In the realm of Allward, something dark lingers on the horizon. Corayne an-Amarat, daughter of a pirate, can feel it deep in her bones. She's always been hungry for adventure, but when it comes knocking on her door, it's hardly what she had imagined. As one of an ancient, powerful lineage, it is up to Corayne to save the realm from destruction. But she cannot do it alone. Joining her is a gentle squire, an immortal scarred by war, an exiled assassin thirsting for blood, a witch who speaks in riddles, a forger with a long criminal history, and a bounty hunter who never loses.

Realm Breaker, Victoria Aveyard's new YA series (with no connection to the previous bestseller, Red Queen) is one to look out for. This book takes to heart what it means to be an epic fantasy, filled with medieval knights, pirates, seers and magic, and more. 5 stars.

This book presents the age-old yet beloved ragtag team who set out to save the world... at an extreme disadvantage. In fact, it feels a little bit like The Hobbit, or There and Back Again in its tone and atmosphere. This is a book of magic, intrigue, adventure, and becoming more than what you think you are.

With characters that are (mostly, save for few) well-rounded yet mysterious stories, a large world, and just a splash of humor, Realm Breaker is one that engulfs the reader and keeps them hooked, despite its massive heft--just under 600 pages! The one and only thing that I struggled with a bit was that it very much feels like we are thrown into a world that is vastly different from our own, and I admit that it took me a little while to get my feet underneath me.

A testament to epic fantasy, Victoria Aveyard has given us what could very well be the best books of the year.

This book starts out with a note from the author that states: “What happens when our heroes fail? And that is the core of Realm Breaker. Who saves the world when the saviors aren’t coming? Who do we call up? Will they be good enough? Will they be bad enough?” Honestly, that’s the best way to explain this story.

The world is rich and interesting. The longer I sit with it in my head, the more obsessed I feel myself becoming.

There’s a large and fun cast of characters. There really is someone for everyone! I don’t feel like I can even personally pick a favourite character yet. They’re all so unique and individual. Even the ones you’re obviously not supposed to like are drawing me in.

I honestly can’t wait for the next book. Someone tell me how I’m meant to wait!! It’s going to be torture.

Realm Breaker includes everything I want in a fantasy book: action, adventure, and strong characters in a well thought out world. An added bonus is that Aveyard wastes no time getting into the thick of the action and plot. Great read and even better story. I look forward to more in the series.

An exciting series opener from a beloved author.

I had high expectations going into this book, and it did not disappoint. This is definitely different than Red Queen, in scope, style, and focus. I found myself pleasantly surprised with the old-school quest narrative, especially because of Victoria Aveyard’s signature plot twists,

This definitely made me want to keep reading the series, and felt classic and fresh all at once!

With the advent of Realm Breaker, veteran author Victoria Aveyard begins another epic series. A world under duress, a hero with grit and a band of misfits to aide her, what's not to like? In this newest series, Aveyard introduces readers to the world of Allward and to the last descendants of an ancient line who, along with her band of unexpected allies, seeks to protect their world from a vicious evil intent of destroying everything in its path. An adventure worth reading and characters worth following throughout their journey, Aveyard has created another series that will thrill her readers from the very first page.

I went into this book not knowing what to expect since I’d hear mixed things about the authors previous “Red Queen” series but I was pleasantly surprised! Realm Breaker involves a gripping quest led by a ragtag group of characters throughout a well-constructed and richly layered world. It actually somewhat reminded me of more old-school fantasy classics. It was also really refreshing to read a YA fantasy that didn’t focus on romance at all in this first instalment. It was primarily about the newly forged friendship between Corayne and her crew.

While I enjoyed the large cast of characters and many locations, I felt that the world-building was incredibly dense and delivered through massive info-dumps throughout the majority of the book. I think Aveyard could've significantly scaled back some of the lore and woven it into the story more naturally—likely making it more enjoyable.

I enjoyed the World building but it took me too long to get into this story. If I wasn't already a fan of her previous series, I probably wouldn't have continued. In the end, I'm glad I did, and I'm now looking forward to the next installment.

Realm Breaker is one of my most anticipated reads of 2021. I will read anything Victoria Aveyard publishes in the future. I enjoyed the world building and the multiple character perspectives. I love books dealing with quest/journey with a group of strangers. I am also going for a villain romance. It took me about 50% of the book to really get in to it. I am glad I stuck with it. I would definitely read the second. Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to receive a copy. I preorder a physical copy and can’t wait to have it on my shelves

Thank you NetGalley for the Realm Breaker arc! First I thought this was an epic adventure book. The world building is amazing and I loved the multiple points of view. Andry Trelland is probably my favorite. I love that there is squires and pirates and just so much! I felt so much for Corayne having to live up to the pressure of family. The portal traveling element I felt was so interesting. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the story plays out! I feel like Victoria knocked this book out of the park!

This was interesting! This had really great worldbuilding and I really liked the characters and how the characters interacted with each other I loved the dialogue, especially Corayne's she had this very dry humor, like bad stuff happens and she's just like 'well okay then'. I also liked how Aveyard made the "main character" not this all powerful being, because really, she's just a teenager and I think that sometimes that's important in YA books, because yes you should think that you can be a powerful person as a teen, but it's also important to know that nobody starts out that way, so this novel really showed her grow as a person.

