My Rating for A Twist of the Blade by S.M. Gaither
This review might contain small spoilers
Favorite Quotes:
“When you were hanging from that bridge, I thought for a moment that you might let go. And that was the moment I realized…if you had let go, I would have too. I would have let go of any plans I had. I wouldn’t have cared about that mission the Rook God gave me, or about the consequences of falling myself. If you had fallen, then…” He breathed in deep, collecting himself. If you had fallen, then nothing else would have mattered.”
The night air howled around them. She shivered, and he drew her closers, and she was struck by the warmth that radiated from his body; how was it that the once God of Death made her feel so warm and alive?”
“A feeling of resilience abounded, but it was difficult to acknowledge such a thing without being aware of the darkness that had preceded it.”
A Twist of the Blade is a 4-star fantasy romance read for me.
Again, Fantastic Characters. The characters continue to improve and build throughout the story. I loved getting the motivations for Nessa, Zev, and Rhea. Those details added relevancy to the character arc of each of their own characters while still contributing to Cas and Elander’s arcs.
Lacking Character Presence. I will say that the story loses some focus on Rhea and Laurent. I would have liked to see each of the main side characters have a little more stage presence. It would have deepened my investment in them a little bit more, especially where Rhea is concerned. I found myself less interested in what happened to her even after she was injured. I hurt for how it impacted Cas, but Rhea might as well have not bee in the book at all. And the same for Nessa. Laurent was used a little more, but the story mostly focused on new characters and Zev when it came to secondary characters.
A Great Plot Twist. While I guessed some of the twists, there was one that left me with my mouth wide open. It’s not often that a book completely surprises me with a twist, and this one did just that. I loved the way a smaller detail from the first book was brought back in as the root of Cas’ magic. It was a brilliant use of world-building and characterization, and it was executed very well.
Great Romance Banter. Cas and Elander have this effortless give and take that makes their relationship progress naturally despite the challenges they’re face. Their banter flows well, and it left more more invested in their romance.
Needs More Elander POVs. The story would have been a 5-star for me if Elander had been given a little more room to shine with is internal thoughts. We see so much of their relationship from Cas’ POV in this book, and I think this has made some readers a little less invested in their relationship. Elander makes a significant sacrifice for Cas, but we don’t get a build up of his own thoughts to show that progression with a more natural build. The ending would have been significantly stronger with more from him. I wanted to see that struggle on the pages from his POV and how he progresses from the typical morally gray character to one willing to sacrifice all he has known for centuries to save Cas’ life.
More Plot Driven This Time. While the first book in the series is more character-driven, this book is more plot-driven. Some people might take issue with this. It really comes down to personal presence. I happen to love both types of books, so I was still invested in what was happening.
Loses Focus On The Mental Health Representation. Cas just kind of gets over her anxiety pretty quickly once she embraces her power. There’s even a line about how she actually replaces it by building her magic in her hands. I feel like this could have been fleshed out a little more to make the progression more natural and real to life. The mental health representation started out great with Cas and Nessa having nightmares and leaning on each other, but then that part of the story fizzles out. I would have liked to see Gaither return to it and show a progression of coping mechanisms rather than replacing it entirely with Cas’ ability to summon magic in the place of anxiety.
Complex World-Building. I love how Gaither world builds. It is damn near flawless. She has an amazing ability to bring smaller details back into the story in much larger ways. I have several thoughts on what is going to happen as the story evolves, and I can’t wait to keep reading it to see if I’m right!
Overall. Absolutely loved this book. I was hooked from the beginning and finished it in one day. I will definitely continue reading the series and reviewing each of the five (I think) books. This series has a chokehold on me, and I can’t wait to see how Gaither surprises me in the next book.