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    Blade of Secrets
    Blade of Secrets
    Blade of Secrets
    Ebook331 pages4 hours

    Blade of Secrets

    By Tricia Levenseller

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    In Blade of Secrets, a romantic YA fantasy adventure from the author of Daughter of the Pirate King, a teenage blacksmith with social anxiety is forced to go on the run to protect the world from the most powerful magical sword she's ever made.

    Eighteen-year-old Ziva prefers metal to people. She spends her days tucked away in her forge, safe from society and the anxiety it causes her, using her magical gift to craft unique weapons imbued with power.

    Then Ziva receives a commission from a powerful warlord, and the result is a sword capable of stealing its victims' secrets. A sword that can cut far deeper than the length of its blade. A sword with the strength to topple kingdoms. When Ziva learns of the warlord’s intentions to use the weapon to enslave all the world under her rule, she takes her sister and flees.

    Joined by a distractingly handsome mercenary and a young scholar with extensive knowledge of the world’s known magics, Ziva and her sister set out on a quest to keep the sword safe until they can find a worthy wielder or a way to destroy it entirely.

    Praise for the Bladesmith Duology:

    "An addictive page-turner. Loaded with action, betrayal, slow-burn romance—honestly, that is the best first kiss scene ever... Be prepared to laugh, cry, and gasp." — Mary E. Pearson, the New York Times-bestselling author of The Remnant Chronicles

    "Levenseller elevates her already intriguing fantasy world through her depiction of Ziva, whose anxiety will ring true for anyone who’s ever had a panic attack. Grab this and devour it." — Booklist, starred review

    "Blade of Secrets is an impactful, eye-opening journey of social anxiety that is flawlessly blended with Levenseller's signature flair for adventure and romance." —Bookstagram sensation Bridget Howard, @darkfaerietales_

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateMay 4, 2021
    ISBN9781250756794
    Author

    Tricia Levenseller

    Tricia Levenseller, New York Times-bestselling author of several YA fantasy novels, including Daughter of the Pirate King and The Shadows Between Us, grew up in Oregon, where she spent her childhood climbing trees and playing make believe. She now lives in Utah with her bossy dog, Rosy, where she writes full time. When she’s not writing or reading, Tricia enjoys putting together jigsaw puzzles, playing Overwatch and Sea of Thieves on her Xbox, and finding tasty restaurants to frequent.

    Read more from Tricia Levenseller

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    Reviews for Blade of Secrets

