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alphabetseeds 's review for:
Faithbreaker
by Hannah Kaner
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:
Yes
This is, thankfully, a better book than the second. Chapter breaks felt much more even and made more sense. There were fewer confusingly structured sentences (but there is an obsession for commas abound that I found so distracting).
This book is very much about the war that is teased throughout book two, and there is no chill. I have a lot of mixed feelings. The Talicians are, like, simultaneously comically evil and plan outright to take over the world, but also outside of a few glancing thoughts and brief scenes showing that the soldiers are mostly starved kids, there's no complexity to their invasion. The political plotting with betrayals felt a bit underdeveloped.
Character moments feel rushed and like they're getting in the ways of the battles, but I wanted the opposite. My favorite scene is just before the finale, where our main characters are back together around a campfire like they were before. There's a lot of tension and uncertainty, but this moment is special and they know it is. And then the moment is ruined.
At first I actually enjoyed the chapter where Elo finally opens up, but what comes after just kills the mood. I was not sold on the romantic relationship between Elo and Arren. And more than that, I wasn't sold on Arren as a POV. It muddies the book and pacing and honestly, Arren's entanglement with Hestra is also under-explored. His over reliance on his cleric also gave me some big Song of Ice and Fire vibes, but not in a positive way. But I did laugh out loud on disbelief over what happens with that.
The ending chapters did get me, and the final bits got me misty-eyed. But this, too, felt rushed and unsatisfying. There was a strange hesitance against showing too much emotion, even after describing grim battle after grim battle.
This whole series is a decent 3/5. It has cool ideas that aren't always executed well, but well-crafted characters keep investment up as long as they're given room to breathe.
This book is very much about the war that is teased throughout book two, and there is no chill. I have a lot of mixed feelings. The Talicians are, like, simultaneously comically evil and plan outright to take over the world, but also outside of a few glancing thoughts and brief scenes showing that the soldiers are mostly starved kids, there's no complexity to their invasion. The political plotting with betrayals felt a bit underdeveloped.
Character moments feel rushed and like they're getting in the ways of the battles, but I wanted the opposite. My favorite scene is just before the finale, where our main characters are back together around a campfire like they were before. There's a lot of tension and uncertainty, but this moment is special and they know it is. And then the moment is ruined.
At first I actually enjoyed the chapter where Elo finally opens up, but what comes after just kills the mood. I was not sold on the romantic relationship between Elo and Arren. And more than that, I wasn't sold on Arren as a POV. It muddies the book and pacing and honestly, Arren's entanglement with Hestra is also under-explored. His over reliance on his cleric also gave me some big Song of Ice and Fire vibes, but not in a positive way. But I did laugh out loud on disbelief over what happens with that.
The ending chapters did get me, and the final bits got me misty-eyed. But this, too, felt rushed and unsatisfying. There was a strange hesitance against showing too much emotion, even after describing grim battle after grim battle.
This whole series is a decent 3/5. It has cool ideas that aren't always executed well, but well-crafted characters keep investment up as long as they're given room to breathe.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, War
Legs was done dirty.