"Dawnbreaker" by Jodi Meadows delivers a breathtaking conclusion to the Nightrender duology, plunging readers into a world on the brink of destruction. Meadows' prose is spellbinding as she weaves a tale of magic, betrayal, and redemption. The characters, from the enigmatic Nightrender to the cunning Hanne, are brilliantly crafted and deeply compelling. With its intricate world-building and heart-pounding action, "Dawnbreaker" is a must-read for fans of epic fantasy.

Rune is stuck
Hanne is taking control of the kingdom without him.
The nightrender is trying to find Rune and find the weapon to destroy the rancor king.
Duology.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

I’m so glad I got to finish this amazing duology before the year ended! The dynamics between Rune and the Nightrender are immaculate and with the world actually falling apart around them I would root for them til the end!

I’ll forever be recommending this series as one of my favorite underrated series that deserves so much more hype! Jodi Meadows sure knows her way around a fantasy world!

I received an advanced copy of Dawnbreaker from Netgalley and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Jodi Meadows is one of my all-time favorite authors. If you haven't read The Orphan Queen duology, what are you doing with your life? And I'm about to add this duology to that list as well. Nightrender was great, and Dawnbreaker knocked the ending out of the park. Initially, I gave this book four stars, but after ruminating on it, I realized that it thoroughly deserved a full five. I know what kept me from giving the last star, but after thinking about it, it was perfect for the story. I really can't say much about that because it's the ending, but though it frustrated me, I totally got it, and I couldn't even be mad.

At its heart, this was a series about loss, and I think the author handled it very well. Almost every character had to deal with some type of loss, whether it was in their past or during the course of the story. How they dealt with these losses is what made them different from each other and made them compelling characters. Hanne is probably one of my least favorite characters just because of who she was, but I understood her. Just because I didn't like her didn't mean she wasn't a great character with just as much growing to do as everyone else. And that's one of the reasons that I love Jodi Meadows' work. She manages to make even her villainous characters relatable, with motivations that, if I were in those situations, it's very possible I would have made the same decisions. The characters were phenomenal, and reading about their struggles was what made the story enjoyable. Yes, a lot going on in their world, but the individual characters were just as important as the overall storyline, and that balance was very well maintained throughout the entire story.

I had two gripes, but, as mentioned before, I realized that they weren't big enough to warrant taking off a star because of how much I loved this series and this book. The ending was one, and Hanne's love story was the other. If you read this book (which you should. Like now.), you'll probably understand, but I'm not going to get into it because of spoilers.

I have nothing else to say about Dawnbreaker except that you should read it. Obviously, read book one first, but yes. Highly recommended.

Jodi consistently puts out fantastic books. She creates unique premises in a saturated market and writes a perfect length. Incredible covers, engaging characters, and always something new. This world is super cool!

A great conclusion to the Nightbringer Duology. It follows are three main characters as the worked to bring down the Ranchor King and save Salvation. This story is a great combination of fantasy, action, and romance. The characters are complex and I well built. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

This was a solid follow-up to Nightrender, which I thought was a really unique fantasy. In my experience, Jodi Meadows always has unusual magic systems, and interesting dynamics between main characters. In this one, I really appreciated the additional character development and background information for Nightrender, Hanne, and Rune, Hanne especially. She wasn't a very likable character in Nightrender, but I liked reading from her point of view, and I appreciated getting more insight into her character.
I also loved the way that everything wrapped up. Jodi Meadows is really good at endings, too.

World devastation!
Reeling from the overwhelming destruction caused by the Malice weapon, Salvation’s residents are trying to save themselves and the injured. They’re searching for survivors and want justice served on those who set the weapon off. Rune is stuck in the rancor king’s domain while the Night Render hunts down the three scattered pieces of the weapon that can take the evil king down. Hanne questions everything she’s ever believed about the “helpful” voice she’s heard since she was a child. If the kingdoms can work together, there might still be hope in surviving the destruction of their world.

Likes/dislikes: The love interest is a bit stilted. The character growth is stronger in this sequel than in the first book of the series. My favorite character is Prince Rune because he’s kind and strong.
Mature Content: PG for kissing.
Language: G for no swears or f-words.
Violence: R for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: falls to white.

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an advanced ebook copy of this book!

