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moonsaku's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
beautiful. captivating. heartbreaking. Sanderson never fails to create such astounding work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Death and War
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
iono's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, and Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, and War
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
jswecu's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5
slayed
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and War
Moderate: Confinement, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, and Pregnancy
sophiasoler's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
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
4.25
really good, a rather abrupt ending that almost works but doesnโt quite feel complete which is a super bummer. otherwise, itโs a very thorough and well-thought out story ! slightly misses the point it spends most of the book setting up
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, and Classism
Minor: Stalking and Gaslighting
genny's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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
3.75
My first Sanderson! Is this classified as adult fantasy? Because it feels very YA to me, and I don't mean that in a bad way. Maybe it's just his writing style - this ultimately felt like an easy, "light" read despite the length. Sometimes it was a little too unsubtle, particularly in Vivenna's chapters where she flat-out tells the reader how she has changed as a character. It felt like the author didn't trust the readers to figure these things out on their own. Vivenna still ended up as my favorite character, the writing just took me out of the story sometimes.
Although I found Lightsong very tiring at first (obviously that was intentional, but still, I winced when his POV came up), I grew to really like his character by the end. Nightblood though?! What an annoying sword ๐ฉ I understand it's for comedic relief, but I found its little quips corny most of the time. I could feel my eye twitching like a cartoon character's every time it "spoke". Siri and Susebron were very sweet.It was odd at first because Susebron is at least 50 years old, yet very childlike in some ways. I couldn't decide if he was too old or too young (mentally) for Siri ๐
They quickly felt like equals though. In other news, does Siri not know about withdrawal? The calendar method? ๐
The plot twist halfway through...man, I was bamboozled. I felt betrayed. Sanderson got me there. He got me good.The whole point of the story was to subvert expectations, and I still got tricked. I realized that Denth was a deeper, more important character than I first thought, but I didn't suspect he was a VILLAIN! Heck, I thought he was a potential love interest for Vivenna. Man. Of course, there's another plot twist, that regarding Pahn Kahl, which was logical but didn't make as much of an impact on me. The statues turning out to be Kalad's Phantoms was very obvious. I didn't realize there was an appendix until I finished the story. I have to admit...I couldn't be bothered to read it, or to care much about all the rules regarding Breath. ๐คท๐ฝโโ๏ธ I enjoyed my time with this, I simply wasn't as amazed as I thought I'd be considering how popular Sanderson is.
Although I found Lightsong very tiring at first (obviously that was intentional, but still, I winced when his POV came up), I grew to really like his character by the end. Nightblood though?! What an annoying sword ๐ฉ I understand it's for comedic relief, but I found its little quips corny most of the time. I could feel my eye twitching like a cartoon character's every time it "spoke". Siri and Susebron were very sweet.
The plot twist halfway through...man, I was bamboozled. I felt betrayed. Sanderson got me there. He got me good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Religious bigotry, and War
Minor: Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
ldorina's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
The short review: In my opinion the best thing about Warbreaker is that it brings us an incredibly detailed and lively fantasy world with a mind blowing magic system you've probably never seen before and a lot of discussion about religion without taking sides. It also has a cast of realistic lovable characters and some interesting relationships (though it's true that there are some tropes too). Brandon Sanderson does a solid job with character development, as well. For the most part, there isn't much action in the book but the plot is compelling enough to keep reading. However, it's obvious that characters and worldbuilding are the stronger elements of the novel. I think there's room for a sequel but Warbreaker is great as a stand-alone.
And now let's get into the indepth review. Warning: SPOILERS ahead for the rest of the review!
We start with a prologue that features Vasher, one of the secondary characters, after he has got himself thrown into prison. I think it's an excellent opening because:
1. The reader gets immersed in the story right away as they get to know the arguably most interesting and mysterious character who is also in the middle of an action that brings up the question: 'What is his motive?' And of course there is Nightblood, the talking sword that can kill without being completely pulled from its sheet, so we keep reading.
2. It introduces the magic system which is the key element of the whole book and in the first 11 pages we learn the basics of how it works.
3. There's some action too keep us interested.
4. We don't know it at this point but the title 'Warbreaker' refers to the name Vasher was given when he returned (Warbreaker the Peaceful) so it's fitting that the book starts and ends with him as a way of framing the story.
In the first chapter we get to know the two main characters, Siri and Vivenna, the sisters from the royal family of Idris (and also their father, the king). The fact that these two girls are basically yin and yang is clear from the beginning, they are like Arya and Sansa Stark from GoT, with Siri being the adventurous younger princess who likes to be out in nature, talking to common people and causing her father a great deal of trouble by being rebellious, skipping her classes, shitting at propriety and not controlling herself at all. On the otherhand there's Vivenna, the older, more mature, calmer sister, who - unlike Siri - was born to be a queen and is responsible enough to try to live up to the task from early childhood by obeying her father's commands, studying hard and respecting the 'rules' at all times. The difference is visible just by looking at the hair of these two. Thanks to the royal locks, that show how a person is feeling if they don't focus on regulating the color (great piece of world-building by the way), Siri's hair color is always changing, letting the people around her know about her mood, while Vivenna's stay the same modest dark brown.
