mandy44 's review for:

Broken by the Horde King by Zoey Draven

3.5

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

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I have really enjoyed each book in this series. This one however is my least favorite so far. I loved that it had a much different plot than the rest. I was really looking forward to this one but ended up being a little disappointed. I really wish Maeva would have actually been able to move on from Kiran romantically instead of wallowing in her heartbreak for all those years. Sure she claimed to have moved on/buried those feelings but even before being reunited, all her thoughts were about him. I wanted to see her fall in love with him from a fresh standpoint instead of just unburying her old love for him.

I also didn’t like how a lot of the issues got boiled down to miscommunication and were instantly forgotten and forgiven. Specifically,

how Kiran’s mom kept him in the dark about Maeva’s mother’s death. There was no real resolution to that and I found it so frustrating. I understood the thing with Maeva’s dad not letting him say goodbye and find that less egregious than what Kiran’s mom did.

I just hate how none of their issues ended up being actual issues. Made everything feel a little hollow and pointless.

There was also no real discussion of how hurt Maeva was and how it impacted her life. Plenty of internal dialogue but no actual conversations between them. I hate when this kind of stuff is breezed by instead of thoroughly discussed. I want to see those conversations, vulnerable moments, and open communication. It’s so unsatisfying to me when these important conversations don’t happen or are super surface level.

Idk this one was just lacking for me in the emotional/communication department. Still love the series and can’t wait to see what’s next!