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A review by thebakerbookworm
Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.0
This is a high fantasy book, the first in a series, with a lot of world building, the beginnings of a found family, and some intriguing villains and other morally gray characters.
I don't think I would call this book either character-driven or plot-driven. It's more world-building-driven. The plot moves slowly until the climax at the end, and the book takes a while to get into just because you're trying to understand the world. There's also a lot of characters and multiple POVs, so there's nothing consistent to ground you in the story at first. That being said, if you can push through, I think it's worth it. It definitely just feels like the opening chapter of a saga and will leave you wanting more—I'm excited for where the future books will take the story!
As for the characters, like I said there are a lot of them, and I think the development and backstory suffered a bit in favor of the world building. I'm hopeful that certain characters will be explored more later, but I wanted more from them in this book. I did like all the characters, but I still felt like I didn't know or care about some of them by the end (mainly Valtik, Sigil, and Charlie). I love a found family story, but I guess I just wanted certain aspects that came at the end of the book to come sooner. I did like how it's unclear from the beginning who all is "good" and who is "bad." There was one twist I felt coming, but I still really enjoyed it.
Anyways, I have a feeling this series could get better with each book. So I'm invested in reading the sequel, but I know I'm going to forget a lot that happened in this book before whenever the second book comes out.
Also, Lord of the Rings inspired this one, and it's definitely reaching for that level of epic-ness!
I don't think I would call this book either character-driven or plot-driven. It's more world-building-driven. The plot moves slowly until the climax at the end, and the book takes a while to get into just because you're trying to understand the world. There's also a lot of characters and multiple POVs, so there's nothing consistent to ground you in the story at first. That being said, if you can push through, I think it's worth it. It definitely just feels like the opening chapter of a saga and will leave you wanting more—I'm excited for where the future books will take the story!
As for the characters, like I said there are a lot of them, and I think the development and backstory suffered a bit in favor of the world building. I'm hopeful that certain characters will be explored more later, but I wanted more from them in this book. I did like all the characters, but I still felt like I didn't know or care about some of them by the end (mainly Valtik, Sigil, and Charlie). I love a found family story, but I guess I just wanted certain aspects that came at the end of the book to come sooner. I did like how it's unclear from the beginning who all is "good" and who is "bad." There was one twist I felt coming, but I still really enjoyed it.
Anyways, I have a feeling this series could get better with each book. So I'm invested in reading the sequel, but I know I'm going to forget a lot that happened in this book before whenever the second book comes out.
Also, Lord of the Rings inspired this one, and it's definitely reaching for that level of epic-ness!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent