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A review by princessleopard
The Fractured Empire by Robin D. Mahle
4.0
Preface: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Actual rating: 4.25 stars
Explicit content: Sexual activity is alluded to, pretty PG violence
Recommended for: Romance/fantasy lovers, anyone interested in steam/dieselpunk
I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me a lot of "Princess of Death," another YA romance featuring a hate/love romance in a tropical setting that I read earlier this year. It also gives me vague Atlantis (Disney version) vibes, probably because of the tech involved. Overall, it's just a very competently written romance. The characters are varied, likable, and feel like real people. The plot keeps moving, and is surprisingly important to the story, compared to a lot of romances. It's also really intriguing in itself, and there were several twists and turns I didn't expect. I'm genuinely interested to learn more about the mysterious forgotten kingdom, the necklace, and especially the agendas of a few characters unveiled in the last few chapters. The romance itself is really well-written - the two leads are very snarky and snippy at times, but always set that aside to look out for each other, in the end.
My one quibble is that the novel spits out all these really interesting plot threads, but none of them are actually resolved by the end. It's basically a cliffhanger on all fronts. Addie is in a terrible position, we still don't know anything about the mysterious forgotten kingdom, one character is potentially dead, several others are unveiled as having secret agendas, others are imprisoned, we don't know what the necklace is or what it's for, and we haven't learned anything more about the explosion that claimed the lives of Addie's mother and sister. It left the story feeling unfinished, which makes sense for a trilogy, but isn't satisfying when reading it just by itself; even trilogy books should have something about them that stands alone, and this one didn't really have that.
Overall, though, I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in the blurb. It delivers exactly what it promises - a fun romance in an interesting setting with plenty of mysterious and intrigue.
Actual rating: 4.25 stars
Explicit content: Sexual activity is alluded to, pretty PG violence
Recommended for: Romance/fantasy lovers, anyone interested in steam/dieselpunk
I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me a lot of "Princess of Death," another YA romance featuring a hate/love romance in a tropical setting that I read earlier this year. It also gives me vague Atlantis (Disney version) vibes, probably because of the tech involved. Overall, it's just a very competently written romance. The characters are varied, likable, and feel like real people. The plot keeps moving, and is surprisingly important to the story, compared to a lot of romances. It's also really intriguing in itself, and there were several twists and turns I didn't expect. I'm genuinely interested to learn more about the mysterious forgotten kingdom, the necklace, and especially the agendas of a few characters unveiled in the last few chapters. The romance itself is really well-written - the two leads are very snarky and snippy at times, but always set that aside to look out for each other, in the end.
My one quibble is that the novel spits out all these really interesting plot threads, but none of them are actually resolved by the end. It's basically a cliffhanger on all fronts. Addie is in a terrible position, we still don't know anything about the mysterious forgotten kingdom, one character is potentially dead, several others are unveiled as having secret agendas, others are imprisoned, we don't know what the necklace is or what it's for, and we haven't learned anything more about the explosion that claimed the lives of Addie's mother and sister. It left the story feeling unfinished, which makes sense for a trilogy, but isn't satisfying when reading it just by itself; even trilogy books should have something about them that stands alone, and this one didn't really have that.
Overall, though, I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in the blurb. It delivers exactly what it promises - a fun romance in an interesting setting with plenty of mysterious and intrigue.