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A review by ashley_mrose530
Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This one was okay. It wasn't terrible, but I didn't love it either. I've been trying to find a good fantasy series to read again and my Libby has this whole series, so I'm hoping that it continues to get better as I go on.
It did take me a while to get used to this one. There was a lot of POV jumping as well as time jumping and it was really confusing at first because of that. I had a hard time keeping the characters straight and remembering who was in what role. But once I got that, it was a lot easier to go with the flow of the time jumping and the story in general.
I really like the magic system here with the different worlds opening into the characters' realm and spilling their contents including monsters as well as what they call the "elders" who seem like they are immortal but actually only have a much longer life span than humans. It's really interesting to see all of these elements play out together.
That being said, I do think the world building is still pretty confusing for me. I think the other realms are created by different gods that humans have all heard of but don't believe in anymore? I get that part, but I'm not sure why some people have magic and others don't. As far as I can tell, the elders are different from the spindles. The elders don't necessarily have magic but are super strong and heal very quickly. The spindles I think are supposed to have magic? I remember someone saying "spindle magic" at one point about the old witch, but I thought Corayne was also a descendent of a spindle family so where is her magic? And the priests have magic? Maybe? I don't know. Either way, the world building needed a little more explanation for me.
I thought the pacing of the book was a little iffy too. I liked that there were action scenes to break up the monotony of the traveling scenes, but the slower-paced scenes still seemed to drag on a little bit too much for me and I lost interest in them quite a few times (this might be why I don't fully understand the world yet). But the action scenes were so good and would bring my attention right back.
I also enjoyed the very small hints that we're going to get romance side plots. I can just tell that the elder and the assassin are going to be a hate-to-love troupe and their banter is so funny. And I like Corayne and the squire as well. They'll be cute together. And I'm very excited about the found family aspect that is happening as well. I can't wait to love all of them like I always do with found family characters.
It did take me a while to get used to this one. There was a lot of POV jumping as well as time jumping and it was really confusing at first because of that. I had a hard time keeping the characters straight and remembering who was in what role. But once I got that, it was a lot easier to go with the flow of the time jumping and the story in general.
I really like the magic system here with the different worlds opening into the characters' realm and spilling their contents including monsters as well as what they call the "elders" who seem like they are immortal but actually only have a much longer life span than humans. It's really interesting to see all of these elements play out together.
That being said, I do think the world building is still pretty confusing for me. I think the other realms are created by different gods that humans have all heard of but don't believe in anymore? I get that part, but I'm not sure why some people have magic and others don't. As far as I can tell, the elders are different from the spindles. The elders don't necessarily have magic but are super strong and heal very quickly. The spindles I think are supposed to have magic? I remember someone saying "spindle magic" at one point about the old witch, but I thought Corayne was also a descendent of a spindle family so where is her magic? And the priests have magic? Maybe? I don't know. Either way, the world building needed a little more explanation for me.
I thought the pacing of the book was a little iffy too. I liked that there were action scenes to break up the monotony of the traveling scenes, but the slower-paced scenes still seemed to drag on a little bit too much for me and I lost interest in them quite a few times (this might be why I don't fully understand the world yet). But the action scenes were so good and would bring my attention right back.
I also enjoyed the very small hints that we're going to get romance side plots. I can just tell that the elder and the assassin are going to be a hate-to-love troupe and their banter is so funny. And I like Corayne and the squire as well. They'll be cute together. And I'm very excited about the found family aspect that is happening as well. I can't wait to love all of them like I always do with found family characters.