I really enjoyed this fast paced middle grade fantasy novels. Another review that I read described this book as a mixture of a Riordanverse novel and a world that would fit well in a Rivers Solomon work. Even though I have not read any works by Rivers Solomon (although I am highly interested), I have heard enough about their work to have had similar thoughts while reading the narrative, something I did prior to reading other reviews. Randall did an excellent job setting up the world which has plenty of allusions to real, tragic historic events, events that created this magical world. I never felt lost in this world even with all of the different characters and elements of magic introduced; Randall handled that exceptionally well. I would, however, have preferred several more pages devoted to the resolution of this novel. The climax came with less than half an hour on the audiobook, closer to 10 minutes remaining. I didn't feel like it left off on a cliffhanger but the resolution did not feel quite satisfactory. Other than that, however, Randall knocked this one out of the park.

The Chainbreakers follows Violet Moon on her journey to rescue her father from the Depths and the Children of the Shark. There were a lot of things to like about this book! I love the gorgeous prose, the action packed fight scenes, and the cool magic. I also really loved the way of story telling was woven into the book, and all the lore of the world. That said, I often felt lost trying to figure out what was going on with the magic, the history, and the myths of the world. I never quite understood the difference between some of the magical terms and people--if the Reapers were immortal and if the Heavens were another world, for example. Unfortunately, the ending didn't have as much impact as it should have, because I really couldn't figure out what was going on. I also had a hard time connecting with Violet , as she often acted or sounded much older than twelve. It was a little jarring to see her and other kids fighting like assassins and talking like brilliant scientists, but then cracking jokes like preteens. Those things combined, I just had a hard time really sinking into the story, as wonderful as it was.

What an action-packed and inspired book! When you enter the fantastical world that Julian Randall creates in The Chainbreakers, you also get a glimpse into the horrible history of the slave trade. History and fantasy come together to present these necessary realities to a young audience.

Overall, I really enjoyed how the author presented this story and weaved in the magical elements. There was so much engrained into this book that it easily could have been a series. At times during the story I was completely lost though, there were many pivotal points in the story where something that happened was not well explained and justified by either being a legend among the people or a story told. I was lost for a lot of the second half of the book because of this.

While I loved the intent behind this book, I really struggled with the execution. This really would have been better as a series. There was so much amazing mythology and symbolism that really could have used better development and presentation. I love the idea and themes of this book, even the fantastical representations, but it was just very difficult to follow at times. Overall, I would recommend this book to others, but probably not to young readers unless they had a certain amount of emotional maturity that they could understand the themes and representations.

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher, and Julian Randall.

I've read another series by this author that was great so I knew this one would be too. It started off with a bang and ended great as well. I can't wait to see what else this author writes in the future.

There is no doubt that Julian Randall is also a poet when you get reading his beautiful works of fiction. I love the language. It’s not all flowery or anything like that, I mean we’re talking war between those who were involved in slavery with those who are trying to save the souls of those captured. Randall’s language describing the events is concise yet powerful!
Violet is the daughter of the captain of one of the five ships who sail to save the souls who were lost during slave trade. The slave traders themselves were cursed and now try to reclaim these souls to devour them before the reapers can bring these souls to a heaven.
The world building is incredible. There is a wide array of characters that provide moments of compassion, humor, and excitement. Young readers who enjoy fantasy and adventure will love taking part in Violet’s intense undertaking to defy the evils of the deep.

We start with the story of the Sun Peoples who were stolen by the Chainmakers…stolen from their world, their culture and their people. The Chainmakers tried to break them, body and soul, by enslaving them an ocean away in the new world. But the gods sent a great storm that allowed some of the captured Sun People to rise up and break free of their chains. These Chainbreakers became the Reapers of Souls and the Chainmakers were cursed to become dangerous ghost-shark human hybrids . For generations these original Reapers and their ancestors rescued the souls of their enslaved black and brown brothers and sisters and took them to one of the five heavens created under the waves of the seas where they will live in eternal peace. But the do-good pirates always had to beware of the cursed Children of Shark, or Pointers .

Next we meet Violet Moon whose father is captain of The Mooney, a Reaper ship. But there is a dark element competing for the souls of the lost and they have kidnapped the good capitan. Now it is up to young Violet and her new crew to rescue her father, the lost souls and disappeared crew members from other Reaper ships from the dark ocean depths and time is running out.

The Chainbrakers offers plenty of swashbuckling excitement and treasure hunting to keep middle grade readers turning pages. Author Julian Randall is an expert at building worlds that defy imagination while at the same time, giving us a historical perspective of the evils of the Atlantic slave trade.

I really loved this book. I enjoyed it very much. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a good read 10/10