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maple_dove's review against another edition
Couldn't get interested. Fantasy doesn't appeal to me unless it's alongside a genre that I really like.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Violence, Grief, and Murder
nora_knight's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
As the introductory book to a series, I enjoyed it. It took a while to introduce each of the characters and set off on their quest, but it seems to set up an exciting adventure and I'm already anticipating reading the next book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Self harm, Grief, Death, and Murder
Minor: Alcohol, Slavery, Death of parent, and Confinement
lexihworth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
jessicaludden's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-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
*4.5*
“‘Well, if you don’t belong to a place, perhaps we belong to each other? We who belong nowhere?’”
I really liked this and my only “complaint” is that I need more. There is a massive amount of world building in this book, which is necessary because it’s a very complex world. Victoria does a great job including lots of detail and lots of descriptions, almost to the point where it’s too much. I loved the world building don’t get me wrong, but I would’ve traded that for a little more character interaction. I loved the characters and I loved their potential relationships with each other, but I think we should’ve seen more of it. My favorite scenes included these characters having one on one conversations and building that trust between each other. I absolutely loved the scene with Dom and Andre having a heart to heart about the shared grief and survivor’s guilt they’re feeling. Scenes like that are what I felt was missing from this. I would’ve loved to see more Dom and Sorasa, more Sorasa and Corayne, and more Corayne and Andry. I’m okay with it for now because I know we’re going to get more in the rest of the series, but I couldn’t help but feel that part missing from the story. It was also difficult for me to get attached to characters like Sigil, Charlie, and Valtik because they showed up so much later in the story and we didn’t really get a feel for who they are. What surprised me the most was how much I loved the villains, especially their potential little romance occurring. Taristan is such a great villain and Erida is so complex. I love their dynamic and I can’t wait to see them try to take over the world together (and possibly get closer at the same time). Overall I loved the world and loved the characters. I’m not gonna fault this book for what it was lacking because I know there’s more to come and I’m so excited!
Favorite Quotes:
“Corayne knew herself, and while she was her mother’s daughter, she was not her mother’s equal.”
“‘Boys do stupid things to feel like men, no matter how old they are.’”
“The Amhara has great need for those who can pass unseen, and who is more unseen to men than a woman?”
“Andry, afraid of the city ahead. Corayne, afraid of the sword on her back. Dom, afraid of nearly everything.”
“‘If I could, I’d make you a knight right here. You’ve certainly earned it by now.’”
“‘So the realm stands on the brink of destruction. It might have tipped already. And for some reason, you need me to join this…’ He glanced down their line. This time his scrutiny felt like an insult. ‘Merry band of heroes?’”
“He doesn’t belong here with us, as much as he tries to. The end of the world is no place for Andry Trelland. He doesn’t deserve it.”
“He imagined leaving Sarn behind at almost every turn, but found he could not picture her battling a bounty hunter to death, and certainly not over someone as unimportant as Charlon Armont.”
“Mortals are impossible to fathom, especially Sorasa Sarn.”
“An immortal Veder, a Jydi witch, a copper-eyed assassin, a royal squire, a criminal fugitive, and a pirate’s daughter, the Ward’s hope. What a mess we are, Dom thought as Sarn claimed a corner of the room.”
“As in Ascal, Andry was torn between duty and desire. The squire will march and fight and carry on until he drops. Until someone gives him permission to stand back, and be a little less strong.”
“Sarn is still occupied, Valtik is useless, Corayne can barely swing a blade, and Andry is somehow sleeping through everything.”
“‘Even when it isn’t the end of the world, the realm is a dangerous place for women,’ Sorasa added, gesturing between herself and the bounty hunter. Sigil grinned broadly. ‘And so we became dangerous.’”
“No amount of squiring had prepared him for a girl like Corayne.”
“Charlie not so much, but if he is trampled, so be it. His blood isn’t saving the Ward anytime soon.”
“‘Well, if you don’t belong to a place, perhaps we belong to each other? We who belong nowhere?’”