And now let's get into the indepth review. Warning: SPOILERS ahead for the rest of the review!
We start with a prologue that features Vasher, one of the secondary characters, after he has got himself thrown into prison. I think it's an excellent opening because:
1. The reader gets immersed in the story right away as they get to know the arguably most interesting and mysterious character who is also in the middle of an action that brings up the question: 'What is his motive?' And of course there is Nightblood, the talking sword that can kill without being completely pulled from its sheet, so we keep reading.
2. It introduces the magic system which is the key element of the whole book and in the first 11 pages we learn the basics of how it works.
3. There's some action too keep us interested.
4. We don't know it at this point but the title 'Warbreaker' refers to the name Vasher was given when he returned (Warbreaker the Peaceful) so it's fitting that the book starts and ends with him as a way of framing the story.
In the first chapter we get to know the two main characters, Siri and Vivenna, the sisters from the royal family of Idris (and also their father, the king). The fact that these two girls are basically yin and yang is clear from the beginning, they are like Arya and Sansa Stark from GoT, with Siri being the adventurous younger princess who likes to be out in nature, talking to common people and causing her father a great deal of trouble by being rebellious, skipping her classes, shitting at propriety and not controlling herself at all. On the otherhand there's Vivenna, the older, more mature, calmer sister, who - unlike Siri - was born to be a queen and is responsible enough to try to live up to the task from early childhood by obeying her father's commands, studying hard and respecting the 'rules' at all times. The difference is visible just by looking at the hair of these two. Thanks to the royal locks, that show how a person is feeling if they don't focus on regulating the color (great piece of world-building by the way), Siri's hair color is always changing, letting the people around her know about her mood, while Vivenna's stay the same modest dark brown.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder
Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
kabrahams's review against another edition
4.0
May Blackberry Wine Bookclub Pick
We follow many points of view in this novel, including Siri, who is sent to marry Susebron the God King instead of her sister to prevent a war, Vivenna, Siri's sister who goes to rescue her and falls in with a band of mercenaries, and Lightsong, a returned "god" who is involved in the complex political landscape of two kingdoms on the brink of war. I enjoyed the Siri and Vivenna POVs a lot more.
Magic system is very cool (no surprise there though since it's Brando Sando). Breaths give you power and some people have biochromatic breaths that heighten colors around them. Inanimate objects and even dead people can be brought to "life" with breath and commanded, creating weapons and armies. There is a sentient sword named Nightblood that is wielded by Vasher.
Also not surprising, there are many fun twists.Susebron the God King is not the terrifying, all-powerful tyrant that everyone believes him to be, but harmless as a child and with his tongue removed by his own priests so he cannot use his powerful breaths to command. Bluefingers, who initially seems to befriend and advise Siri, ends up betraying and almost killing her. Lightsong and Blushweaver are both killed in the attempt to start a war even though they are supposed to be immortal gods. Vivenna's mercenary friends betray her and she also almost dies.
Overall, not my favorite Brando Sando, but still very fun. I'm not sure why this was recommended to me as having a good romance subplot?? There's a kiss at 75% and that's about it. Maybe I would've enjoyed it more if I had had lower or different expectations.
We follow many points of view in this novel, including Siri, who is sent to marry Susebron the God King instead of her sister to prevent a war, Vivenna, Siri's sister who goes to rescue her and falls in with a band of mercenaries, and Lightsong, a returned "god" who is involved in the complex political landscape of two kingdoms on the brink of war. I enjoyed the Siri and Vivenna POVs a lot more.
Magic system is very cool (no surprise there though since it's Brando Sando). Breaths give you power and some people have biochromatic breaths that heighten colors around them. Inanimate objects and even dead people can be brought to "life" with breath and commanded, creating weapons and armies. There is a sentient sword named Nightblood that is wielded by Vasher.
Also not surprising, there are many fun twists.
Overall, not my favorite Brando Sando, but still very fun. I'm not sure why this was recommended to me as having a good romance subplot?? There's a kiss at 75% and that's about it. Maybe I would've enjoyed it more if I had had lower or different expectations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Torture, Violence, and Murder
Minor: War
marareading's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This is a very interesting YA fantasy. My first Brandy Sandy book too! This man loves his world building. I loved that then world building was built into the story and not aside in a massive info dump. The story was very unique, but the first half was still VERY SLOW. there was 8 chapters of just talking about getting married to a God before learning much but the colors. HOWEVER, the color power system based on breaths was pretty cool. It did also feel like the whole book ended very quickly, and the entire book wrapped in the last 50 pages. Everything happened all at once, and then ended pretty abruptly. I'm still going back and forth with myself in how much I may have loved it or not, but I definitely did LIKE it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Murder, and War
bcrowes11's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Sexual content and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content and War
cognitivedisaster's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.25
Read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Gore, War, and Classism
Minor: Rape, Sexual content, and Torture