April Wick Reads Too Much reviewed Broken Wings by L-J Baker
More serious than I expected from fantasy sapphic romance, in a good way
5 stars
Before I say much else, I should note that this book ought to be CW'd for homophobia, sexual assault, and violence. Not that it's particularly dark, and most of that is in the backstory, it's just not the fluff I expected when I started the book expecting a fantasy romance with faries and dryads.
Baker's characters - especially Rye - have a serious enough backstory to explain the relationship issues they work through over the course of the book. The fantasy realm where they live has serious problems with classism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, addiction... basically, all the real-world problems.
I was disappointed to not learn as much about Flora - it seemed like there was scope for more character development in her interactions with her family and friends.
Other things I liked: * There's a teenager in the story who mostly just does normal teenager things. * Rye repeatedly goes …
Before I say much else, I should note that this book ought to be CW'd for homophobia, sexual assault, and violence. Not that it's particularly dark, and most of that is in the backstory, it's just not the fluff I expected when I started the book expecting a fantasy romance with faries and dryads.
Baker's characters - especially Rye - have a serious enough backstory to explain the relationship issues they work through over the course of the book. The fantasy realm where they live has serious problems with classism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, addiction... basically, all the real-world problems.
I was disappointed to not learn as much about Flora - it seemed like there was scope for more character development in her interactions with her family and friends.
Other things I liked: * There's a teenager in the story who mostly just does normal teenager things. * Rye repeatedly goes to the local library for resources. (Woo-hoo, libraries!) * Food and cooking are... not quite central, but play a significant part in the book.
There's some real substance to this story, plausible real-world problems the characters have to face beyond whatever is going on in their relationship. Sometimes it's fun to read a purely escapist romance like what I expected, but overall I prefer this book as it is.
