Overall strong 3.5*. Interesting story and main character. Not bad storytelling. Not as flow-y as could be, but not bad either.

“A hurricane hidden in a summer rain”

Seventhblade by Tonia Laird was great read.

It was obvious from the get-go that T’Rayles (tee-rah-lees) was a strong character, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt that we had a bad b*tch on our hands when she pulled out a ramp from the ground and ate it in chapter two.

In all seriousness, there was a lot to love about Seventhblade: an older main character, a revenge plot, feminine berserker rage, magical weapons, a character who is an actual god, and found family - just to name a few.

This did give me prequel vibes, like the next installment in the series is where the real adventures begin, but I was so satisfied with Seventhblade that I will happily read more from this world Laird has created.

Thank you to ECW Press & NetGalley for the advance copy for my honest review!

My thanks to NetGalley and ECW Press for an advance copy of this fantasy book about a woman trying to get revenge for a wrong, set in a society that has no use for her, a society that this woman has no problem tearing down, no matter the cost.

My parents loved books and one day at a very young age I was looking for something to read. I was young but reading was, as is it pretty much is now, everything to me. I know I was reading the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, really anything I could get my hands on. This was an adult book, one my father found in his college cafeteria, and one I knew he enjoyed. The book was The Hobbit, and this combined with seeing Star Wars six or seven months later pretty much determined my reading habits for the next 15 years. I loved fantasy books, read everything I could find. Until in my 20's I found myself burned out. The books were getting all the same. Really long, no real endings, and all with the same kind of themes, and with rare exceptions, drawing on the same ideas. Over the last few years I have come back to fantasy stories, as the writing has changed immensely. There are fresh voices, fresh ideas, and these stories fill me with same wonder and awe that I felt when I was just starting out. Combine that with great writing, and one is going to have a time reading, just like I did with this book. Seventhblade by Tonia Laird is a story of revenge, with a people being held down by those who think they know best, and a woman who will destroy it all in memory of her child.

T’Rayles is returning to her village, a village that she has not felt welcome in due to heritage, but one in which she has found love with her husband and adopted son. The smell of smoke causes her to stop. This is not just a fire, but a funeral pyre for the friend of her son, who was killed by a forest creature. T’Rayles is told that her son also died in the woods, his body shredded by the creature, but T’Rayles has her doubts. Doubts that soon fade as she finds her son's body, with stab marks not made by a savage creature, but by humans. T’Rayles demands revenge, and her path eventually brings her to the town of Seventhblade a city built by the colonizers of her land to control and export resources from the native land. T’Rayles heritage is different from most, which makes her angry at the system that exploits so much. T’Rayles has ties to different groups, some that talk of rebellion, but are making too much money to really want trouble. There is an exiled God who through her husband's interference has taken an interest in her, but he has his reasons also. The more T’Rayles learns the more she realizes that things are a lot darker and deeper than she knows, and revenge might come with a savage cost.

A book that has a familiar theme of revenge, but from there goes into a lot of different places. I like how the story slowly unfolds. We don't even learn how to say the characters name until a few chapters in. Which I thought was good, as by then we are invested in knowing more. The language of T’Rayles is based on the language of Indigenous people of Canada, which seemed so novel I wonder why few had thought of that before. There are a lot of plots and subplots but Laird does a very good job of keeping things together, and the story moves well. There is a lot of sadness, loss, loss of culture, but I really enjoyed the story. This seems to be the start of a series, so I look forward to more.

Although the story was intriguing, the writing style felt a bit heavy for me—I would’ve preferred a faster pace. Still, it’s a book I’d recommend, and I hope other readers enjoy it.

Thanks for the ARC!

3.5 stars – A gritty, atmospheric debut with heart and history

Seventhblade is a dark, magic-laced fantasy that stands out for its depth, grit, and the cultural weight it carries. I was especially drawn to this book knowing that Tonia Laird is a Canadian and Indigenous author—it’s always exciting to see underrepresented voices adding something fresh and powerful to the fantasy genre.