I really liked this and my only “complaint” is that I need more. There is a massive amount of world building in this book, which is necessary because it’s a very complex world. Victoria does a great job including lots of detail and lots of descriptions, almost to the point where it’s too much. I loved the world building don’t get me wrong, but I would’ve traded that for a little more character interaction. I loved the characters and I loved their potential relationships with each other, but I think we should’ve seen more of it. My favorite scenes included these characters having one on one conversations and building that trust between each other. I absolutely loved the scene with Dom and Andre having a heart to heart about the shared grief and survivor’s guilt they’re feeling. Scenes like that are what I felt was missing from this. I would’ve loved to see more Dom and Sorasa, more Sorasa and Corayne, and more Corayne and Andry. I’m okay with it for now because I know we’re going to get more in the rest of the series, but I couldn’t help but feel that part missing from the story. It was also difficult for me to get attached to characters like Sigil, Charlie, and Valtik because they showed up so much later in the story and we didn’t really get a feel for who they are. What surprised me the most was how much I loved the villains, especially their potential little romance occurring. Taristan is such a great villain and Erida is so complex. I love their dynamic and I can’t wait to see them try to take over the world together (and possibly get closer at the same time). Overall I loved the world and loved the characters. I’m not gonna fault this book for what it was lacking because I know there’s more to come and I’m so excited!
Favorite Quotes:
“Corayne knew herself, and while she was her mother’s daughter, she was not her mother’s equal.”
“‘Boys do stupid things to feel like men, no matter how old they are.’”
“The Amhara has great need for those who can pass unseen, and who is more unseen to men than a woman?”
“Andry, afraid of the city ahead. Corayne, afraid of the sword on her back. Dom, afraid of nearly everything.”
“‘If I could, I’d make you a knight right here. You’ve certainly earned it by now.’”
“‘So the realm stands on the brink of destruction. It might have tipped already. And for some reason, you need me to join this…’ He glanced down their line. This time his scrutiny felt like an insult. ‘Merry band of heroes?’”
“He doesn’t belong here with us, as much as he tries to. The end of the world is no place for Andry Trelland. He doesn’t deserve it.”
“He imagined leaving Sarn behind at almost every turn, but found he could not picture her battling a bounty hunter to death, and certainly not over someone as unimportant as Charlon Armont.”
“Mortals are impossible to fathom, especially Sorasa Sarn.”
“An immortal Veder, a Jydi witch, a copper-eyed assassin, a royal squire, a criminal fugitive, and a pirate’s daughter, the Ward’s hope. What a mess we are, Dom thought as Sarn claimed a corner of the room.”
“As in Ascal, Andry was torn between duty and desire. The squire will march and fight and carry on until he drops. Until someone gives him permission to stand back, and be a little less strong.”
“Sarn is still occupied, Valtik is useless, Corayne can barely swing a blade, and Andry is somehow sleeping through everything.”
“‘Even when it isn’t the end of the world, the realm is a dangerous place for women,’ Sorasa added, gesturing between herself and the bounty hunter. Sigil grinned broadly. ‘And so we became dangerous.’”
“No amount of squiring had prepared him for a girl like Corayne.”
“Charlie not so much, but if he is trampled, so be it. His blood isn’t saving the Ward anytime soon.”
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood, Cursing, Violence, and Murder
sarahsbooklife's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-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
3.5
Realm Breaker is a good story, I'll give it that. But I felt like so much of this book was setting up what is going to happen and introducing characters. Rather than giving a substantial story, especially given how long it is.
I think the only reason I could cope with how slow it was was because I saw somewhere that it was inspired by Lord of the Rings. And if you've read those books you know just how slow they are.
I enjoyed it and I'm definitely interested in seeing what's going to happen in this series.
But I really hope that pace picks up and the story really gets going.
I think the only reason I could cope with how slow it was was because I saw somewhere that it was inspired by Lord of the Rings. And if you've read those books you know just how slow they are.
I enjoyed it and I'm definitely interested in seeing what's going to happen in this series.
But I really hope that pace picks up and the story really gets going.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Colonisation and War
Minor: Animal death
keelinmcneil's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Gore, War, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Death of parent
Minor: Torture
frantically's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was SO GOOD. It's everything you want from epic fantasy — awesome descriptions, allll the kingdoms, immortals, heirs that somehow only have cousins, not siblings, and names that look like keyboard smashes.
