Book Review : Blade of Two Faces By Blake Blessing

 Romantasy is hit or miss for me.  When I saw Blade of Two Faces pop up from Macmillan Audio on NetGalley, I REALLY wanted to request it, but I wasn't sure I'd get approved - so in a bit of discipline, I just scrolled by. 

Macmillan Audio then delighted me with a Widget for the book!  (A widget is a link that allows a reader to access it on NetGalley without submitting a request.)  So, of course I took this as a sign, and I downloaded the book. 

The cover was designed by Gabrielle Ragusi  who has done quite a lot of work for fantasy book covers and also for those special collectors editions. There is no mention of AI use or not on her page, but based on her covers, history, and business, this does not seem to be AI generated- and here is a POST from her own website discussing some of her process. Her work is very smooth and polished and I suspect she uses some computer generated techniques, but not Generative AI. 

Moving on.  

This book is advertised as some sort of a cross of Mulan and Gladiators.  I KNOW  that they like to market this way as it's possibly a hook for someone.  It was a hook for me. Mulan is my favorite thing that Disney ever did. This isn't Mulan. It really is so far from Mulan, that I found that was a major disappointment. No spoilers as to why, however. There is one big similarity and then pretty much everything else is not really the vibe or character of Mulan. 

That said, I did enjoy this audio book. And I think readers of primarily Dark Romance are going to be feral for it.   

    Blade of Two Faces is a bit of a dark and gritty novel following a Princess who escaped entirely vile circumstances. She's unwillingly swept up into a competition which she never wanted to enter, but- as a spunky, stubborn and clever princess- she is going to do her best to survive.  In doing that- she's going to have to present as a man. This leads to some very amusing moments where Blessing lets the readers in on the "joke" if you will, before all the main characters know, and that is just one thing I love. When I can feel in the know as the story unfurls, I am so excited as the characters get in on the secret. 

 I did feel that the beginning of the novel was perhaps a bit long and maudlin, but as the competition moves forward, relationships become more complex and the plot becomes much more interesting. I found myself drawn in further.  

   There is little in the way of romance here in this first book- in what seems to surely be a series to come, but the attraction of the main characters is obvious and, if one has read a lot of romantasy, it's easy to see where this may be headed.  I did find the instant, misunderstood attraction to work for the plot but to also be entirely unrealistic.  Personally, when I am in a near death experience, my nether regions aren't also tingling all at the same time, but it does work for the plot, and perhaps for someone else, that is a thing. By the end of the book, no romance is started between the characters who all have expressed some sort of attraction to each other. I think this will be a hit with hard core romantasy readers especially as the series unfolds.  Without book two, this fell a bit flat for me, but as a listener to many audiobooks, I can say that the story has a clear narrative arc, lots of details that will enhance a romantasy lovers enjoyment, and some character development that was better than your average romantasy! 

This was a multi-cast narration with Dylan Reilly Fitzpatrick, Marcio Catalano, Robert Hatchet, and Sarah Sampino.  I enjoyed all the narrators, and felt that they did not detract from the story. 

STATS

First Published: 11/17/2026

Pages: 432

Available as an Audio Book :  YES  ~15.5 hours

               Trigger Warnings: Alcohol use, smoking, death, body horror, vomit, animal harm, copious swearing, on page sex, murder, attempted incest, 

(this is not a full list, read responsibly)