Happy Sunday book friends! And long time no see. In all honesty, I’ve been absent because I was too lazy to write anything. I haven’t even read a lot lately either. I did go on a city trip for like a week, but still. Maybe you noticed that I changed my blog theme to winter! These changes always make me excited to write again.
I actually finished Thronebreakers on October 29th, and I’m only just now sitting down to review it. Good thing I’ve read exactly two books since then, because otherwise I would’ve never remembered the details. This book comes with a new set of content warnings, though, so read those if you want and continue on to my review!
Another warning: this review won’t contain spoilers for Thronebreakers itself, but might contain spoilers for Crownchasers. So beware!
Thronebreakers
By Rebecca Coffindaffer
My Rating: ★★★★★Published 12 October 2021 by Harper Teen
Science fiction | Young adult | Space travel
Alyssa Farshot never wanted to rule the empire. But to honor her uncle’s dying wish, she participated in the crownchase, a race across the empire’s 1,001 planets to find the royal seal and win the throne. Alyssa tried to help her friend, Coy, win the crownchase, but just as victory was within their grasp, Edgar Voles killed Coy—and claimed the seal for himself.
Broken-hearted over her friend’s death, Alyssa is hell-bent on revenge. But Edgar is well protected in the kingship. Alyssa will have to rally rivals, friends, and foes from across the empire to take him down and change the course of the galaxy.
My Thoughts on Thronebreakers
Just like Crownchasers, Thronebreakers starts off fast and doesn’t slow down at all. Good thing too, because these books already aren’t very big. And yet a lot is packed within its pages. Also, where Crownchasers felt like a fun adventure, Thronebreakers is a lot darker. The stakes are much higher, and instead of trying to help her friend win the crown, she’s on the run, set on revenge, and thrown into the world of politics she so hoped to avoid. I loved this change of setting, even though it did hurt my feelings a couple of times.
Another aspect I greatly enjoyed was that the quadrant is explored a lot more. Instead of the story being about a bunch of teenagers in their spaceships, it’s now about all of those who are affected by the empire. Thus this isn’t just about justice for those who died in Crownchasers, but also for those who are suffering under the empire itself. This political commentary was missing from book 1 (and also unnecessary to have there, in my opinion), and I greatly enjoyed reading it here. Though to be fair, a large part of this story is still about a bunch of teenagers in their spaceships.
I also totally loved the villains in this story. Edgar is truly the type you kind of understand, but still really want to hate. We got to see more of his background in this novel, and his short POV chapters really highlight that he is a product of his family’s choices. You kind of feel bad for him at the end. Enkindler Ilysium Wythe is just an ass, though. But, just like in book 1, the way he amasses power makes the International Relations major in my very excited. It is definitely something you see in the current world, too. A significant crises can be used for those in power to expand their power by a whole lot, and I loved how this was worked into the book.
Then for character development. Honestly, since this is a (mostly) single POV story, told from Alyssa’s perspective, I felt like she was the only one who had any real development. In book 1 she’s really just a teenager whose only goal in life is to explore the galaxy. Her world is limited to her spaceship, and the rest kind of gets ignored. However, the events of book 1 force her to make different kinds of choices, and to really face where she came from, who raised her, and whether or not to take responsibility for more people than just herself. Even though her rashness at the beginning irritated me quite a lot, I do think her character development was really well done. Her principles never changed, and neither that those of the side characters.
And that’s it for my review of Thronebreakers! I highly, highly recommend this series if you enjoy a fast-paced science fiction that isn’t too complicated, but will still leave you feeling all the emotions.
Find more of my reviews in my archives!
