for them to realize they were in love, & I was totally here for how realistic it felt. No instalove here!

TISANNAH WAS SO DRIVEN and determined to reach her goals. I loved her thought process and how level-headed she was about all of her past horrible experiences. The way she reacted to things made her such an understated badass! I LOOOOOVE a good trainer-trainee trope, and this book definitely hit the nail on the head for me, so I highly recommend if you also enjoy an exploration of this type of relationship! The weapon is a sentient being named Reshayethat occupies Tisaanah’s mind. Reshaye shows Tisaanah visions from its past and its time with Max. During this time, Tisaanah sees a vision of what truly happened in Sarlazai – that Nura used her mind magic to force Max’s mental walls down and let Reshaye free, who unleashed destruction across the city. She also sees the truth of what happened to Max’s family – that Reshaye, in a possessive rage, murdered them using Max’s body. But the next morning, after Max leaves, Reshaye realizes what happened between Max and Tisaanah and flies into a jealous rage. It disappears, leaving Tisaanah without its power. On one fateful day, Tisaanah at last reaches her goal of earning one thousand gold coins. However, when she presents the money to Esmaris, he is furious. He never expected her to meet his absurd price, and is furious that she would even try. He whips Tisaanah severely in punishment, and as Tisaanah watches her dreams crumble, she realizes that he will not stop until he beats her to death.My favourite characters are Tisaanah, Max, Reshaye, Nura and Sammerin with my favourite overall being Tisaanah as she's just a very well-written character, though I do have a soft spot for Reshaye. I am really eager to know what will happen to the two main characters next, and I am also very curious to discover who is against them and who wants to use them, and for what purpose. It is made clear in the last part of the book that someone is using them, but I am not sure yet how many people are involved in this deception and what are the motives of the “bad guy”. Women always come in here looking at the pretty bows or the little dainty daggers and those kinds of asinine things. But I thought… well. She seemed interesting.”

Why have I never heard about this book before last month? It was SO GOOD. You all need to read this series!! I personally found the second half was stronger than the first half. There’s something that was introduced that made me want to keep reading. Watching Tisaanah grow more into herself and learn to embrace her scars (literally) was probably one of the most satisfying things about this book. Her development throughout the book and the way she was fighting to get a grip to her reality even with specific someone controlling her mind and practically taking over her body was so messy and yet perfect and raw and sad all at the same time!! Like I want to give her the biggest hug ever for all that she's been through and all that I know Carissa will put her through in the coming books 😭🫂🥺💕 broadbent knows how to write strong ass fmcs!!! tisaanah was sold as a slave but she’s seen as substandard due to having patches of tan and pale skin and is considered not valuable as a slave even tho she is considered part valtain(magic wielder). nonetheless, after 12 years, she’s ready and saved up to buy her freedom but disaster strikes as it becomes her life or her master’s life. she ends up fleeing to a different land?island? (don’t ask me idk) she’s so selfless it was honestly admirable, she had endured so much yet was willing to return and face the land that once held her captive and save others from dealing with what she dealt with. also the way she was so powerful. i was in awe. There were parts of it that really gripped me and parts that felt somewhat underdeveloped. But thinking about it and comparing it to a lot of fantasy romances that have been published these past few years, this had a really solid start for me. It had me engaged enough to want to continue on with the series because I can only see it getting better.

Our main characters have major Celaena Sardothien x Rowan Whitethorn vibes, so I think that this book is perfect for Throne of Glass lovers. The fact that they’re both forced to train together and Max wants absolutely nothing to do with Tisannah until she eventually grows on him 👀… the forced proximity, the months of training together, the friendship that forms… AHH I LOVED IT ALL ❤️

You all don't know how much it physically pains me to rate a book by the queen of authors Carissa herself anything less than four stars but oh well. Also I apologize in advance for how confusing this review is because I have.... feelings about this book 🥲🔫Plus, their torturously slow burn romance did turn a bit 🌶 spicey 🌶 by the end and made all my agonising shouts at 3am to “JUST BLOODY KISS ALREADY” entirely worth it. Despite being a rather heavy read due to the slavery and war that drive the majority of the plot, I had a really great time reading this. There were a number of references to the gods and faeries as well, so I’m interested to see more development in regards to the world-building. And I’m very invested in these characters and where their story will go. Max is very broody at first, refusing to help but he becomes a great MMC with lots of complexities and ever loyal. I specially appreciated how Miss Broadbent handled sensitive topics such as abuse and rape and Tissanah's complicated emotions towards her former master. Her personality is not flawless, her insecurities are not brushed under the rug and most importantly, her traumatic experiences don't disappear after a few chapters. That night, Tisaanah and Max open up to each other. Max tells her about how, during the darkest time of his life, he stumbled into a café that was showcasing paintings of the artist’s wife. He said that they were terrible, but the obvious love and joy in them moved him deeply, especially since they were dated to the same day that his family died – it was a reminder that such joy and love existed, even in the same moments as horrible things. Tisaanah tells him that he can’t give up on his journey either, and – finally!– they make love.