Blade of Two Faces • Blake Blessing

One phrase: murder trials and morally complicated men ⚔️🖤

Well. Here we are.

And I need you to understand that Blade of Two Faces was a traumatic ride from beginning to end, and I mean that with every ounce of love in my body.

This book was chaos. Glorious, addictive, page turning chaos. The kind that has your heart racing, your stomach dropping, your jaw on the floor, and your fingers flying because stopping is simply not an option.

Mulan meets Gladiator in a why choose romantasy?

Say less. I’m seated.

Our FMC flees her rotting kingdom with revenge on her mind and a truly horrifying brother behind her. She disguises herself as a man, which is bold considering the lilac hair and lilac eyes are not exactly low profile, but honestly, desperate times. I respected the commitment.

She thinks she is heading toward safety.

She is not.

Instead, she walks straight into a kingdom holding Imperial Trials for the military and crown, and before she can fully process what is happening, she is thrown into the competition herself.

No warning.
No mercy.
Just immediate mortal peril.

And from that point on? Everyone is trying to kill her. Constantly. In every direction. Every time she turns around, another threat. Another fight. Another impossible choice.

I loved it.

Now let’s talk about the men.

There are four ruthless heirs with hidden agendas, and calling them love interests feels generous because most of this book they are actively attempting to end her life. This is not casual enemies to lovers. This is enemies to lovers with the enemies part turned all the way up and left there until the last possible second.

And yet.

The tension? The violence? The obsession simmering underneath all that hostility?

I was hooked.

What I loved most was watching her grow a spine in real time. She starts the story running, hiding, and surviving by pure desperation. But slowly, she stops shrinking. She starts standing up, talking back, refusing to be silent, and somehow that only makes these dangerous men want her head even more.

Naturally, she keeps talking.

Iconic.

And that ending?

Criminal. Emotionally devastating. Head banging against the wall behavior.

I need book two immediately. That is not a request. That is a plea to the universe.

✨ Tropes and vibes:
⚔️ Mulan meets Gladiator
🖤 why choose romantasy
👑 Imperial Trials
🗡 disguised as a man
🔥 enemies to lovers
💀 “he might kill me” tension
😈 morally complicated heirs
👀 hidden agendas
🌪 constant chaos
💔 revenge driven FMC
🩸 deadly competition
😭 brutal cliffhanger

📚 Read this if you like:
Why choose fantasy, deadly trials, fierce heroines, men who may or may not be trying to romance you while also trying to murder you, revenge plots, disguises, political chaos, and endings that make you question your emotional stability.

This was feral, chaotic, traumatic, addictive, and exactly the kind of romantasy that makes me need the next book in my hands immediately.

#BladeOfTwoFaces #BlakeBlessing #WhyChooseRomance #RomantasyBooks #BookReview

I absolutely devoured this debut fantasy written by Blake Blessing . From the very first chapter, I was completely drawn into Ellis’s (FMC) harsh reality and the danger she’s forced to elude. I was so angry for her and I could instantly feel how trapped she was and her desperate need to escape. To survive, she hides everything about herself (including the fact that she is female) and steps into a series of brutal games/competitions tied to power and royal succession. In this game nothing and no one can be trusted. The tension is unreal and constantly mounting. Especially with the group of heirs (our MMC’s) constantly coming for Ellis as a primary rival and due to an inexplicable draw they all feel towards each other. Each one of the MMC’s is distinct, layered, and impossible to fully read as alliances shift and suspicion runs high. I loved how individual all the key characters felt, especially in a genre where MMC’s can easily blur. This is something I feel like Blessing truly shines at as an author.

The slow-building attraction layered under all the hostility only made things more intense with each passing chapter. Ellis herself is a standout FMC. She is resilient, sharp, and shaped by everything she’s survived instead of being defeated by it. I would be remiss to write a review without noting her familiar, who absolutely stole every scene with humor, loyalty, and surprising depth. The world is rich with mystery, from its politics to its magic system, and it constantly feels like there’s something bigger just out of reach. By the end, I was left with so many questions and a serious need for the next book. This one definitely hooked me hard.

