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hazelmerevandran's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 Yes, we all love Judah... but Elly deserves all the hugs, oh and Gavin could use an ice pack.
acurtis5's review
5.0
Another wonderful addition to the series. I did not think that the world could get much more complex or beautifully developed, and yet it did. Judah's powers only grew more intense, and that was wonderful to witness. I love that this book has commentary on the government and how societies should be run--if we really look into it, it is very much so a critique of a awfully set-up socialist/communist system. It also has a lot to say about gender politics and the role of women (with a couple of nods to queer folk) within a society, which I particularly appreciated and feld they added a ton to the complexity of the story. My only qualm--we cut off right before the *big ending.* I know we are probably building to a third book but I was left so unsatisfied and wondering, like what the heck. Very intrigued to see where a third book will go.
violetrage's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Strong female characters that are not sexualized. This is almost, but not quite, grimdark. No sexual assault in this series so far, which is cool.
Love the cast of characters and the magic system. Looking forward to book 3.
Love the cast of characters and the magic system. Looking forward to book 3.
lookingforamandaa's review
3.0
3.5 stars
—
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced ebook in exchange for an honest review.
The Broken Tower follows the four characters that we got to know in the first book: Gavin, Elly, Judah, and Theron. But we start to follow a few others as well. I don’t know if it’s because we’re following so many different characters, or if it was just intended to be a more character focused than plot focused story, but I cannot give an accurate summary because literally nothing happened. Basically all of the characters were kidnapped and abused by one group of people or another at some point in this story. Some for a few days and other for most of the book. Judah learned more about her powers, but not really. She figured out on her own how to use her abilities in different ways from what she was taught in the first book, but none of it was explained really at all. Gavin just lets himself get abused and beat for most of the book and weirdly, so did Nate. The only characters that I actually liked in this book were Bindy (though I think she was dumb as heck for being so loyal to Nate) and Elly, who finally stands up to her brothers after once again letting them mistreat and abuse her.
I think the world is incredibly depressing, but also really well built and explained. We get to see more of the world because several of the characters are outside of Highfall. I liked seeing and learning about other parts of this world, but I’m frustrated that it didn’t seem to add anything to push the plot of this story forward. It felt like this was just more build up and getting things in place for a big conclusion while getting to know the characters even more.
Overall, I was a bit disappointed. After the big ending of the first book, I was excited to see what Gavin and Judah were going to do next. But they didn’t actually do anything. They just got ready to do things. The story was slow but I liked the characters enough that I was invested in what was going to happen to them. I think if you like character focused stories and fantasy books, you will absolutely enjoy this series.
—
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced ebook in exchange for an honest review.
The Broken Tower follows the four characters that we got to know in the first book: Gavin, Elly, Judah, and Theron. But we start to follow a few others as well. I don’t know if it’s because we’re following so many different characters, or if it was just intended to be a more character focused than plot focused story, but I cannot give an accurate summary because literally nothing happened. Basically all of the characters were kidnapped and abused by one group of people or another at some point in this story. Some for a few days and other for most of the book. Judah learned more about her powers, but not really. She figured out on her own how to use her abilities in different ways from what she was taught in the first book, but none of it was explained really at all. Gavin just lets himself get abused and beat for most of the book and weirdly, so did Nate. The only characters that I actually liked in this book were Bindy (though I think she was dumb as heck for being so loyal to Nate) and Elly, who finally stands up to her brothers after once again letting them mistreat and abuse her.
I think the world is incredibly depressing, but also really well built and explained. We get to see more of the world because several of the characters are outside of Highfall. I liked seeing and learning about other parts of this world, but I’m frustrated that it didn’t seem to add anything to push the plot of this story forward. It felt like this was just more build up and getting things in place for a big conclusion while getting to know the characters even more.
Overall, I was a bit disappointed. After the big ending of the first book, I was excited to see what Gavin and Judah were going to do next. But they didn’t actually do anything. They just got ready to do things. The story was slow but I liked the characters enough that I was invested in what was going to happen to them. I think if you like character focused stories and fantasy books, you will absolutely enjoy this series.
zdkb24's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
abeorning's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
hazelmerevandran's review
5.0
4.5 Yes, we all love Judah... but Elly deserves all the hugs, oh and Gavin could use an ice pack.
katie_bee2's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
damnedmuddle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mermaidreef's review
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I'm still not quite sure what to make of this tbh
Pros:
-I really like her writing style. Matter-of-fact and often just states how characters are feeling and thinking, but in a way that allows for some imagining on the part of the reader. No heavy-handed descriptions, just simple statements of fact, which is refreshing. Kind of evokes a "fairy-tale narrator" sort of feeling - a distinct narrator who is a layer removed from the action of the POV characters
-I love the way dialogue and interactions are scripted - the characters interact in a way that feels organic and natural and never contrived or silly. It's because of that that I continued to read - I liked being a part of these interactions and liked the way they felt.
-I like that the characters are not created to be "likable" - this is something I encounter a lot in fantasy where there are characters created to be liked and characters created to be disliked. There was none of that here, which is refreshing
Cons:
-nothing really happened. While this installment builds on the breadth of the world, it almost felt like filler or setting up for future events. The book, despite being almost 500 pages, feels like a prequel or maybe half of a book.
-this could be fine if the main construction of the story was more heavily propelled by real growth on the part of the characters. Apart from one character who stands out as an exception (miss elly) I can't say that the characters really grew or changed very much over the course of the book. Because of this, a lot of parts dragged or were just uninteresting because they felt unnecessary.
Idk if you really like worldbuilding while continually reiterating the main themes of the series, you might like this. Wasn't for me though
Pros:
-I really like her writing style. Matter-of-fact and often just states how characters are feeling and thinking, but in a way that allows for some imagining on the part of the reader. No heavy-handed descriptions, just simple statements of fact, which is refreshing. Kind of evokes a "fairy-tale narrator" sort of feeling - a distinct narrator who is a layer removed from the action of the POV characters
-I love the way dialogue and interactions are scripted - the characters interact in a way that feels organic and natural and never contrived or silly. It's because of that that I continued to read - I liked being a part of these interactions and liked the way they felt.
-I like that the characters are not created to be "likable" - this is something I encounter a lot in fantasy where there are characters created to be liked and characters created to be disliked. There was none of that here, which is refreshing
Cons:
-nothing really happened. While this installment builds on the breadth of the world, it almost felt like filler or setting up for future events. The book, despite being almost 500 pages, feels like a prequel or maybe half of a book.
-this could be fine if the main construction of the story was more heavily propelled by real growth on the part of the characters. Apart from one character who stands out as an exception (miss elly) I can't say that the characters really grew or changed very much over the course of the book. Because of this, a lot of parts dragged or were just uninteresting because they felt unnecessary.
Idk if you really like worldbuilding while continually reiterating the main themes of the series, you might like this. Wasn't for me though