You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
kaiyakaiyo 's review for:
Faithbreaker
by Hannah Kaner
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
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:
Complicated
Fucckkkkkkk what a conclusion!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS is you write a fantasy series. I had some pacing complaints with the first book, but Kaner quickly hit her stride in 2 and knocked 3 out of the park. She managed to build out a beautiful, lived-in universe without getting too bogged down in minor details, and taking on exactly as much as she could handle plot-wise. Character dev was a little wobbly for a few characters in book 2, but here at the end I feel like I know Elo, Kissen, Inara, Skediceth, and even Arren and Lessa.
Kissen may in fact be my favorite protagonist of all time, no exaggeration. She’s funny, caring, clever as fuck, angry, overtly queer, and scrappy as hell. her disability was woven into her character so well: she uses her leg and people’s perception of it to her advantage in myriad ways, makes jokes about yeeting her prosthetic at gods, and perseveres in the most non-accessible places you can imagine. Her found family of disabled baddies is incredible. 3 bad bitches ready both to rumble and to open their home to children in need, sign me up! If I were dropped into this book Inkheart style, I would walk on my hands over glass if it meant Kissen would notice me
Elo…. My sad black king. Pining for a man that did him dirty x100 and spending this entire series trying to make right the wrongs you did both in serving him and in walking away from him ☹️ Elo was so tortured, so complex, so haunted, so noble. Beautiful, beautiful work, and it was so nice to see him finally see that he deserves to live and love and atone without self-flagellating. ‘Til the windows fog. He & Kissen being bi4bi (is that a thing) gave me life. More please
Inara and Skedi… I started this series thinking they were both extremely annoying, and then realizing that kids are kinda supposed to be like that. Inara is a sheltered tween thrust into a world she wasn’t prepared for, and Skedi is a young creature with no tether besides said sheltered tween. It was really nice to see them both get the reality check and life lessons they needed, while still seeing them be loved and protected by the adults that came to care for them. Lessa is still on my shit list for raising Inara like that, but Kissen and Elo’s genuine love and care for Inara and Skedi was so heart-warming. Inara coming into her power and realizing she doesn’t need to define herself by her parents images was so badass. The deep, gut-wrenching disappointment of a father who will never be what you want/need majorly hit home for me. I also really liked that no one in this book looked to Ina as a child savior. She tried so hard to give her all for a war she didn’t start, and the adults and 1 god in her life were like “no … let’s find you something else to do 😄”. Skedi ☹️
Arren… dumb bitch with mommy issues found dead in a ditch. Rest in Piss! but also I liked getting his POV after the first book. You watch him devolve into abandonment-fueled tyranny, then get wrecked by the love of his life he thought he could manipulate finally holding him accountable, then start to build himself back into a haphazard pile of man and twigs in an attempt to be the leader his people need. He’s a scoundrel and an idiot far too easily manipulated (despite also being an A1 manipulator), but it was cool to see a villain begin working on himself, especially because the author didn’t dangle some trite hope of redemption. Sometimes you go too far and all the apologies and remediation in the world can’t fix it, and that was really cool to see. He died, but that didn’t magically make him good. Elo is about the only person who truly mourned Arren, and the other characters held his memory to the same standards they did his living self. So fucking refreshing! No villains dying their way to hero status here
All in all I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a series like this in a long time. I gotta keep an eye out for future Kaner
THIS is you write a fantasy series. I had some pacing complaints with the first book, but Kaner quickly hit her stride in 2 and knocked 3 out of the park. She managed to build out a beautiful, lived-in universe without getting too bogged down in minor details, and taking on exactly as much as she could handle plot-wise. Character dev was a little wobbly for a few characters in book 2, but here at the end I feel like I know Elo, Kissen, Inara, Skediceth, and even Arren and Lessa.
Kissen may in fact be my favorite protagonist of all time, no exaggeration. She’s funny, caring, clever as fuck, angry, overtly queer, and scrappy as hell. her disability was woven into her character so well: she uses her leg and people’s perception of it to her advantage in myriad ways, makes jokes about yeeting her prosthetic at gods, and perseveres in the most non-accessible places you can imagine. Her found family of disabled baddies is incredible. 3 bad bitches ready both to rumble and to open their home to children in need, sign me up! If I were dropped into this book Inkheart style, I would walk on my hands over glass if it meant Kissen would notice me
Elo…. My sad black king. Pining for a man that did him dirty x100 and spending this entire series trying to make right the wrongs you did both in serving him and in walking away from him ☹️ Elo was so tortured, so complex, so haunted, so noble. Beautiful, beautiful work, and it was so nice to see him finally see that he deserves to live and love and atone without self-flagellating. ‘Til the windows fog. He & Kissen being bi4bi (is that a thing) gave me life. More please
Inara and Skedi… I started this series thinking they were both extremely annoying, and then realizing that kids are kinda supposed to be like that. Inara is a sheltered tween thrust into a world she wasn’t prepared for, and Skedi is a young creature with no tether besides said sheltered tween. It was really nice to see them both get the reality check and life lessons they needed, while still seeing them be loved and protected by the adults that came to care for them. Lessa is still on my shit list for raising Inara like that, but Kissen and Elo’s genuine love and care for Inara and Skedi was so heart-warming. Inara coming into her power and realizing she doesn’t need to define herself by her parents images was so badass. The deep, gut-wrenching disappointment of a father who will never be what you want/need majorly hit home for me. I also really liked that no one in this book looked to Ina as a child savior. She tried so hard to give her all for a war she didn’t start, and the adults and 1 god in her life were like “no … let’s find you something else to do 😄”. Skedi ☹️
Arren… dumb bitch with mommy issues found dead in a ditch. Rest in Piss! but also I liked getting his POV after the first book. You watch him devolve into abandonment-fueled tyranny, then get wrecked by the love of his life he thought he could manipulate finally holding him accountable, then start to build himself back into a haphazard pile of man and twigs in an attempt to be the leader his people need. He’s a scoundrel and an idiot far too easily manipulated (despite also being an A1 manipulator), but it was cool to see a villain begin working on himself, especially because the author didn’t dangle some trite hope of redemption. Sometimes you go too far and all the apologies and remediation in the world can’t fix it, and that was really cool to see. He died, but that didn’t magically make him good. Elo is about the only person who truly mourned Arren, and the other characters held his memory to the same standards they did his living self. So fucking refreshing! No villains dying their way to hero status here
All in all I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a series like this in a long time. I gotta keep an eye out for future Kaner
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail