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saffic's review
adventurous
hopeful
relaxing
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
3.5
Despite what it looks like I really enjoyed reading this book.
The first review I ever saw for Realm Breaker was a 1 star review saying "It's too long, there's too many characters, there's not enough romance." Let me tell you, as a ASOIAF fan, those all sounded like good things to me! I'd been wanting to branch out into YA fantasy and romance isn't my favorite genre. It seemed like the stars were all aligning, so I picked up this book and dove in.
Sorasa Sarn is hands down the best character in this entire book. So much so, it is actually impossible for the rest of the cast to crawl out of her shadow. However, she is such a good character because she is not the main character. Her being a reluctant mother figure to Corayne is just as big a part of her character as everything else she has going on.
Speaking of Corayne, her character had a good start, but fizzled out towards the end of the book. I don't know how, but herbudding romance with Andry kind of seemed to suck the soul out of both of them.
Now a character who frustrated me is Erida. Again, a strong start to her character, but at some point it feels like she just becameincredibly horny for Taristan and it became half her personality. It feels like the story is building them up to be, despite many things, 'equals', but they just aren't. At one point, he asks her when it's just the two of them + the wizard if she'd join their evil death cult, and she immediately thinks 'What choice do I have?' Which is a completely true thought! But the next line follows up with 'but something in Taristan's eyes let her know she has a choice'. Girl! If you say no that red wizard is going to obliterate your ass into smithereens! There! Was! No! Choice!
Long, drawn out feelings short, the book needed either two different things to accomplish it's goals. 1. Make it shorter and make this trilogy into a longer series or 2. Make it longer, ensuring a trilogy, and giving space between the entire mess that was the events of the last 100ish pages.
The first review I ever saw for Realm Breaker was a 1 star review saying "It's too long, there's too many characters, there's not enough romance." Let me tell you, as a ASOIAF fan, those all sounded like good things to me! I'd been wanting to branch out into YA fantasy and romance isn't my favorite genre. It seemed like the stars were all aligning, so I picked up this book and dove in.
Sorasa Sarn is hands down the best character in this entire book. So much so, it is actually impossible for the rest of the cast to crawl out of her shadow. However, she is such a good character because she is not the main character. Her being a reluctant mother figure to Corayne is just as big a part of her character as everything else she has going on.
Speaking of Corayne, her character had a good start, but fizzled out towards the end of the book. I don't know how, but her
Now a character who frustrated me is Erida. Again, a strong start to her character, but at some point it feels like she just became
Long, drawn out feelings short, the book needed either two different things to accomplish it's goals. 1. Make it shorter and make this trilogy into a longer series or 2. Make it longer, ensuring a trilogy, and giving space between the entire mess that was the events of the last 100ish pages.
Content Warnings
Minor: Gore
I have no idea what to list this under, so I'm just gonna be direct.ssellwood's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
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
4.0
Realm Breaker follows Corayne, a pirate's daughter drawn into a scheme to protect the realm from otherworldly dangers, as someone schemes to rip apart the boundaries between worlds. Good for fans of the chosen one and found family tropes, and filled with fighting, betrayals and travels. I especially enjoyed the nautical parts which are reminiscent of Pirate's of the Carribean and the classic plot twists I would expect from Aveyard. The main improvement for me would be that I don't feel very connected to Corayne, who I feel should be the main protagonist, but this is made up for by the good exploration of the bold, determined and sassy character of Sorasa; and found the chapter pacing a little clunky at times with the backwards time jumps.
Content Warnings
Minor: War, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Violence, and Death of parent
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Colonisation, Chronic illness, Death, Physical abuse, Classism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Blood, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Murder, Drug use, Police brutality, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Misogyny, Stalking, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, and War
queer_bookwyrm's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
3 ⭐ CW: Violence, descriptions of blood and gore, torture, PTSD
Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard is book one in the Realm Breaker series. I was quite disappointed with this one, actually. I loved the Red Queen series, but this fell flat to me.
We follow a group of seven people who are on a quest to save the Allward. Corayne, Spindle touched and the chosen one is the one one who can save the realm from being torn apart by her uncle, who only wants chaos and destruction. Andry, the dutiful squire wracked with survivor's guilt and PTSD and possible love interest for Corayne. Sorasa, (the best character) the sarcastic assassin who has the best banter, and I wanted to know more about her backstory. Dom, the immortal Elder who is our resident himbo and good boy who doesn't get along with Sorasa. Charlie, the forger and ex-priest with a heart of gold, and is clearly pining for a boy. Sigil, the bounty hunter and all around badass and scary lady. And finally, Valtik, the witch that doesn't make any sense, but gets them out of a pinch anyway.
Personally, I thought there were too many different POVs, and the result was a very slow and drawn out story. I was 80% of the way through the book before the gang was completed. It just took way too long to get to where you knew the story was going. I also don't care enough about most of these characters, because we don't get enough time with each of them. Sorasa was the only one I had strong feelings about.
If you don't mind a slow build up in book one, this could be a good epic YA Fantasy read, but if you're looking for fast paced action, this isn't it. I don't think I'll continue the series.
Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard is book one in the Realm Breaker series. I was quite disappointed with this one, actually. I loved the Red Queen series, but this fell flat to me.
We follow a group of seven people who are on a quest to save the Allward. Corayne, Spindle touched and the chosen one is the one one who can save the realm from being torn apart by her uncle, who only wants chaos and destruction. Andry, the dutiful squire wracked with survivor's guilt and PTSD and possible love interest for Corayne. Sorasa, (the best character) the sarcastic assassin who has the best banter, and I wanted to know more about her backstory. Dom, the immortal Elder who is our resident himbo and good boy who doesn't get along with Sorasa. Charlie, the forger and ex-priest with a heart of gold, and is clearly pining for a boy. Sigil, the bounty hunter and all around badass and scary lady. And finally, Valtik, the witch that doesn't make any sense, but gets them out of a pinch anyway.
Personally, I thought there were too many different POVs, and the result was a very slow and drawn out story. I was 80% of the way through the book before the gang was completed. It just took way too long to get to where you knew the story was going. I also don't care enough about most of these characters, because we don't get enough time with each of them. Sorasa was the only one I had strong feelings about.
If you don't mind a slow build up in book one, this could be a good epic YA Fantasy read, but if you're looking for fast paced action, this isn't it. I don't think I'll continue the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, and Blood
keelinmcneil's review
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
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
ordernumberseventeen's review
adventurous
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? No
3.0
good, a lot of detail, too much sometimes, domachridhan>>>>>, 3 days
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, and Murder
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
fantasycat's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Murder, and Violence
theespressoedition's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Blood and Gore
Minor: Toxic relationship