3/5 Stars

I had the opportunity to ARC the first book in this series, and kept finding myself drifting back to the world that Jodi Meadows created. I was excited when I found out I was approved for an eARC of this so I see how the duology ended. One thing I like is this book included more character development that I found was lacking in the first book. I found it added a lot more depth to the plot making the book more intriguing.

For those looking to read low ya fantasy or just getting into YA this is a great place to start. As I found this a great quick read!

Jodi Meadows does it again with this novel, it had everything that I enjoyed from the previous books I read. The characters felt like they belonged in this universe and genre. I was engaged with the story and world that was built.

Dawnbreaker by Jodi Meadows🗡🪽

genre: dystopian fantasy
format: epub arc
pages: 352
times read: 1
date (dd/mm/yy): 6/11/23
would reread: probably
rating: 4.7⭐

review:
whoaaa i got this arc from netgalley and i read the previous one in order to read this one and i loved both of them

im not going to say much as to not spoil but, RUNE FUCKING HIGHCROWN AND MEDELLA HAVE MY WHOLE FUCKING HEART, the way they were with each other was so ughhhh i love them sfm.

this book was full of twists and i loved it

⚠️spoilers ahead⚠️ i so fucking knew we couldnt trust "Tuluna" i knew something shady was going on with them, and when they turned out to be Daghath Mal (the Rancor King) i was so livid, i hated that mf sm
⚠️end of spoilers⚠️

I liked how everything turned out in the end, Hanne getting redemption (guess who started to like her now) speaking of, that woman went thru hell tbh. moving on to Medella, my girl was IT, the one and only, ⚠️spoilers ahead⚠️ when she died I entered a state of denial that lasted untill the end of the book, thank fuck she lived, also with Hanne now having part of Medella's powers I NEED to see where this story goes next, @unicornwarlord IM BEGHING YOU⚠️end of spoilers⚠️

Rune Highcrown is my man I love him sm, the way he was ready to follow Medella if she was to go to the Dark Shard was so 🫠🫠, I want them to get married and live hea.

I wanted to see more of Mae and Hanne, I hope that if Jodi releases another book in this world, she talks abt them and their story.

I feel like we're not done with the world of Salvation, I need to see what J.M. has in store for us

thank you NetGalley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review

After having fallen in love with Nightrender in the first book, I couldn't get my hands on the second quick enough. A special thanks to the publisher and Jodi Meadows for an eARC of Dawnbreaker.

I will admit the story started off a bit slow for me. With the way the first book ended, I expected to be pulled in a little bit faster. That being said, I did like seeing the more political side of things as Hanne struggled to maintain control while Rune was missing. (Despite the fact that I have loathed her from the very beginning, I enjoyed seeing the way her mind worked and how she handled certain situations.)

Once the action did pick up, I couldn't set the book down. Rune and Nightrender's relationship is an admirable one. I love how they balance each other out, the slow burn between them, and their friendship! I ate it up.

Lord the twist of who/what the voice ended up being in Hanne's head. That was a big turning point that had me in a chokehold.

Meadows is very descriptive with her writing and I could see everything playing out in my head. The character growth for all of our main's was brilliantly done. Their story was concluded wonderfully, though I wish we had a bit more.

I will def be rereading this duology down the road.

I really liked the first book in this series, so I was so excited to finally see the sequel pop up. Dawnbreaker really does well to expand and explore the things that were set up in Nightrender, while still offering more details of the world and characters. I loved the characters even more in this installment, and I think that they felt really real and flawed. I think the only thing I was left wanting for was even more about the Nightrender. I almost think a prequel book about her would be great because there just felt like so much left to learn and understand about her and her life. Really great, if you liked the first one I would definitely recommend you finish out the story with this second installment!

Thanks to Netgally and Holiday House for providing me with a eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Perhaps this might be more of a 3.5 rating. I did like the book, and it was a good conclusion to the duology. I think my problem is that I thought (and wanted) Hanne to become a true villain in this story, and she didn’t. As soon as we find out who the voice in her head is, she immediately recants and ends the book with all the power she wanted in the first place. Which is a good ending—seeing someone start out as supremely selfish and then ending with using that power to help others first. But! I really wanted her to be the bad guy on the human side of things—she was so good at it! I also thought she really was going to sacrifice herself at the end, which also would’ve been a great ending for her, and that ended up being very much a psych out moment for readers.

