The Unbroken

De: C. L. Clark

Narrado por: Rasha Zamamiri

In an epic political fantasy unlike any other, two women clash in a world full of rebellion, espionage, and military might on the far outreaches of a crumbling desert empire.

Touraine is a soldier. Stolen as a child and raised to kill and die for the empire, her only loyalty is to her fellow conscripts. But now, her company has been sent back to her homeland to stop a rebellion, and the ties of blood may be stronger than she thought.

Luca needs a turncoat. Someone desperate enough to tiptoe the bayonet's edge between treason and orders. Someone who can sway the rebels toward peace, while Luca focuses on what really matters: getting her uncle off her throne.

Through assassinations and massacres, in bedrooms and war rooms, Touraine and Luca will haggle over the price of a nation. But some things aren't for sale.

©2021 C. L. Clark (P)2021 Orbit

Colonialism S U C K S

Heartbreakly and endearingly human. The characters are so well written and the storyline... I hope in this case life will imitate art one day soon. 12/10

Not fantasy

The story was interesting enough but lolled as the story progressed. Took me a very long to finish. It turned up in the second half though. Definitely some plot twists I didn’t expect. The book is described as fantasy but is more a war story with touch of magic. I also felt like magic was used a crutch to resolve certain conflicts. We really only saw it to save someone’s life. Although this wasn’t a romance, I didn’t feel the chemistry between Touraine and Luca.

I like that essentially there are no gender roles. This books underlying theme is violent women in positions of power.

I could tell from the beginning that Touraine was a bit naive of what’s really going on in this war. She’s a bit brainwashed. My biggest issue is that Touraine isn’t loyal. She goes where she’ll be accepted at the time. Between Touraine and Luca, it was bad decision after bad decision.

Who tipped the soldiers off where Touraine was? If the other soldiers found her bound, how did she kill the Beledaire soldier? Why wasn’t that brought up? What took Luca so long to ask questions at the hearing?

Great world building and details. It was a lot of characters to keep up with.

The narrator did a great job.

Not what I expected

This really seemed like something I would like, but I couldn’t finish it. I found it really slow, and while the narrator seemed to vary voices well, the third person narration seemed to repeat the same patterns of emphasis over and over. I was excited to read a fantasy novel with queer women as leads (and even a queer disabled woman), but there were too many meetings and discussions and I just didn’t find the characters or story compelling enough to continue.

Gut wrenching

Please give this series a read. It can be tough to read at some point but only in the best way possible. Amazing writing and even better voice acting. The whole series is good and the last of the series comes out this September 2025

love a sapphic, anti-colonialism fantasy

this gave me everything i needed. i am sad the sequel doesn’t drop on audible for another month and some change.

Historic Fiction, but Make it Fantasy

I was a bit nervous about this book, I don’t read a lot of “adult” fiction as I still enjoy young adult and new adult literature despite my age. However, my concerns quickly proved to be unwarranted. This book was amazing! Like, the kind of amazing that makes it impossible to fully describe without spoiling everything. I love all the representation they managed to put in the book without anything feeling forced; multiple LGBT characters, disable characters, and strong POC females! It was refreshing.

My favorite characters were Touraine and her mother, Jaghotai. Both are such strong, bad-ass women who have been through hell. Touraine was kidnapped as a small child by the Balladairan Empire and raised to be a mindless, obedient soldier. Jaghotai mourned the loss of her child with no body to bury, only to have that child come back nearly 20 years later and hang her brother for being a rebel. Touraine’s life was not easy in Balladaire; she was punished harshly as she was growing up, often for other people's infractions, and rewarded for good behavior, as though the military was training dogs – not children. Her goal for her future was to become a captain, the captain of the Sands. She believed that by doing so, she could protect them and better their lives. And perhaps it would have worked out for her, had it not been for her run in with the rebels. Everything changes rapidly and what follows is possibly one of the best examples of human resilience and personal discovery I have ever read.

If you are looking to read this novel because it is labeled as a “sapphic romance”, do not go into it expecting that. There is pining and the characters do seem to love each other (or at least the idea of each other), but romance is far from a focal point. The romance doesn’t even go anywhere in the long run. It’s much more action focused, taking the rebellion to the next level. The fighting scenes were well written, even if the descriptions for scents tended to be... disgusting.

The book seems to be influenced by the French occupation and colonization of North Africa there is no lack of realistic tension. The influence also helps as a segway into why everyone in the audio book is French; a fact that thoroughly confused my brain, but the narrator was fantastic. I am also rather pleased with how the book ended. No revolution is ever going to be bloodless, and I hate that we lost some truly wonderful characters, but it made it more impactful that way. I look forward to picking up the second book and continuing the series.

Brilliant !!!

This is such a tough, heartbreaking, and gorgeous novel! Clark’s ability to humanize even the worst characters is a real talent

Excellent Characters and World

Love it for the story, the world, AND the queer plot line. Can't wait for the sequel!

Refreshing yet familiar story

The author does an amazing job at making a brand new story feel like an old friend. Certain themes such as Colonialism, racism, classism, ableism are wonderfully explored in a world where monogamy, misogyny, homophobia, and gender persecution don’t seem to be the hold backs that “reality” present when those topics are explored.
Ex: No one is wondering if a woman should rule because she is woman, but rightfully the pain of experiencing ableism is explored without the “well she’s a woman” aspect being thrown in. In short it gives space to explore the themes of the book and to enjoy a world full of queer characters, female leaders, and non-binary folk even though the world is still full of discrimination. It’s very representative of real life where just because someone identifies as queer, does not mean they don’t harbor racist ideologies.
I would recommend this book over and over again. A lovely listen, and I can’t wait for the next series installment!

Excellent story with a satisfying ending

First, I think it's important to say that I mostly listened to this book while driving in my car, using my car's bluetooth. The narrator is a very talented voice actor who brings the story to life. I never once felt like someone was reading the story, more that it was being acted out for me. This meant she will sometimes fluctuate in pitch/volume as appropriate for the emotions she's performing. Unfortunately, this made some parts in the beginning very difficult to hear and understand so I had to rewind a lot and adjust the volume continuously for the first few chapters. But! Once I got used to it and more familiar with the accents I was able to understand everything perfectly without adjusting the volume and the experience was incredibly immersive. A note on the accents: I suspect they're French-inspired, but I am basically an idiot at recognizing accents so take that with a grain of salt.

As for the story, it was very well done. The world was very interesting and I hope there are *many* more books within this world - either as direct sequels, prequels, or totally different stories. The story made me laugh, cry, squeal with excitement, etc. The characters develop realistically; no one was perfect and no one suddenly became perfect. Throughout the bulk of the brewing conflict of the book, I was genuinely at a loss for how this author could possibly resolve the conflict without compromising the character of any of the protagonists. Wow! I was not disappointed! They kept me on my toes right until the very end and I am left more satisfied than I have been in a *very* long time after finishing a book.

Highly recommend this audiobook!