The most positive thing I can say about this book is I love the cover, and that’s about it. I even read the first book before picking up this one so I wouldn’t be lost and now I wish I hadn’t. The multiple POVs was throwing me off and why does it feel like nothing happened in this book? The plot was okay but it feels like this book was just a filler for the author to be able to write a third book, which I will not be reading.

THE BROKEN TOWER, as the follow-up to THE UNWILLING, delivered the same level of intrigue and magic that I got from the first book. Though I had to refresh my memory with some of the happenings in the first book, I soon fell into place and was able to enjoy this story as well.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this work in exchange for an honest review!

I throughly enjoyed this book! The Broken Tower picks up right where The Unwilling left off. After jumping from the tower in the first book, Judah has been saved by said tower that magically transports her to a land far away from Highfall and consequentially also far away from Gavin and Eleanor. The rest of the story follows each of the individual characters as they struggle through hardships in a life that sees them increasingly and unknowingly connected.

I loved the first book in the series ,The Unwilling, and was incredibly excited to continue the story. This book did not disappoint! It's well-written with a fascinating storyline. The experiences of some of the characters can feel harsh, brutal, and unjust. And yet I feel that the characters will find retribution for what they've had to go through in the next book. Or at least that's what I'm hoping for.

Each chapter in this book follows a different character which I found slightly annoying as whenever I got really into one character's perspective the chapter ended and came back to another character. But part of me also really enjoyed all the different perspectives as I could see what was going on in different parts of the story and how these seemingly different characters are really all connected.

I enjoyed the growth of the characters. Though I feel like there's more growth that we haven't seen from Gavin yet - hopefully we will see that in the next book.

Overall, just a really good read!

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The first book I've read in this series and it was not difficult to figure out the world and the characters. Even with the multiple POV format (please, enough!) the plot was simple enough to get into. And speaking of simple, it's a simple premise: let's set up the next book, putting all the characters into place for some major action to come. Kind of like a YA version of <i>The Two Towers</i>. It also feels as though there was a bit of padding here, so perhaps the author didn't plan for three books? Still, as trilogies go, it's not a bad example of the speculative fiction genre and might lead students to other examples that are less padded and with fewer characters.

eARC provided by publisher via NetGalley.

3.5 stars

You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.

Once again, we visit this harsh, brutal world where pain is meted out indiscriminately and self-preservation is the only way to survive. Trust no one and watch your back. Remain armed at all times.

As with the previous book, this is not a warm and fuzzy fantasy. If you are sensitive to cruelty, child abuse, and down right horrible people doing horrible things, you don't want to read this book, or this series.

The story is told from four main characters' points of view. The first is Judah. When Judah flung herself off the castle tower, instead of certain death she awoke in an unknown forest across the country. Although she is finally out from under the thumb of all who would control her, she is injured, helpless and alone. She is found by a duo of thieves that rescue and treat her injuries for their own selfish reasons. Dependent on the two men until she recovers, the trio form a delicate, temporary alliance as they travel through the countryside. Danger lurks on all sides and they encounter one untrustworthy person after another, placing them in precarious situations.

The second and third POVs are Gavin and Elly. Judah can slightly feel her bond with her foster brother Gavin, but dares not reach out to him for fear of putting him in further danger. All she knows is that he and his fiancé Elly are still alive and Gavin is being mercilessly tortured, but she doesn't know where they are. Gavin and Elly are shuffled from one set of kidnappers to another, and if they thought their living circumstances were bad before, now they are almost intolerable. There is no short amount of cruelty, as Elly in particular must be disciplined to play the long game in order to rescue her and Gavin.

New character Bindy is a young girl who worked as Magus Nate's apprentice until the former Lord was killed and Nate was thrown in prison. She is contacted by a man alleging to be Nate's friend who helps secure his escape from prison. But not all is as it seems, and Nate lands in an even more treacherous situation. Bindy is determined to remain loyal to Nate, despite his unwillingness and disinterest in protecting his own life. Bindy doesn't understand everything that is going on, but she feels it's her duty to protect Nate.

This book is 480 pages, and for much of the book nothing seems to happen. It is definitely more character based than plot based, as the main characters grow, develop and start to understand their place in the world. Judah learns more about her powers and Gavin and Elly discover untapped strength of character they didn't know they had. We learn more about the power that Judah holds called the "work", about the Slonimi, the people who lay claim to it and why they want to bring about the unbinding to set the power free. While we learn more about the world outside of Highfall, there is still a lot left unexplained. While I can understand the purpose of some of this, I won't lie and say it wasn't frustrating at times.

I feel like this book is the calm before the storm that will be unleashed in the next book. Some storylines were wrapped up, but a lot more were left open. The book ended on a satisfying cliffhanger with a promise of more action and intrigue to come.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Mira. All opinions are my own.

I got bored a few times while reading it and really had a hard time with it. I was hoping this one would be better than the first for me but it just wasn't.

I can not recommend it because I really struggled reading the book.

I wanted to love this book as I liked the previous in this series and the blurb sounded interesting.
Unfortunately I was a bit confused as nothing seems to happen.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Wow! Great fantasy but it’s got some dark themes so be ready! It was a bit depressing but a great continuation. Definitely recommend this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced ebook in exchange for an honest review.
The Broken Tower follows the four characters that we got to know in the first book: Gavin, Elly, Judah, and Theron. But we start to follow a few others as well. I don’t know if it’s because we’re following so many different characters, or if it was just intended to be a more character focused than plot focused story, but I cannot give an accurate summary because literally nothing happened. Basically all of the characters were kidnapped and abused by one group of people or another at some point in this story. Some for a few days and other for most of the book. Judah learned more about her powers, but not really. She figured out on her own how to use her abilities in different ways from what she was taught in the first book, but none of it was explained really at all. Gavin just lets himself get abused and beat for most of the book and weirdly, so did Nate. The only characters that I actually liked in this book were Bindy (though I think she was dumb as heck for being so loyal to Nate) and Elly, who finally stands up to her brothers after once again letting them mistreat and abuse her.
I think the world is incredibly depressing, but also really well built and explained. We get to see more of the world because several of the characters are outside of Highfall. I liked seeing and learning about other parts of this world, but I’m frustrated that it didn’t seem to add anything to push the plot of this story forward. It felt like this was just more build up and getting things in place for a big conclusion while getting to know the characters even more.
Overall, I was a bit disappointed. After the big ending of the first book, I was excited to see what Gavin and Judah were going to do next. But they didn’t actually do anything. They just got ready to do things. The story was slow but I liked the characters enough that I was invested in what was going to happen to them. I think if you like character focused stories and fantasy books, you will absolutely enjoy this series.

An exciting fantasy and sequel to The Barrier Lands! Very immersive and world building but nonetheless exciting. Both are must reads!

Considering how depressing this fantasy world treats the main protagonists, there was enough hope not to bog down into too much darkness.

All the characters have been split apart, but their courage, intelligence, and love for each other will help them reunite. Eventually.

This was an exciting read that opened up the world and magic system. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.

This review was based on an advanced reader's copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.