Reviews

Victoria Aveyard does the best job at writing a character that everyone needs to hate. In the second installment of this series, I found I despised Erida, and couldn't bring myself to thoroughly read her chapters. That being said, the harrowing adventures of the Companions and their quest to save the Realm enraptured me just like the first book. I would suggest not starting this trilogy/series/etc until the third book comes out because I need to know the next chapter in these stories. Sorosa and Dom have my attention for the majority of this book and their character development is like no other I've read. Victoria is an impeccable writer who can tell a story from all points. 5 stars was not given because I truly have never hated a character more, but props to Victoria.

thelittlebookiex's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.5

jeanie_xox's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

megs_baer's review

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adventurous dark 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? No

5.0

Words can't describe how fun this book was. Realm Breaker felt a little to slow for me but this one was amazing. You learn so much more about the characters and their motivations. There is a growing romance, very minor however it will hopefully grow in the next book. I need the next book and soon.

leahfoko's review against another edition

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4.0

This book was much more interesting than the first one. I read some reviews that said it was kind of slow and nothing happened which I understand a bit in the middle but I actually felt like more happened than in the first book.

By the end of this book, I no longer sympathize with Erida at all because she is gradually becoming corrupted by power and What Waits, but I still find her character absolutely fascinating. Once she killed the princess of Madrence in cold blood because she was mad about something else entirely I was just like nope, I cannot sympathize with her anymore. That was just too evil for me. But not in a bad way, the fact that you sympathize with her cause for the majority of this book and the first one but then finally she goes dark enough to no longer sympathize with, I think that is one of the marks of a really well written villain. I love when villains are morally grey rather than purely evil. Victoria Aveyard does that so well and I love it.

I am absolutely living for Valtik at the end of this book. What a badass. She’s barely in the series but when she shows up she is always like the best character and the most useful and I love her.

I think the fact that this book ends on a “failure” is pretty interesting and really puts the story in a good place for book 3. I can’t wait to find out what happens next. But Taristan fucking sucks and I can’t wait for that man to get what’s coming to him. The fact that he underestimates Corayne at all times makes me angry. I also similarly hate how much Erida hates Corayne. Like based on her experience in the world she should sympathize with Corayne and yet she just hates her so much for standing in the way of her empire which I understand but she gets so murderous and petty about an 18 year old girl like come on. You should understand what it’s like to be her. She’s always talking about how weak and ugly Corayne is which feels like such petty insults.

My complaints with this book are two things. One is that at some points it’s a little slow/drags on to focus on scenery descriptions, which was a problem I had with the first book as well. The other is that Corayne and Andry as the main romance in the book are so boring in my opinion. I know the purpose of the book is not the romance which I actually like quite a lot, but I feel like they suffer from a common book issue which is that they are in love with each other for seemingly no reason. I just feel like there’s not a ton of depth there. But also, Andry is just kind of a boring character in general so I think that’s part of why I am not invested in it because I find him so boring. Compared to Sorasa and Dom or Erida and Taristan they’re just so boring but they’re supposed to be the main couple of the book so that seems weird to me. So for those two things I am taking off a star, but since I liked this book more than the first 4 stars seems fitting.

Can’t wait to see what happens next, I am looking forward to the 3rd book coming out, hopefully soon.

natnoble66693's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-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

4.75

The only bit it lost was where the story lagged sometimes with exposition (which I am sure is needed for later and part of set up for things) and it was hard to keep track of the timeline. Other than that simply an amazing read and I desperately need the next one yesterday.

pikabarrow's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious 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

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