This book was, however, really hard to get into. There is such a big info dump at the beginning and it really made me not want to read the book, honestly. I also think the multiple points of view were also incredibly confusing at times, like some of the points of view started off and I'm like confused as to what is going on and who's point of view it is, like I just feel like I wasn't introduced to the characters well enough. Towards the end of the book, I did end up figuring out who and what was going on but it took a while because there was this massive info dump.

So while the worldbuilding was great, I think the characters could've been explained a bit more, there was just so much info being put in my brain that I couldn't actually figure out what was actually going on in the plot. I think if I reread this, I might understand it a bit better, but just from that first read, it was a bit hard to understand everything going on in the book. And this might just be how I read books, someone else might understand the book perfectly! The book itself is just very dense in information.

This was...an interesting one. I must admit that I was not the world's biggest fan of Aveyard's debut series. It lacked a lot of worldbuilding and was mostly just underwhelming for me. However, I felt this was where my opinions flipped--the worldbuilding felt solid and well-done throughout the novel (though at times I admit I felt it dagged/held the story down; but with fantasy, I am actually all right with this.) I admit that the characters fell flat to me, and if I don't like the characters of a book, then I'll find my general interest in the novel decreasing. This book felt like the opposite of RED QUEEN in many ways; I loved the characters but felt the world needed more attention; whereas in this, (for me at least) the world shone, and the characters needed more. Ultimately, I think this is a book that will divide Aveyard fans of her first series, because it's very different. I'm very interested to see what sort of response this book will receive because of that. I enjoyed it, definitely, though I don't feel the need to rave about it (which was what I was hoping for.)

Overall, a solid read, and I'm looking forward to seeing where Aveyard takes the world, characters, and story next.

Red Queen is one of my favorite series, and Realm Breaker did not disappoint. All the twists and turns led to a satisfying cliffhanger for book 2. Counting down the days...

After the greatness that was the red queen series, aveyard had big shoes to fill. While I am not sure she lived up to red queen but this was not bad. Realm breaker was just enough to be different to red queen but her writing style came through. I am curious enough to want to finish the series.

Victoria Aveyard writes an exciting fantasy adventure with a compelling cast a diverse characters. A must read for fantasy lovers!

This was a book I had waited a long time for as I am a fan of the Red Queen series. Great plot, lots of twists. I will definitely have to read it again to catch details that I missed the first time. It was hard for me to really get a feel for any of the individual characters since each chapter was in a different character's point of view. I would still highly recommend this book and can't wait to see where this series leads.

This was a fresh fantasy told in the old way reminiscent of Tolkien and Jordan. It took a bit of patience to get into, but overall, I enjoyed the characters, the world, stakes and hope for more to come.

I am blown away. Aveyard is one of my favorite authors, so I knew I'd love Realm Breaker, but I wasn't prepared to be completely sucked in and spat out and then ask for more.

In true Aveyard fashion, the world-building is flawless. It's intricate and thoughtful and her clear attention to detail leaves the reader with a thorough understanding and complete immersion into this world. Pirates! What! I loved everything about it. It felt so new and unique in the YA world, which makes its draw that much more appealing.
Aveyard's writing style is really a huge selling point for me in all her books--I love the witty banter, acerbic wit, and precise diction that her characters often employ. Even if there's a lull in the action, it's still completely engaging. Realm Breaker is full of fantasy tropes that I think will appeal to a wide audience--there's something in it for everyone, I think. And of course...it's got the plot twists that we've all come to know and love (hate? love?) from an Aveyard book. This is truly one of my new favorites!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I am writing this review after reading 1/3 of the book. That’s all I could manage and have set it aside for now. (Maybe I’ll pick it up later, but I honestly don’t know.) This book is DENSE- lots and lots of world building with complex names. At this point in the story I still don’t know what Spindles are though they’re referenced often, it’s never in a way that the reader can actually understand what they are. The book is written from multiple POV, which I usually enjoy. My issue with it this time is that the chapter starts with someone’s POV who hasn’t been introduced in the book yet so you have zero idea who or where this person is when you start the chapter. I’m disappointed because I was so excited to read this book because of all the hype.
I will come back and edit this review if I ever decide to pick the book back up and finish it.

3.5 stars, rounded up

I enjoyed the start of V.A.'s new series. There was a huge info dump and somewhat of a confusing set-up in the beginning but the plot was interesting enough to move past this.

"A strange darkness grows in Allward. Even Corayne an-Amarat can feel it, tucked away in her small town at the edge of the sea. She soon discovers the truth: She is the last of an ancient lineage—and the last hope to save the world from destruction. But she won’t be alone. Together they stand against a vicious opponent, invincible and determined to burn all kingdoms to ash, and an army unlike anything the realm has ever witnessed."

At times the plot moved far too slowly and there wasn't enough action. This wouldn't matter if the characters actually DID ANYTHING during these slow times, but they didn't. The writing is good, but I didn't feel immersed in this world the way I like to be when I read fantasy novels. I'm interested to see where this series goes!

I think this might be the next YA book that everyone and their mothers will be reading. For one the world that Aveyard was able to build is so well structured, and it doesn't base itself all around only Europe, you can see kingdoms inspired by other countries that all have their own unique cultures and are really well flushed out. Also the main character I found to be truly wonderful, who is aware that she currently is filled with longing of just seeing the world, and maybe it's the quarantine talking but I related to that so much. Also the way Aveyeard was able to just write such wonderful characters is fantastic. Every single character has something to add to the story and none of them seemed to be made just to push the protagonist along, they all seem to have their own personalities and lives that do not revolve just around the Main Character.

Overall I will be highly singing the praises for this book