You can really see how Aveyard's writing has become so much more mature since RQ. I loved all the characters and their stories linked really well together.
I especially loved Erida, mainly because she reminds me of my favourite historical women (I'm a history major, forgive me). She's such a well written morally gray/black/idek character and I'm so so excited to see how her story progresses and all the other ones as well.
You can really see how Aveyard's writing has become so much more mature since RQ. I loved all the characters and their stories linked really well together.
I especially loved Erida, mainly because she reminds me of my favourite historical women (I'm a history major, forgive me). She's such a well written morally gray/black/idek character and I'm so so excited to see how her story progresses and all the other ones as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Gore, Death, Violence, War, Blood, and Confinement
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Grief
Minor: Animal death and Animal cruelty
ging090803's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-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
5.0
I love Victoria Aveyard. This book was funny. I love the worldbuilding. At first, I was lost but it didn't take time to settle. I love the caracters. I love the diversity. I love the plot, it is different. Yes, some teenager have to save the world but there is still older main characters to help. I like this aspect. I also like the concept of other realms. It is different and it explains a lot of things in a fantasy world like monsters, magic, etc.
Great book. Can't wait for the second one.
Great book. Can't wait for the second one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Murder
Moderate: Violence
kittykaz's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
The found family in this was immaculate. They don’t just work well as a group, but each individual relationship between them was fleshed out, making the whole team so much more dynamic. As for the wordlbuilding and the actual plot, it didn’t stand out to me from the vast majority of high fantasy series, although the absence of the typical “elves, dwarves and humans versus some weird goblings”-spiel was a very nice surprise. It’s not an Us versus Them conflict, but instead the conflict lies in the interests of the opposing sides. There is a clear focus on the personal goals each character is working to achieve which makes it easy to root for (or against) your favourite characters.
Additionally, this was one of the few examples of a Multiple POV format well done. Every character had new insights to offer, providing the reader with a whole new layer of the story that is entirely unique to the narrating character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and War
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Grief
marylinaris's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
While there are several things I didn't like about this book, I did overall enjoy my reading experience of this book.
Let's start with the negatives.
• This book had way too many POVs, especially when it came the main group had found themselves together. That was also the point I felt as if there were too many characters present - I mean, I was intrigued by Andry in the beginning but it felt like he didn't really get that much attention in the later part of the book, similar with Corayne, who is just kinda present for parts of the book.
• So much book, so little plot. While I feel like the plot picked up in the last third of the book the rest had a lot of chapters with little plot development. This only irks me a little though because I did enjoy the character focused storytelling, though I hoped for more to happen overall.
• The action scenes fell flat for me most of the time. In contrast to the rest of the book, a lot happened in a lot less pages and they felt confused about what was happening (no matter who was the POV character, which is probably my main problem with it).
The positives on the other hand:
• The world building felt like a familiar fantasy setting but unique enough not to come off as a bland copy.
• I really like all of the characters - except Taristan, who only got slightly intriguing in the last chapter. Out of all of them Dom is the most compelling character by far, though. I love him. Would die for him. 10/10 would read the next book just for him.
Let's start with the negatives.
• This book had way too many POVs, especially when it came the main group had found themselves together. That was also the point I felt as if there were too many characters present - I mean, I was intrigued by Andry in the beginning but it felt like he didn't really get that much attention in the later part of the book, similar with Corayne, who is just kinda present for parts of the book.
• So much book, so little plot. While I feel like the plot picked up in the last third of the book the rest had a lot of chapters with little plot development. This only irks me a little though because I did enjoy the character focused storytelling, though I hoped for more to happen overall.
• The action scenes fell flat for me most of the time. In contrast to the rest of the book, a lot happened in a lot less pages and they felt confused about what was happening (no matter who was the POV character, which is probably my main problem with it).
The positives on the other hand:
• The world building felt like a familiar fantasy setting but unique enough not to come off as a bland copy.
• I really like all of the characters - except Taristan, who only got slightly intriguing in the last chapter. Out of all of them Dom is the most compelling character by far, though. I love him. Would die for him. 10/10 would read the next book just for him.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: War, Grief, Death of parent, and Confinement