The true ending/climax was also very rushed, and I thought the reasoning behind how Medella got to stay very hand-wavy and wishy washy. Like, we knew she and Rune were going to end up together, so a greater explanation of how that was possible would’ve been nice. Especially since her giant showdown with the Rancor King took all of two seconds. :p

I also wish we’d gotten more about the Nightrender’s search for the weapon pieces at the different shrines. We could’ve gotten a very cool quest-type story in there, and it just seemed too easy for her to collect the pieces once she knew where they were.

But despite the book itself having an ending, the author does leave a lot open for future stories, which I liked. I really enjoyed reading about things from Rune’s perspective and would like to see more of him.

So, all in all, not a fantastic ending to the duology but a decent one.

I really liked this sequel. (Even if I didn't like the negalley format, the text in the pdf was so tiny). I wish we could get some prequels about the Nightrender. She's such an interesting character.
[ I never expected that I'd prefer Rune over Hanna. I usually tend to side with the female characters. Hanna did get a lot of character growth. I wish there had been more of Nadine.

[ Is there room for a sequel duology?

Thank you to Holiday House and NetGalley for providing this ARC.

Okay, I didn't realize when I requested that this was the second book in a duology, but I still really wanted to read it, so I grabbed the first book from the library, and I'm so glad I did!

As a sequel, Dawnbreaker builds on and adds to everything explored in Nightrender, while deepening the worldbuilding and offering a satisfying conclusion to the character arcs. All of the POVs felt distinct and fully realized, and I loved that the author didn't shy away from creating truly morally grey characters. I can't wait to see what Jodi Meadows does next!

After reading the first book in this duology, I knew I had to read the last installment in this duology. That cliffhanger left me gaping at the end of the book. I needed answers.

Already, I was expecting intense action from the very beginning of this book. The cliffhanger left us with Rune as a hostage with the rancor king, Hanne as queen in Caberwill with people who wanted to get rid of her, and Nightrender having to find a way to defeat the rancor king without being the rancor king herself. And those first chapters most definitely delivered. The enormity of the situation was popping right off the page.

However, there was a chunk of the book where it dragged. From about 25% in until 50%, I kept waiting for the action to continue picking up, piling on what had already happened in the first book. Instead, it fell flat.

The way Rune got out of the malice, for example, was one part where I thought didn't quite connect and match the intensity from the ending of the first book and the beginning of the sequel. I expected more struggle, though this is not to say that Rune didn't have to go through horrible things as he tried to make it to the Soul Gate. It's just...he was taken hostage, and then everything happened so quickly after.

I also felt like the book started building so much on Hanne and the ladies surrounding her. I kept noticing so many quirks about Nadine, and even theorized that maybe she'd have a bigger part to play in the whole politics of it all. But then, as everything started coming down, all that development between the ladies in waiting kind of faded into nothing.

The Nightrender's quest to find a way to defeat the rancor king also felt a bit scattered? Many of the scenes before Rune got back felt kind of convenient.

But after the half-way mark, this book took a turn for the better. Everything felt action-packed, and the story kept getting more and more tense.

I loved seeing Nightrender and Rune working together. I especially loved the scenes where Rune validated Nightrender's feelings. Whenever those two had a romantic moment, I felt this ache in my heart because they had such unconventional circumstances and everything felt so doomed, but it was so great.

I also think it was so interesting to see how the three kingdoms had to deal with the threat of the inevitable Incursion while also dealing with their political issues and war.

And that ending was just so satisfying. Definitely an incredible end to this duology.

3.5 rounded up!

Dawnbreaker is a harrowing tale of a wordly queen, her king, and an otherworldly warrior whose soul is bonded to the king. The book kept me on the edge of my seat and had a particularly engaging and unpredictable plot. The thing that stood out to me about this book, however, was the writing. It has been a while since I have seen such beautifully descriptive writing. The author paints vivid images throughout the story. A map wouldn’t even be necessary due to how clear of a picture I had of the land. The way in which you pick up pieces of world and character building as you read is a breath of fresh air when most other books spoon feed these things to the reader. I felt fully involved in the book and compelled to continue reading simply to learn more about this world and these characters. The only reason why this book did not receive a full five stars from me is because there were some particular terms used where their meaning was unclear- whether that be a term used by the characters or a name of a thing or event. I found myself sitting for longer than I would like trying to figure out exactly what they were talking about. When surrounded by such great writing this isn’t that big of a deal, but I felt it at least worth mentioning. I would absolutely read more from this author.