.25
Genre(s): Fiction, Fantasy
Release Date: December 15th, 2019
Note: I recieved an e-ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Fractures is the first book in a series that follows Thaleon and Dawyn, two boys who find themselves bonded as brothers.
My first impressions of Fractures (and one of my primary reasons for wanting to continue reading the series) mainly involved the characters. From the beginning, I felt for these characters, especially Thaleon, as his appearance and race makes him a target for many. The main characters in this series are also younger in age, and considering the darker themes of this book, I found that they were written very well. There’s this balance of innocence and lack of experience for the world that they are in, rather than having unrealistically adult-like characters (which I find to be very common in fantasy books featuring young characters). Additionally, my caring for these characters made me want to continue reading to see how they would fare. The story alternates between Dawyn and Thaleon’s perspectives, and I was equally invested in both.
Another impression I had in the first few chapters involved how the story was set up. Oftentimes in fantasy books we get an overload of information at the very beginning, and lose track of what is important when we need that information. That was not the case here. Instead, we are gradually introduced through the world and the storyline. One element that I particularly like to see in books as well is the expansion of a story through the characters themselves. In other words, we are learning bits of information at the same time as the characters do throughout the book. I’ve always found this element of storytelling to be one of my favorites. This method leaves more questions the reader can ask themselves with every answer given, which makes the story more gripping. I read this book in three sittings, and the only reason it wasn’t any less than that was due to me growing too tired to read more!
Additionally, this book has re-kindled my love for fantasy again. It’s been a while for me and fantasy (much of my love has been sent to sci-fi, classics, and non-fiction as of late), and after so many fantasies that have struck me as just okay, I found a series that has all of the elements of fantasy that I’m looking for in a book. I’m historically not great at finishing series, but this is definitely one that I would like to finish.
My one critique of this book was that I found the ending to be not abrupt nor too much of a cliffhanger, but it left me very unsure of what will happen in the second book, other than a continuation of what’s happening now. It felt as if we could start the next chapters from there, and I do have some expectation of a greater theme that is encompassed in the next book. That being said, my interest in Thaleon’s and Dawyn’s paths continuing and what they may face in the future are more than enough to want me to continue to the second book.
Overall, this book was a very well-done debut. I will definitely be picking up the second book once it is published , and will hopefully be reading more fantasies again in the meantime!
