Thank you so much to the publisher for approving me. This was a DNF for me, I suppose since I never got back into it and I’m just updating this to move this off my shelf.

I enjoyed this book a lot more then I expected. And it wasn't like I went in thinking I wouldn't like it. I would have never requested it if thatbwere the case.
But sometimes I have. Ahard time staying in the moment in this kinda book. Especially reading it on my own and not an audio. Bit this one free me in. And kept my attention. I didn't want to put it down. And lost many hours of sleep until it was finished haha

Runebreaker by Alex R. Kahler is book two in the Runebinder Chronicles, but can be read as a standalone. A fun fantasy novel filled with adventure.

Not exactly my cup of tea. It's a bit full of tropes and the overall worldbuilding seemed a bit lackluster. I did enjoy the first book but this one didn't really work for me.

Runebreaker is a fantastic sequel that continues to thrill readers. It's told in the same voice and doesn't feel like you're entering a be works, but a well loved continuation. Action packed that feels like a non-stop punch. The twists and turns are fantastic.

This fantasy just did not hit the nail for me. It was well written but hit a little to heavy. I found the book hard to focus on sometimes and the magic just seem to over take the book. I am not sure if I feel differently if I read it later on again. But for now I just was not mashing with this story or the characters

This one didnt hit the tropetastic spot for me as the first one did. It was still enjoyable but not as much as the first one. Maybe the audio will change my mind

I didnt particularly like the first book but I liked the premise. I figured Id give this one a shit. No luck, still not into it. Ah well.

Magic and mayhem....Yes please! Enjoyed this whole book page for page! Thank you netgalley for the free arc in exchange for an honest review!

This one is not for me. Aidan was not likable in the least and the fact he was so hateful and killed was a big negative for me. Nothing redeemable about him. Story also did not engage me.

Aidan desires only one thing: to rule. Arrogant, headstrong and driven by the element of Fire, he will stop at nothing to bring the evil Howls that destroyed Scotland to their knees. But Fire is a treacherous element, and the very magic that brought him to power could burn his world to ash. Especially with the blood of his fellow Hunters on his hands. Driven by a bloodlust he can’t control and dark whispers that may not be entirely in his head, he and his magic-eschewing friend Kianna will do whatever it takes to liberate their broken world. Even at the risk of confronting the Church. Even at the risk of losing his humanity.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review through Netgalley. I didn’t realize that this book was a sequel when I requested, but it seems that, although does take place in the same world as the prequel, Runebinder, it deals with a completely new set of characters. So, I did not read the first book in the series, but might go back to read it if I enjoy Runebreaker enough.

I enjoyed the dystopian world of the Runebinder series. I enjoyed seeing how the world devolved since the discovery of magic and I’m always a big fan of the elemental magic. I do think I was at a slight disadvantage in terms of understanding the world of this series, since I didn’t read the first book. I’m sure a lot of backstory information about how the magic began was in the first book, but enough hints are dropped through the sequel, that I definitely understand where and when I am, as well as what the stakes are for this magic system.

Aidan, as a protagonist, was definitely an unlikable main character. From the beginning, he’s selfish, out of control and difficult for the average reader to relate too. I definitely seems that Tenn, the protagonist of the first book in the series, is a more traditional narrator. It was fun to read an unlikeable main character, and his sidekick is slightly more likeable but also a bit harsh. I couldn’t find any characters in this book I felt connected to, but I did feel invested in this story through the characters, even if I was just rooting for them to fail at times.

The plot of Runebreaker starts off fast and high-stakes, Aidan kills a fellow Hunter and is exiled from Scotland. But after this exciting beginning, things progress at a slow pace. One of the first chapters is literally just Aidan describing all the ways their journey was put off. There are certainly high intensity moments throughout the series and I felt a lot of tension throughout that pulled me through the book. But, overall, I felt it was slower than I had hoped it would be based on the opening chapter and the summary.

Runebreaker is the second book in the Runebinder Chronicles is a high tension and high intensity book. The main character, Aidan, is unlikeable to his core, but he is fun to follow. The world of this series is engaging and fun to get to know, but being familiar with the first book in the series would most likely help. I felt like the plot was slow moving, but the tension the plot sets up carried me through to the end.

I was expecting a continuation from Runebinder and that's not exactly what this is. I probably should have looked more into it before starting, but I just thought it was safe to assume that it was a continuation since it's a series. I didn't not like this book, but I wanted more of Tenn. Aiden was a complete jerk and not very likable. I'm 100% positive he's meant to be that way. I can see the appeal for some people of a completely unapologetic character, but he wasn't my favorite. The storyline was okay but it was more about Aiden wanting to become powerful than fixing the world.

Rating 4/5

Book 2 in a series and I loved every bit of the diversity presented here! Flawless execution allowing their unique abilities to shine and become valuable to the plot. Fantastic read!

My Review: Ok so I decided to go ahead and try this one even though I didn't like book one. But this is not a sequel but a companion novel to book one. Although it is better well done than book one it still fails to excite the reader in terms of just keeping it flowing. There were parts of this in the middle of action then people would just start talking which was really weird. So for me this one fell short of what I was hoping for.

