Review excerpted from my blog post over at Pan/Cis LGBT2SQ+ Romance Reviews (https://pancis.wordpress.com/2020/11/30/broken-reign-by-sam-ledel/)

Overall Rating: 4.0 stars

Library recommendation: Recommended for public library LGBT2SQ+ romance collections.

Warning: Hereafter, you chance spoilers. I will try never to reveal major plot points, but to review any book, you must reveal some parts of the story.


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Number of titles I have read by this author: 2

Love story speed: Slow burn, continued from first book

Relationship dynamics: The Outcast (h1) / The Princess (h2)

Sexual content: A smidge; off-page with kissing on-page and only vague allusions to “the act” itself

Gender Identity: Cis (h1) / Cis (h2)

Sexual Identity: Lesbian (h1) ; not self-declared (h2), but Lesbian is implied

Triggers: “Racial” marriage laws; ostracization of “mixed” children born out of wedlock

Acceptance Rating: 5.0 stars

Acceptance Rating Explanation: Love is love. The caveat to this is that, from an overall diversity standpoint, I would rate this as a 3.0 in terms of acceptance.

Grammar/Editing: My ARC had a couple of typos, omitted punctuation and words, and word choice issues, but nothing too problematic.

Review: This series is definitely new adult in tone, and would also be accessible to an older young adult audience. Because this book picks up right where the previous book leaves off, and the third book will do the same, I recommend that you read this series in order. In terms of pacing, I found this narrative to be fairly slow in places with bursts of action scattered throughout. The series is set in a fantasy realm featuring Fae and elemental magic, with most characters having at least some control of fire (generally used as a personal light source). The first book includes a map for reference, but that map is not included in the second book, so you may want to have the first book nearby for reference, particularly given that descriptions of travel are given in terms of time rather than distance covered (e.g. hours, days, nights, moons).

As in the first book, Jastyn and Aurelia are the central characters in this narrative. Tentative is the best word that I can use to describe their relationship. Both are attracted, but reluctant to make any false steps. Their approach to their relationship comes from a place of uncertainty and naivety not typically seen in more mature adult characters, and I think that this is what makes the series feel more YA/NA in tone. The narrative also hinges on the “Big Bad Secret” trope (that every character except one partner in the relationship knows) so if this isn’t something you enjoy, this book, and this series, might not be for you. The supporting characters largely consist of individuals introduced in the first book. While the more significant supporting characters are fairly well developed, the more minor characters tend toward archetypal fantasy characters. That being said, there is still one book left in the series, so I expect that fuller development will be forthcoming.

Full disclosure: I received a free advance review copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Read book one first.

This is a wonderful fantasy read. If you enjoyed the first you will be wholeheartedly satisfied with the sequel. Adventure, drama and love, what could be better?

Broken Reign, the second book in The Odium Trilogy, picks up where Daughter of No One ended and since it’s a trilogy, get ready for an open ending. Whereas I was completely taken aback by the ending of the first instalment, this one arrived more organically. Or maybe I was more prepared. Either way, the element of surprise of book 1 wasn’t as predominant here. While it took me a little time to get back into the atmosphere and the adventure (not the book’s fault, my memory sucks and I had to reacquaint myself with the characters), once I was in I enjoyed it as much as Daughter of No One.

Now that she knows the world is not as she was told growing up in the shelter of the royal palace, Princess Aurelia Diarmaid is determined to make things right and the first step of that journey is to help Jastyn Cipher get the cure to her sister’s mystery illness. Jastyn has painfully embraced the Odium child label she’s been stuck with from birth because of her mother’s unmarried status at the time. Now everything she thought she knew about herself and who her absent father was has been blown away. And her growing feelings for the princess are not helping her confidence… Add the Dark Fae’s threat to the mix and what a journey it is!

I wrote in my review for the previous book that one of the reasons I love YA/NA fantasy is that it’s “full of exciting adventure and the promise of romance. It’s sweet, fresh and hopeful.” It proves true again with Broken Reign. Sam Ledel has created a fascinating and at times terrifying world, filled with elves, sirens, selkies, wood nymphs and many more. As delightfully disorienting as it is, there are, here and there, allusions to power dynamics and political and societal issues of the real world. Nothing emphatic, just enough to make the struggle familiar.

As usual, what matters most to me are the characters and whether their actions and decisions make sense. Jastyn’s lingering inability to tell Aurelia about the “noble sacrifice” needed for the cure could have been excruciatingly annoying but the author manages to make her concerns and distress plausible. As are Aurelia’s growth, her new-found awareness of the world, her willingness to do better. Going on this journey with both young women and their fellow travellers still has this fresh and exciting quality, all the more so as new characters joined the story, some just as intriguing. I am very much looking forward to knowing more about Keeva and Donovan, the mischievous twins from the Kingdom of Uterni, for example. Book 3, The Princess and the Odium, is announced for next spring, so just a little more patience…

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

This is the second of the Odium trilogy that started with Daughter of No One. This one has Jastyn and crew racing to find the cure for Jastyn's sister's illness. If they don't get to the location, pass the test, and return with the medicine in time, Jastyn's sister will die. It is hampered by the fact that they are also fleeing their home kingdom after the death of Princess Aurelia's brother. Jastyn is still working through her hatred of Aurelia's family, who implemented cruel, bigoted laws that left Jastyn and her family pariahs.

That's much of what happens for most of the book - Jastyn is tormented by the fact that she still feels the sting of hate for being born an Odium - a person who is part fae - and her growing feelings for the perky, beautiful princess Aurelia. It also turns out that the test to receive the medicine for Jastyn's sister may involve sacrificing Aurelia, which is something Jastyn is increasingly torn about. It makes for a much faster adventure, as they are doing more, and interacting with more of the world. A couple of highlights include an encounter with mysterious twins from another kingdom, the crew getting captured and having to stay with a selkie clan, and a man who is half pooka. All this gave the world some needed brightness and hope, because I think, while I liked the first book, it was a little to dreary for me.

If anything, I think this is an excellent new adult fantasy series. But I think what kind of bothered me throughout this book was the characters' focus on the riddle they have to solve. For as smart and resourceful as they all are, even the naive Aurelia, got hung up on only one possible answer and stuck with it. It caused Jastyn no small amount of mental anguish, especially since it involved Aurelia and their eventual fight about it felt more like a plot device than a fight that should have happened. I know that Jastyn has problems communicating, and that Aurelia had to do a lot of the emotional lifting when they were starting their relationship, but I just didn't like the timing of it. Also, when Jastyn was able to gather her courage to talk about Aurelia about the riddle and the medicine, something always got in the way. It got a little too convenient.

The third book is shaping up to be a doozy, and I look forward to seeing how this wraps up.

I received this ARC in exchange for my opinion.

This great fantasy read.

Jastyn is on a mission to find cure to saves her sister Alanna what she didn’t count on is Princess Aurelia joining her and her best friend acorns on this quest.

Princess Aurelia knows her life is more then being trapped in her castle but she didn’t expect her freedom would cause her brother death. Aurelia knows this might be her only chance to see the world.

As they go on this adventure they are met with interference from humans and magic creatures alike but as their feelings grow Jastyn is keeping a secret that might destroy them more then what troubles coming for them.

Love it it has magic intrigue and love.


I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.