Book Review: Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard

We had so much fun reading Realm Breaker with our book club. Below you’ll see some of our discussion questions and how everyone responded.

Book Summary

Corayne an-Amarat has one job: to save the Ward. Growing up with a pirate mother and an absent father, Corayne never thought she was special. When two strangers show up at her house to convince her to accompany them on a journey, she finally gets a taste of excitement.

But nothing is as it seems. With a band of misfits, Coryane is tasked with stopping her uncle Taristan from opening the Spindles (portals) and preventing him from destroying the Ward. 

Only Corayne is in over her head and doesn’t know who she can trust. After all, most people in the Ward only look out for themselves and many people want power.

Discussion

1. Was Realm Breaker able to grab your attention immediately?

We had mixed responses to this question. While we had a difficult time in the beginning because of all the characters and the large amount of detail, others were hooked from the first page. One group member had trouble putting the book down.

It took us longer to get into the story. The prologue had a lot of excitement, we just didn’t know who anybody was yet. It really picked up for us in chapter six when Corayne learns about her heritage and is asked to join the quest to stop Taristan.

For another book club member, he thought the prologue was so exciting that the first few chapters didn’t live up to the initial hype. He thought the first two chapters were too long and needed more action to draw in the reader.

So, we had mixed reviews on when each reader became fully engaged in the story. However, everyone liked the book.

2. Which character did you relate to the most in the book, and why?

The best part of this book was that with the multiple POVs, each character had a distinct voice. We loved strong and unexpected personalities. 

Sorasa Sarn, the assassin, was a popular choice for favorite character. While morally ambiguous, Sorasa never let people push her around. She stood up for herself and knew her worth. Plus, she’s the type of person who you want protecting you in the dangerous Ward.

Domacridhan (Dom), the immortal, also received high praise. Usually, immortals are supposed to be all-knowing beings. However, a group member pointed out that Dom wasn’t that bright and treated immortality with procrastination. He basically put everything off because he had endless tomorrows. Everyone enjoyed the unique character.

Erida, the Queen of Galland, also left readers excited by her complex storyline. Since she was a 19 year old ruler, Aveyard could have made Erida helpless. That was not the case. Erida might be the most brutal of the characters and she lusts for absolute power.

3. Who was your least favorite character and why?

Out of all of the POVs, we felt that Princess Ridha had the least enjoyable chapters. It took a while for us to figure out how she fit into the story. Honestly, we feel Aveyard could have left her out and the plot would not have changed. 

In terms of being a terrible person, Taristan won that. 1. He’s creepy. 2. He’s too old to want to marry a teenager. 3. He’s trying to destroy his own family. He is a necessary evil though because without him, there wouldn’t be a plot. 

4. How did you feel about Aveyard’s writing style? 

Aveyard has an engaging writing style. It was clear to all of us that she spent a lot of time focusing on world building and details. She paints a clear picture of all the places in the book and we loved the medieval North Africa/Middle East vibe.

However, we did like Red Queen better because it had more action. We also liked the love triangle between Mare, Maven and Cal. One thing Realm Breaker lacked for us was romance. We thought maybe Andry and Corayne would start something.

Overall, Realm Breaker was an enjoyable YA high fantasy series and we’ll be picking up the second book when it releases. We hope book 2 has more action and romance. 

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️