I am so disappointed in this one. I absolutely LOVED the first book and read it in one sitting and just... this one was nothing like the first. I found the MC rude and undeserving and I kind of thought it would follow the characters of the first book, which it didn't? I don't know.

I'm sad that I did not enjoy this one as much and make it about 90% through before I decided to put it down because it wasn't worth it.

First off, I really loved Runebinder and the world Alex built. A world in which the apocalypse has come and all that was left behind were empty souls called the howls(once-human beasts spawned by magic) and people who were intuned with the elemental magic.
This book was completely different than Runebinder. Set in the same magically system world, but with the backdrop of Scotland, we no longer follow Tenn but Aiden. Aiden is an outcast and burning with the fire magic that he can’t seem to control or is completely controlling him. He’s set it upon himself to take down Calum, the Howl King of Britain, alongside his only friend Kianna.
I love how complex but real the characters are. I also love that Alex isn’t afraid to explore sexuality within his characters; Aiden’s gay and reading from a gay mans perspective was very enlightening.
Though I can’t lie, I did miss continuing with Tenn and his story from the first book. You grow so in love with a character that it kind of takes a step back when it’s someone else’s story you’re reading and the last is left unfinished

This sequels follows a different character on a completely different continent. I usually enjoy villain stories, but I had a difficult time connecting with the main character. Aidan was power hungry without ever giving us any real reason why. The trick with a good villain story is to make the reader care about them in spite of their flaws and that didnt happen here. Aidans fire urges and whiny internal monologue got annoyingly repetitive. His partner in crime Kianna was a fierce no none sense transwoman and I loved her. Her loyalty was admirable, but I honestly wish she wasnt so delusional where Aidan was concerned. He's selfish and doesnt seem to have a problem calling her names. I was happy to see Tomas from the first book show up. The roguish incubus was definitely entertaining.

I liked the world with its monsters and elemental magic. The creatures could definitely leave you with nightmares, especially the Kravens. The book is set in Scottland which was nice, but I wasnt a big fan of the way Aidan kept complaining about it. Im glad the world building was reexplained in a way that didnt seem too obvious. There were some other things I didnt understand though. Even if someone is immune to magic you could still use it to hurt them. We also get dreams meant to show us the past, but dreams arent usually reliable or in chronological order. Plus we get a prophetic type dream at the beginning that was never addressed. I just feel like there were quite a few things that could have been explained better.

I was disapointed to find out this wasnt a continuation of the first book. I was hoping to discover what happened after the events in Runebinder. However my main issue was the amount of repetition and filler. It just slowed down the pace and made me unmotivated to keep reading, even in the middle of a battle scene. Twenty pages to get from the wall to the castle was a bit excessive and this was a constant problem. Ive come to realize both books had main characters that just complained too much for me to connect to, but Im sure other readers might not mind it. I think Im done with the series and it makes me sad because I want more awesome LGBT+ YA Fantasy in my life, especially ones that are own voices.

I haven't read the first book in this series, but from what I understand this is more of a standalone set in the same universe with a small cameo by characters from book one towards the end. At any rate, I never felt confused while reading it and was sucked in right from the beginning. I definitely thought the world-building and magic system was very fun and unique, but what really made this book for me was the characters. I think I can probably explain best with an excerpt from the author's note at the end:

"Aidan has been called 'difficult' more times than I can count. Unlikable. Narcissistic. Anger-driven. Over a decade ago, when Runebinder first came to light, I poured a great deal of my own emotions onto the page. As I struggled with what it meant to be gay, as I yearned for a world where I didn't have to constantly explain myself, a world where I could be heroic, so was Tenn born of fear, of sadness and of the great desire to be normal. To be important to someone. And to something. Aidan is more than the opposite end of that spectrum. Aidan is the next step in the narrative."

Now I definitely have a soft-spot for 'unlikable' characters no matter what their sexuality, I'm pretty much that person always yelling at the hero in the book when they refuse to kill someone because that would make them ~just as bad~ as the other side, but having angry and unlikable queer character definitely adds another layer of relatability to the narrative for me personally. Anyway, I absolutely love my new gay murder son [and his future demon boyfriend] and also my badass bisexual trans daughter. Rarely do I ever get to read about such unapologetic characters [seriously, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop the whole time and I've never been so glad that it didn't]. I can't wait for the next book in this series.

Alex was such an unlikeable character, and so flat, that I couldn't enjoy anything about this book. The formatting issues were distracting. And for what could have been an exciting world and adventure the story felt rather,boring to me. Perhaps the fact that this was book two and I didn't read the first is partly to blame, but I had to force myself to continue reading.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is the 2nd book in the series. I have not read the first book so I can’t compare it to that one but I seemed to be able to follow along without reading it. This book is a little bit darker for the dystopian genre. I did not feel attached to any of the characters. In fact, Aiden was so dislikable that it made it hard to keep going at times. I didn’t feel he redeemed himself at all. While I appreciated the magical elements and paranormal/supernatural elements, it just wasn’t a great book for me.