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wren_in_black 's review for:
Realm Breaker
by Victoria Aveyard
So much happened in this book.
So much.
Too much.
There was never a second's pause in the action of this book and as a reader, I had a hard time taking a breath to process who actually doing the action and what it was they were doing. This book had a lot of promise. I love the idea of a band of unlikely companions out to save the world. Here's the group.
A daughter of a cutthroat pirate, last of an ancient lineage. (We learn the most about her and she's a decent enough character, but I need some pauses in the action to show some introspection and know her better.)
A squire, forced to choose between home and honor. (We get to know him fairly well, though he's still a flat character by the end.)
An immortal, avenging a broken promise. (Very mysterious. Not sure of some of his background or motivations beyond the generic.)
An assassin, exiled and bloodthirsty. (Not enough background on her either.)
An ancient sorceress, whose riddles hide an eerie foresight. (I didn't even catch much of who this person was. She was introduced late and too much was going on.)
A forger with a secret past. (I couldn't even tell you this guy's name.)
A bounty hunter with a score to settle. (Not much of a clue who this person is either.)
The reader is immediately plunked straight down into PLOT at the beginning of this story. That can be a good way to build tension, but here, it made for a hot mess. Now, granted, the battle was a hot mess. But I never quite got over the bewilderment. In 500 pages I expect some world building, but I feel like I was dropped into a world and only got to see a blur as we rushed through it, which means the world probably isn't that fleshed out in the author's mind. This makes the characters bland as well because I have no idea beyond vague tag lines of why the great evil is so great or why our characters are choosing to fight it. Characters don't get to deal with what happens to them and we lose out on so much growth because of that.
I was a big fan of the Red Queen series, warts and all. But I don't think I'll be a big fan of this series.
So much.
Too much.
There was never a second's pause in the action of this book and as a reader, I had a hard time taking a breath to process who actually doing the action and what it was they were doing. This book had a lot of promise. I love the idea of a band of unlikely companions out to save the world. Here's the group.
A daughter of a cutthroat pirate, last of an ancient lineage. (We learn the most about her and she's a decent enough character, but I need some pauses in the action to show some introspection and know her better.)
A squire, forced to choose between home and honor. (We get to know him fairly well, though he's still a flat character by the end.)
An immortal, avenging a broken promise. (Very mysterious. Not sure of some of his background or motivations beyond the generic.)
An assassin, exiled and bloodthirsty. (Not enough background on her either.)
An ancient sorceress, whose riddles hide an eerie foresight. (I didn't even catch much of who this person was. She was introduced late and too much was going on.)
A forger with a secret past. (I couldn't even tell you this guy's name.)
A bounty hunter with a score to settle. (Not much of a clue who this person is either.)
The reader is immediately plunked straight down into PLOT at the beginning of this story. That can be a good way to build tension, but here, it made for a hot mess. Now, granted, the battle was a hot mess. But I never quite got over the bewilderment. In 500 pages I expect some world building, but I feel like I was dropped into a world and only got to see a blur as we rushed through it, which means the world probably isn't that fleshed out in the author's mind. This makes the characters bland as well because I have no idea beyond vague tag lines of why the great evil is so great or why our characters are choosing to fight it. Characters don't get to deal with what happens to them and we lose out on so much growth because of that.
I was a big fan of the Red Queen series, warts and all. But I don't think I'll be a big fan of this series.