Well. Here we are. And I need you to understand something before I say anything else. This book was a traumatic ride from beginning to end and I mean that with every ounce of love and enthusiasm I am capable of generating. The kind of traumatic that has you turning pages so fast your fingers can barely keep up, the kind that makes your heart race and your stomach drop and your jaw land somewhere on the floor while you just keep going because stopping is simply not an option.
This book was everything I love rolled into one gloriously chaotic package and I am not even a little bit sorry about how attached I got to it.
Let me walk you through what is happening in this story because it is a lot and it is wonderful. We have a woman running away from her kingdom and from a brother whose mind has gone to places that are genuinely sick and terrifying. She makes the very logical and very bold decision to disguise herself as a man, which, fair enough, except for the small complication of her lilac hair and lilac eyes, which are not exactly the most common or inconspicuous features in any kingdom. She does it anyway because she is brave and desperate and out of options, and I respect her enormously for it.
She sneaks into what she thinks is going to be a safe haven and instead stumbles directly into a kingdom that is actively holding trials for the military and the crown. And before she can even fully process what she has walked into, she is tossed into those trials herself. Just thrown in. No warning, no preparation, no mercy. And from that moment forward, everywhere she turns, someone is trying to kill her. Every single direction. Constant mortal peril. Absolute chaos. I loved it.
Now let us talk about the love interests because this is where things get genuinely complicated and I am here for every second of the complication. There are four of them. Maybe. I say maybe because calling them love interests feels generous given that for the vast majority of this book they are actively trying to end her life. This is not your typical enemies to lovers situation where there is some tension and some bickering and then a slow thaw into feelings. No. This is enemies to lovers taken to its absolute logical extreme, where the enemies part is so fully committed and so relentlessly sustained that you spend the entire book wondering if anyone is going to make it out of this alive, let alone fall in love. Up until the very last pages these men are trying to kill her. Every single one of them. And yet. And yet there is something there, something crackling underneath all of that violence and hostility that keeps you completely riveted and desperately wanting to know what happens next.
What I loved most about our female main character is that she grew her spine throughout this story in real time and you get to watch every single moment of it. She arrived running and hiding and surviving by the skin of her teeth. And somewhere along the way she stopped shrinking. She started standing up for herself. She started running her mouth, saying exactly what she thought, refusing to be silent or invisible or small, and the absolutely unhinged result of that is that it made these wild and dangerous men want her head even more. She kept talking anyway. I adore her completely.
And that ending. That ending. I am not going to spoil it for you because you deserve to experience the full emotional devastation of it yourself, but I will tell you that it is the kind of ending that has you staring at the last page in disbelief and then banging your head against the wall because you need book two immediately and it is not here yet. The audacity of ending a book like that and making us wait is genuinely criminal behavior and I will be thinking about it until the next installment is in my hands.
I need book two now. That is not a request. That is a desperate and heartfelt plea to the universe. If you love fantasy with a fierce and unapologetic female main character, with chaos and trials and morally complicated men who may or may not be trying to romance you while also trying to murder you, then Blade of Two Faces needs to be your next read. Pick it up. Prepare yourself. And maybe have something nearby to bang your head against when you get to the end. You are going to need it.

I absolutely had the time of my life reading this book. From the very beginning I was enthralled by Ellis and the gritty dark of her life/situation, and I was constantly left on the edge of my seat with never a dull moment! The MMC's were all so diverse and intriguing and I seriously cannot wait for the next book to dive deeper into their personalities and their relationship with Ellis. Oh, and I can't leave out mention of Marin, Ellis's familiar who is absolute perfection. Their banter had me in stitches!
Ugh, seriously, this book was so good and I will be going stir crazy for more!

This is a why choose, fantasy romance and the first book on a series.

We start off with a FMC who escapes abuse and then has to hide her identity. There are trials, enemies and so much intrigue.

I’m absolutely loving this series so far, can’t wait to read the next one!!!

ARC Review

A very compelling first book of a fantasy series, that absolutely pulled me in and glued me to the pages!

Having escaped from a cruel kingdom, where even as royalty she was abused, she now needs to survive in a new world that she had no idea existed beyond the walls of her old home. Unfortunately surviving means disguising herself as a man and being dragged into deadly trials for a mate and more importantly the crown. Seeing this as her chance to possibly change the world and exact her revenge on those that wronged her, she will be as cunning and ruthless as possible to gain this power, but those competing will not make it easy for her.

The story starts off feeling a little YA with the dramatic inner thoughts of the FMC, but after a very intense set of events early in the book, it falls into the more adult category. Our FMC feels very real, with her reactions and choices feeling absolutely appropriate to what she endures. She’s also not a perfect character, her flaws are apparent, we don’t shy away from her mistakes and traumas, instead she processes them (or doesn’t) and grows into herself.

The first swap to a different POV was a little jarring as we had been with our FMC for a while, but it quickly found its place in the story. The MMCs are all very different, each with their own semi hidden agendas, that we learn more about with time and the helpful multiple POV. Knowing this is a series, we get to know some backstory of each of the MMCs, their motivations and traumas, but things remain vague, I’m definitely waiting on the deeper heart to hearts with the FMC in the future to tell me more accurately who they are at their core. As this is the first book of the series I think I know who our main MMC are, but I can’t say for certain that things won’t progress in the next books after reading into what seem to be a few subtle hints of wider interest.

