Reviews with content warning for Violence - Realm Breaker

To simplify my review of this book, here were my top 3 thoughts while reading:

1). Why are there so many names that begin with "Cor"? CORayne, CORtael, CORblood, Old COR... starting off the story with so many similar titles really confused me, especially since it just kind of launched into the action without a ton of additional information. That being said...

2.) There was too much information. Okay, I get how that could be a confusing point considering what I just wrote above, but I prefer a story that has some information right off the bat and then leads into the action. This one started with action and then just info-dumped for the next 300 pages. I get that it was "great world-building," but it just felt like a lot of words and not a lot of anything actually happening.

3.) The only POV I actually enjoyed was the antagonist's. There weren't many chapters from this POV, but when there were, I was hooked. It was much more exciting than anything else that happened throughout the book, so I'm hoping the sequel gives us more from this perspective.

Overall, I found it lacking - which is unfortunate considering it was 576 pages long. With that much book, I hoped for more excitement. It didn't keep my attention nearly as well as the Red Queen series, but I'm still planning to read the sequel because I want to give it a hearty chance to really pique my interest!

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kenziewol's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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faithkalia's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging inspiring tense 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

4.5

"Only men can speak all day and still think themselves silent"

Realm Breaker is a beautiful beginning to Aveyard's new YA fantasy trilogy, and by the first book alone, I can tell it is going to be a hit. Through the Red Queen Series we were able to see that the author had a certain talent for world building, but this book brought it to the next level. Reading this book truly made me feel immersed in this land of lost magic. Not to mention the characters- Sorasa Sarn is easily one of my new favourite book characters of all time. A badass with a secret past? I'm sold. I truly adored the writing of the book and, of course, the neck breaking plot twists (I'm still not over Red Queen). It is exactly what I was looking for in a fantasy series. Overall, this book really sold me on Aveyard's work and I am so, so excited to see what is to come in the series.

Rating: 4.5/5

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thecourtofreading's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

"your blood is of the spindles, of distant realms and lost stars."

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_sarahg's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The action scenes… chef’s kiss ✨

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kindra_demi's review against another edition

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I’ve been trying to get into this book. It might be that I’m just not in the mindset for something so high fantasy. But here are my reasons I’m DNF’ing:
- I normally love multiple POV, but the imbalance of the POVs make me extremely uninterested in certain “mc” when they come up. There are also a couple characters I’m still getting mixed up because even though they are an mc, they are mentioned so little that I forget who is who.
- The characters feel predictable and when I’ve gone through half of the book and I have seen literally no character growth, I’m uninterested (especially given that the characters seem to be the thing that is supposed to make you stay).
- The world building is fine and easy to understand, but that’s not a DNF reason. I cannot get over the fact that the author has created these intricate countries and cities, can give names to every item, semi-create languages, but the looming event is called “What Waits”. It genuinely makes me laugh every time I read it.

I may return to it one day, especially after the next books are released, but for now it’ll be a DNF.

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hayy6747's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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