[Skye’s Review:] Blade Breaker by Victoria Aveyard

Blade Breaker
by Victoria Aveyard
Series: Realm Breaker #2
Pages: 578
Published by HarperTeen
Release Date: June 28th 2022
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Source: Publisher
Format Read: ARC

The fate of the world rests on a blade's edge.

Fighting beside her band of unlikely companions, Corayne is learning to embrace her ancient lineage and wield her father's powerful sword.

But while she successfully closed one of the Spindles, her journey is far from over.

Queen Erida's army marches across Allward with her consort, Taristan, right beside them, opening more portals into nightmarish worlds, razing kingdoms to the ground.

Corayne has no choice but to assemble an army of her own if she's to save the realm as she knows it. But perilous lands await her and the companions, and they face assassins, otherworldly beasts, and tempestuous seas all as they rally a divided Ward to fight behind them.

But Taristan has unleashed an evil far more wicked than his corpse armies. Something deadly waits in the shadows; something that might consume the world before there's any hope for victory.

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I’m not sure where to start. In fact, I’m not sure how I feel about this book yet. I expected more from Blade Breaker than it delivered. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a bad book by any means. It’s a good book; it’s just not a great book. It’s not a book that will leave a lasting impression in my memory.

I’ve read over 1,000 pages between Realm Breaker and Blade Breaker, and I don’t feel connected to any of the characters. Honestly, the majority of these characters don’t feel fleshed out to me. Corayne is supposed to be the main character, she’s the Chosen One to save the world, yet I feel like I know Sorasa better than I do Corayne. In my opinion, Aveyard sacrifices character development for long setting descriptions. Several times, I found myself skimming over paragraphs of descriptions. I also think this book could have been condensed. It feels like a typical filler book. Nothing substantial occurred until the end of the book.

Despite my critiques, I did enjoy this book, and I plan on reading the next book! I flew through it pretty quickly, considering it’s almost 600 pages. If you loved the first book, I imagine you’ll also love Blade Breaker!