    4/5

    57 ratings7 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Blade of Secrets is a fun, fast-paced young adult fantasy adventure with an unconventional strong female protagonist. It’s a classic quest to keep a powerful magical object from falling into the wrong hands. Tricia Levenseller manages to put a fresh spin on this old and beloved fantasy trope.It’s got sword-fights, clever strategizing, haphazard plans, mad dashes from one near disaster to another, creative magic, a band of misfit heroes on the run, reluctant allies, plot twists, and morally good yet imperfect main characters. All these familiar fantasy genre tropes done right have me nostalgic for my old favorite fantasy reads. Finally, we have a female protagonist, Ziva, who not only stands up for herself, her sister, and what’s right, but also ends up the leader of our misfit bunch despite her social anxiety. Add to that action that keeps you on the edge of your seat and some wonderfully wicked plot twists, and you’ve got one memorable story.THE PREMISE:Ziva just wanted to forge magical weapons in the solitude of her forge until she’d made enough money for her and her sister (the only family she’s got left) to go live where no one knows them or will bother them. When she took a too-good-to-be-true commission to make a broadsword for a warlord, she outdid herself and accidentally made it too powerful to let fall into wrong hands. It could strike down enemies from afar and steal secrets of those it cuts. Unfortunately for Ziva, she also appears to have made it virtually indestructible. Whoops! On the bright side, she found the perfect name for her problematic blade: Secret Eater.When Ziva discovered the warlord had dastardly and dangerous plants, she and her sister, Temra, went on the run with the sword until they could find a way to destroy it. They hired the handsome mercenary, Kellyn, to provide protection as they travel. They also let Petrick, a scholar of magic (in a world with few individuals capable of magic) that wanted to document how Ziva’s magic works, tag along in the hopes that he would point them towards a way to destroy the sword. (They definitely didn’t let him come just because he could cook. That would be ridiculous.) Ziva, Temra, Kellyn, and Petrick are all well-rounded, full of surprises, loveable, impressive, and imperfect. By the end of the book, they’re three-dimensional and connected by emotionally complicated, messy, meaningful relationships. These loveable adventurers run from one disaster to another, fighting and thinking their way out of trouble.THE PROTAGONIST:Ziva is a semi-agoraphobic magical blacksmith that, despite her social anxiety and tendency towards panic attacks, is no pushover. She’ll brave her fears for her sister anyday. She also can’t help getting snarky when she’s mad (even if there’s some social-anxiety-driven panic afterwards). She’s got a real passion for her blacksmith work and the way she imbues weapons & other metal objects with unique magical properties is unpredictable, fascinating, and just plain cool. I think most introverts (and people in general) can relate to some of Ziva’s struggles: second guessing yourself, wishing to retreat to your own place where you don’t have to interact with new people, being afraid of venturing out into parts of the world you don’t have much experience with, and having trouble finding people you relate to. It was great to see Ziva come into her own and start to become a leader despite her anxiety. Levenseller also avoids the common mistake of having the protagonist’s social anxiety magically disappear part-way through the book. The anxiety is something she continues to struggle with even after gaining some confidence and braving the world beyond her comfort zone. She may struggle less than she used to after some character growth, but she doesn’t have a personality transplant. Her bravery, growth, and accomplishments are all the more impressive for it.THE ROMANCE:There is some love-triangle-free romance. The primary romance is between Ziva and Kellyn. It’s got banter and sparks and sweetness and all the feels. A decent amount of drama too. The romance isn’t rushed and there’s no explicit content (at least in this book).THE ENDING:After a twist roller coaster of a ride, there’s a big climactic showdown full of surprises and action. Things get surprisingly morally and emotionally complicated near the end. While the main plot arc is (mostly) resolved at the end, you’re left in suspense about the fate of one of the main characters. It’s quite the cliffhanger, but it didn’t feel forced, manipulative, or depressing. I can’t wait to read the sequel!WARNINGS: violence, death, panic attacks, death of parents (mentioned, not shown), social anxiety, phobiasI received a free paperback advanced reader copy of this book via BookishFirst. I am writing this review completely honestly and voluntarily.
    • 4/5
      This book was straight up amazing! It sounded right up my alley when I first read the synopsis and I'm glad to say that it lived up to those expectations. I really do love that it has a little bit of everything, drama, romance, sisterly love and that it doesn't shy away from talking about mental health.I also will say that it was refreshing to have a main character that wasn't already a princess, or a spy, or an assassin, maybe its just me, but those tend to get a bit overdone. Or maybe I just read a lot of books with that set up. Either way it was nice that we had a MC that was just darn good at her job to start off with.The only thing that makes me nervous from here is weather or not the sequel will live up to the first book because this was so good! And I really don't want it to suffer from sequel syndrome (lookin' at you Hidden Huntress <.<). So until then I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that Levenseller will come out with another stunner here soon!
