Pathfinder's Way: Volume 1 (The Broken Lands)

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Pathfinder's Way has an interesting setup, I just wish parts of the story had been better executed. This is a romance with.. very little actual romance, just the beginning of something that could develop into a more tender connection than whatever grew during the course of the story. The event starts and finishes at Royal Air Force Wyton, and is scheduled for the closest Saturday to the Mid-Summers Day. Due to the strenuous nature of this event, and the weather conditions a number of participants do not complete the course, although the percentage of finishers is increasing. There have also been more and more runners taking part

This always bothers me. I find it hard to believe anyone could be fooled. I will say that the author did make a genuine attempt to sell it however. As it turns out, those closest to her were not fooled, they simply decided not to give her up, and distance prevented Fallon from finding out. The best part of the book for me were the events that took place while Shea was on scouting trips with her new team. This made up a sizeable portion of the book and kept me reading. They are not holding onto her because she is a girl. They don't baby her. She proves that she is strong enough for the job. He does some questionable things that also...kind of....maybe don't bother me as much as they should… If you enjoyed WARPRIZE, this is a book for you. A word of warning though: this is a barbarian fantasy, and barbaric things happen. People get kidnapped, villages are purged, and people behave in a way consistent with their upbringing and position in life. There is no rape and most of the violence is of the survive in the wilderness kind, but it does get bloody.Months pass and Shea goes on with her life, until the elders in her village sell her out and she and her companions find themselves betrayed and offered to the warlord and his army as a tithe. Once again she finds herself held captive by Fallon and his men and once again she escapes. This time though, she hides herself right under his nose disguised as a boy, and a case of mistaken identity finds her serving in his army as a novice scout, where she excells, as she's right in her element. The people there are absolute JERKS and I don't know how Shea was able to have the self-control not to lead them into a nest of spinners, bc I know I wouldn't have been able to—whether it's a pathfinders duty or not. LIKE PAUL I NEVER THOUGHT I'D HATE A GUY NAMED PAUL SO MUCH.👿 The world-building is well-done and well-developed throughout the book. It's the usual fantasy setting, and it has a system of Lowlands and Highlands that I wish we knew more about. There are also some weird and creepy creatures roaming the woods and the Lowlands, and I like the more sinister vibe it gave to some parts of the book. It also helped to show how skilled and knowledgeable Shea was because she knew all about those creatures and tried to teach others to help them survive. It's so obvious that her best friend and mentor should have been the guy for her. They spent hours and hours together, they respect and trust each other even after seeing each other at their worst, and they've almost died countless times together. And they hold actual conversations (gasp!), ones that encourage growth and reflection rather than presenting as one giant power struggle. How could that not be the most intimate relationship of her life, especially considering the other options?! The toxic, cringey romance: There’s lip service to Fallon never taking a woman against her will, but he engages in kidnapping, keeps her by threatening to dismember her friends, and subjects her to weeks of physical hazing as a barbarian in training, all to break her will. Oh, and publicly spanks her at one point (what the what?!). I’m also at a loss to understand what Sheya sees in Fallon, other than his “whiskey eyes”… which is mentioned dozens of times. Which gets me to my biggest gripe…

As much as I was looking forward to him and Shae finally getting together, my love for Fallon was in jeopardy of falling with his treatment of her. I didn't like how he treated her when she denied him. I realize why he did it, and ultimately it was to push her in the right direction, it just seemed harsh. Says that men in his family always capture women and make them be their mistresses, partially because it "adds spice to the relationship"

Word History

okay....so you don't cosign mass murder but you're totally cool with passively watching it happen because this guy is....what? He closed with her, bearing down with his blade until her arms were shaking with the strain. His face was close to hers as their match became a test of strength. “Your stupidity is going to get everyone killed.”