At this point our MCs are remaining solidly in the enemies category. We get so many moments of the MMCs almost eliminating the FMC in these trials, but something always seems to get in the way. There is so much wonderful tension with daggers at throats as they antagonize each other, that I can’t wait for this slow burn thread to snap and things to get spicy!

This book did a great job with the pacing, world building, and retention of curiosity that had me glued to the pages. There was political court maneuvering from the start, then the additional layer of trial contestant dynamics, while also building a whole fantasy world with unknown parameters. It was such a smart move to have the reader learn together with the FMC what this new world entails, it kept me curious and engage with an FMC that asked the right questions. Nothing about the world building felt overwhelming, but it did feel a little incomplete in moments, mostly surrounding the names being used, often of some deity or another, I look forward to getting more answers in the next book.

I have a lot of questions about the progression of events at the conclusion of the deadly Imperial Trials. It left me feeling very suspicious of the choices made by those running the trials and I want to know what the results will be or how things could possibly go absolutely sideways, I have my theories. We’re also left with so many tumultuous feelings from all the MCs as they have all only just started processing what they’ve been through in these trials. There were some very intense internal reveals from multiple of the MMCs and a hell of a cliffhanger!

Book 2 is need in my hands ASAP! Pretty please!!

Thank you so much to the author and to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC!

I read this book in a single day, and now I’m desperately waiting for book two!

This book is dark , why choose, Romantasy.

One of my favorite things about Blade of Two Faces was the pacing. There was never a dull moment. Every chapter revealed a new piece of the puzzle, a new challenge, or another layer of intrigue that kept me turning pages long after I planned to stop.

Ellis is an incredibly likable FMC. She’s intelligent, resilient, and willing to take risks when it matters most. Despite everything thrown her way, she never loses her compassion, making her easy to root for from beginning to end.

The multiple MMCs are equally compelling. Each of them brings something different to the story, and the more we learn about them, the more intriguing they become. Their individual personalities, motivations, and secrets add so much depth to the overall story.

The stakes are incredibly high, with deadly trials, fierce competition, and the promise of being crowned and mated awaiting the victors. Add in magic, familiars, and plenty of danger, and there’s always something exciting happening.

This is a true slow-burn romance, so don’t expect instant gratification. The tension builds steadily throughout the story, and it’s that anticipation and chemistry that kept me completely invested.

The ending left me needing answers immediately, and I cannot wait to see where this story goes next.

This was terribly fun and propulsive - the introductory chapters were a bit rough thematically (very much reminded me of Perrault's Donkeyskin) and with some of the POV switches and my sense of Ellis' sense of the worldbuilding (if that makes sense - purposefully jarring the reader to mirror the main character), and then the narrative hit the ground running. I cannot say how SEATED I am for the sequel. Like, ridiculously here for it.

More now please. This one had me hooked in from the start. Oh, I knew it was going to be good. I would already be in the second book if I had it.
The first 10%~ had some strong sexual assault going on so check your TW. Then it's mostly just bullying.
We have our princess being abused, escape into the monster riddled woods as her last resort. When she thinks she'll die from her lack of survival skills, she's found and saved by a familiar!! (maybe my fave relationship in the book!), and he helps her get to a town to wash up. Seeing how women aren't treated any better in this new world, she decides she'll try life out as a man til she figures out how to get started in this new land. Of course, this is the same time the kingdom/s are starting a mandatory trial for the crown!! (or get thrown to the mines, or die trying, whatever comes first). Also, then there's going to be Mating Trials, so all the women are around flaunting their wares trying to catch a higher status with their snatch..
Our girl makes it through the trials by her wits and quick thinking, making enemies all along the way. The four (princes) of the regions of this realm have a secret alliance among themselves but she is convinced they're no better than anyone else and shouldn't win either, or catch any feminine suitors. Her new powers help her survive, and her enact her petty antics. She makes some friends, gets stuck under some blackmail, keeps getting cornered and bullied by the men, only to turn around and defend them when they're getting bullied. As the men get more focused on her (to destroy her, of course), they aren't all immune to the magnetic pull when they touch.. OH THE TENSION! Everyone thinks everyone else is evil, they want the other put in their place, no one wants to admit the attraction brewing, her male disguise causes even more hesitation on that front, but not completely!! So good.
Killian, the nutter, is of course my fave man. The crazies always pull me in.
This book one had no spice between our main characters (just tension and murdery vibes). But I ain't even mad cuz that plot was good!!
So glad I went for this ARC, thank you Netgalley! The ARC still had some minor typos/misspellings but not enough to think it wasn't edited or be too distracted. Some Elis vs Ellis, blueishbluish, a blut vs but. Minor things.