The story follows T’Rayles, a fierce warrior from the Ibinnas, returning to a colonized city to avenge her son’s murder. There’s a lot of rich, layered world-building here, and I really appreciated how the narrative doesn’t shy away from exploring themes like settler colonialism and cultural erasure. The way Laird weaves that into the magic system and lore is honestly one of the strongest parts of the book.

That said, there were moments where the pacing threw me off—some scenes dragged while others felt a bit rushed. And while the prose is often vivid, it occasionally veers into being a little too descriptive, slowing down the momentum.

Still, it’s a promising debut. If you like your fantasy intense, morally complicated, and grounded in meaningful themes, Seventhblade is worth picking up. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for what Tonia Laird writes next.

four stars, considering this is the longest prologue i've ever read. but seriously, this book appears to be the first in a series, though that isn't stated. i highly recommend it for fans of thought-provoking fantasy series in general and/or girlboss fiction specifically. given the author's credits with the video games dragon age 2 and dai, i expect there will be many more interested readers.

the protagonist, a woman of mystic origins, is named t'rayles, "teh-rah-lees" (as introduced in chapter 7, but i had "trails" as my headcanon way before getting to chapter 7...reader beware).

the worldbuilding is excellent and worth the reader's time. the revenge plot for her adopted son's death wasn't satisfactorily resolved, in my opinion. neither was her character arc, but the groundwork appears to be in place for both in the next installment.

the story contains a number of character races with their own myths, religions, deities, and goals. racial tensions, racism, and discrimination are thematically prominent. who has power over whom, and for what reasons, make up a lot of the intrigue in the plot and worldbuilding. i found it to be thought provoking, in a good way. content spoiler alert for slavery, which cannot be minimized as a theme in any way, though it does not appear explicitly until the climax, and isn't treated in a positive way.

thank you for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.

Thank you ECW Press and Netgalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. I enjoyed this story! T’Rayle’s son was murdered. Now she returns to the colonized city of Seventhblade to find justice and vengeance on his killer. To do so she’ll have to align herself with questionable allies, who can she trust? She’ll also have to face a new enemy in a city that is on the edge. Can she find her son’s killer? And just how much is she willing to risk to do so? Fast paced, intriguing, and beautifully told! Tonia Laird’s world building was wonderfully depicted and really brought me into the story! A story of a mother’s grief that’s full of emotion and will have you in the feels!

I really want to read this book, but am unable to do so because the PDF format on my phone makes it basically unreadable.

I will purchase or borrow this book when available in other formats because I really liked what I did read and want to support the author.

If possible, please consider using the epub format in the future.

Thank you for giving me access to the ARC and all the best.

I unfortunately cannot review this book because I learned too late that NetGalley changed their file type/DRM, and as a reader who uses a Kobo e-reader and NOT a Kindle, I cannot load the file onto my Kobo. I can't utilize any of the other NetGalley provided options, as all the other options would mean reading on blue-light backed devices and reading for long periods that way gives me headaches. I also will not use the "I will not be giving feed back for this book" option for this explanation, as I refuse to let a decision that NetGalley made (without any warning whatsoever to us reviewers) impact my overall feedback ratio that I work hard to maintain. I hope this is met with understanding from the publisher, as I had every intention on reading and reviewing this title.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Im going to break my review into two parts: the revenge story plot and the world building. I think the story is interesting and keeps you entertained as you go through the sequence of events with the main character and I think the world building is interesting and unique. I think where the book could improve is blending those two together more. It felt like the main plot didn't require much of the fantastical elements to be told so much of the world building felt a little out of place for me. This book is at its best though when it's leaning into a mother's grief and her relationship/sons memories. Lots of emotion and works really well. Ultimately enjoyed this book but had this minor critique.

Review: A fairly fast paced novel with a grim beginning coupled with the rage of angst.

This is the authors first solo flight, and once seasoned, will be a force in the Fantasy Genre.