    • 5/5
      I loved this book and this story. I've always liked Tricia Levenseller and her writing, but this one, this was one of the best, maybe the best of her work yet that I've read. I cannot wait to read the rest of this story! I love, love, LOVE this story, and Ziva, she's one of my favorites and she and Kellyn are so great together - definite swoon-worthy romance in this book.
      This is quite an original and unique story that I love! I love how Ziva has social anxiety in this story - I mean I don't wish anxiety/social anxiety on anyone - I know what anxiety's like and it's not fun. While I haven't known or experienced much about social anxiety, I believe this is an accurate depiction of what it might be like for someone with social anxiety - some of what is described that Ziva deals with is the same that I deal with except that I don't have as much of the issues with the social aspect. I can so relate to Ziva and I love having this represented in a character in an awesome fantasy story.
      Ziva and her sister live together alone since their parents have died running a blacksmith shop with Ziva as the smithy with magical powers and her sister runs the front desk, dealing with the people and everything while Ziva makes the weapons and imbues them with her magic. One day Ziva has a warlord that commissions a weapon from her and what she ends up making is a terrible weapon with powers from her secrets being poured into it. After Ziva realizes what the weapon does and what the warlord wants, she and her sister head out to escape the warlord. Ziva and her sister are accompanied by Kellyn, the mercenary, and Patrick, the scholar, and on their journey, they get to know themselves and each other as they form friendships and relationships. I laughed, I cried and it was an emotional rollercoaster ride that left me with all the feelings and a book hangover.
      If you haven't had a chance to check this out, then hurry and go get it and read it now! Thanks so much to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group - Feiwel & Friends for letting me read and review this fabulous book. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
    • 4/5
      I was enjoying this immensely until I got close to the end and realized it was gonna be a cliffhanger.
    • 5/5
      Blade of Secrets by Tricia Levenseller is the type of novel I wish existed when I was an actual young adult. Not only does Ziva have cool powers, but she also has severe social anxiety. It is so refreshing to have a heroine who doesn’t doubt herself so much as she understands that her fears while irrational are still very real for her. Even better, we see her succumbing to those fears time and again, making it one of the few novels to show that it is okay for our heroes to fail. As if that isn’t amazing enough, we also get to see how her sister and friends accept her neurodivergence, protect her where possible, and accommodate her at all times. Plus, it is just a really good story.
    • 4/5
      Intriguing characters, equally interesting plot. Two orphaned sisters, one with unusual magic that she crafts into weapons she forges, but who has real difficulty around anyone except her sister. When a very powerful warrior woman contracts to have her craft the ultimate weapon, her momentary distraction by a handsome sellsword changes everything, leading to a dangerous journey and revelations about their past, as well as their companions. The ending is a tad abrupt for me, but I expect the next book will satisfy very nicely.
    • 5/5
      Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Bladesmith series, this is a planned duology. I got a copy of this to review through NetGalley.Story (5/5): I loved this story so much. It features an anxiety-riddled blacksmith, Ziva, who accidentally makes a super powerful sword for a warlord who ends up having evil intentions. Ziva and a cast of crazy characters flee town in order to find a way to destroy or protect the sword. This was full of a lot of adventures, some politics, a bit of romance, and some neat blacksmithing info.Characters (5/5): I loved the characters here. I could totally relate to Ziva and loved the tight bond she has with her sister. They are joined by a scholar and a mercenary on their journey who are both incredibly well done. I love how Ziva’s traveling companions learn the best ways to interact with Ziva. All these characters are fun to read about and you meet many more interesting ones on Ziva’s adventure. Setting (5/5): The world-building here is very well done but pretty typical “fantasy world” in style. I enjoyed the discussion of how magic works and enjoyed the amazing cities we adventure to. The description is very well done and I never struggled to picture the settings.Writing Style (5/5): I have read most of Levelseller’s other books (not “The Shadows Between Us'' but everything else) and really love her writing style. Her writing style just really works for me. It’s a wonderful balance of excellent world-building, intriguing magic, amazing characters, exhilarating adventure, and just flat-out good storytelling. This book was completely engaging and effortless for me to read, I loved it! My Summary (5/5): Overall I absolutely adored this book, it was another amazing adventure fantasy (I have read quite a few awesome adventure fantasies this year!). If you are a fan of adventure fantasy, definitely pick this book up, it’s so well done. I absolutely cannot wait to read the next book in this series! I also immediately went and bought “The Shadows Between Us” since that was the only Levenseller book I hadn’t read yet.

    Book preview

    Blade of Secrets - Tricia Levenseller

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