Reviews

The Sundered Realms by Casey Blair

matth's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

growmealibrary's review

adventurous funny tense fast-paced

3.0

em23jjh's review

4.0

This novel got off to a rough start but improved as the story continued. In the beginning if was a little difficult to follow the whole concept of the sundered realms and keep track of the different lands. About 30% of the way through the story really started to pull me in. I like that the female lead and supporting lead are both strong, fierce, and independent women. The romantic aspect felt a little rushed at times but it wasn't really the main story line so it didn't bug me to much. The story wrapped up on a strong note and I would be interested in reading the rest of the triology.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

hladelano's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny inspiring tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

This is one of my favorite books I have read so far this year! I was not able to put it down once I started reading. I don’t typically annotate my physical books but this one had me highlighting and tabbing all the quotes! I am a huge nerd so the magic system of writing spells along with the intellectual banter between the main characters, Liris and Vhannor, hooked me. 

I really related to Liris’s character and her journey of growth to realize she does not have to be perfect to be loved by others (or herself). She is smart and strong, and not afraid to speak her mind. Vhannor is the perfect cinnamon roll book boyfriend and I love his admiration and support for Liris. The slow burn romance has a satisfying payoff as well 😏 The ending wraps up their story, but sets up the next book to follow two interesting characters introduced in this book. I highly recommend checking this one out if you love fantasy and romance with a dash of sci-fi vibes!

𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬.

“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘣𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦.”

Thank you to the author and RR Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book. This review is voluntary, and all opinions expressed are my own. 

teaand_tomes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious fast-paced

5.0

A captivating and intelligently crafted fantasy novel featuring a unique magic system, engaging main characters, a slow-burn romance, relentless action, and impressive character development. The characters Liris and Vhannor stand out for their intelligence and dynamic interaction. The book's swift pacing and constant twists keep the reader engaged throughout, making it a highly recommended read for fantasy enthusiasts.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

rali_kn's review

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.5

3.5/5🌟

Received an eARC from the publisher on NetGalley in exchange of honest review. The opinion here is my own, freely and honestly given.

It was really hards to focus at the beginning on what exactly is going on. Too slow paced. Too much explanations that don’t give any particular insight why certain things are happening- for example why demons are appearing . Or more information on the void. As well the magic system could be a bit better explained. 

I was getting lost in the explanations and on many occasions I had to go back and  reread what was happening so I am again on track.

The world building is extensive and this book can benefit from a map. It will be much easier to follow Liris and Vhannor around if you can better understand and picture it where exactly they were going.

All in all it is a nice romantasy book and I will be waiting for the next one - maybe there the things left unexplained here will become clearer.

johnsnowwasright's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Overall, I had a really good time with this book but there were technical issues that prevented me from rating it higher. 

I will start with what was done well: 

- Liris is probably one of my favorite main characters of all time. I loved her snark, her vulnerability and her strong sense of right and wrong. I really enjoyed watching her grow from someone constantly second guessing herself to a confident woman. (I also appreciate that this growth was due to her learning spellcraft and not due to the romance by itself. She may doubt herself at times but she isn't taking shit from any man.)  
- The romance was such a nice change of pace from other romantasy books. You could tell that Vhannor and Liris were attracted to each others' brains before becoming physically attracted to one another. That's so rare to see so thank you! Although their relationship develops over a short period of time, it was so expertly crafted that it didn't feel insta-lovey. 
- Vhannor is everything that Rhysand should have been as a romantic partner in ACOTAR but wasn't. Vhannor is our real consent/pro-choice king. 
- The magic system and world were so cool! Combining language and mathematics into a complicated magic system? Genius! 

What was not done so well: 

- Although the magic system was super cool, it was inconsistent and not well explained. I feel like we were bouncing back and forth on whether or not you could speak spells or just write them? I also think there should have been more detail about the spell casting in general. It would have leant more to the story and Liris's arc. 
- The pacing was choppy. We didn't spend enough time with Liris in her home realm to establish why it left such a mark on her and why we should care about it at all. We also didn't spend enough time with Liris actually learning spell crafting at the university. As a result, it felt like Liris didn't earn the expertise or skill that she showed at the end. Although the various demon battle missions helped develop the romance, I don't think they added as much to the plot and Liris's magical development. 

I think the above issues could easily be fixed with a few more rounds of edits. It really could elevate this to a 4 to 5 star read. 

Having said all that, I do want to read book 2. 

chlcrc617's review

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0