Riverside Reviews |OPEN|

Broken Volume 1

Broken: Volume 1

By:  Nasda_Sow

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Reviewer: KaitlinJackisch

Rating: 3.25/5

Review:

I did want to mention that the premise of this book is something that caught my attention and I was really excited about reading. The description was great and just enough information to capture my attention. I LOVED the first line because it took my off guard, but I did want to talk about why I gave a lower rating and how it can be tweaked. (If you are wanting to fix or agree with me at all) 

My main concern is the main character's overall immorality issue right off the bat. I'm not sure if I'm just not used to a very harsh female main character, but she seemed to enjoy other people being in pain. I'm familiar with the concept of the main guy being like this, but I had a hard time connecting with Aurora for this reason. I didn't allow this to affect your overall grade though. At first, I thought she was going to be a sarcastic, and bored queen… but she smiled when a prisoner was in pain multiple times and each time this was stated it was a little choppy... which I believe fed into the unease I felt.

I think there are ways she could be tweaked like having some type of pang of guilt or some conviction for her actions even for a second that would have captured my attention a little more and warmed me up to her. I also don't think she would have spent so much time explaining herself to the prisoner... this time would have been better used to toy with the girl instead.

As I read further… I realized she did have a reason to feel this way towards this particular prisoner… but usually readers decide if they want to continue within the first couple of paragraphs. The first few paragraphs have potential, but they may need to be tweaked to capture readers.

Mayne a lite more description about the surroundings or detailed actions, not just they threw her to the ground... I smiled. Give me a little more. :)

The writing was very descriptive in the second chapter I felt. It flowed nicely in some parts where in other parts, I believe that you could have someone proof read and edit that is possibly a little more familiar with English. (It was mentioned that English was not the author's first language)

I do love the aspect of Rueben being an enemy of hers when they used to be best friends. I think in his chapter, there are a few typos and mistakes but that could be easily fixed. I do think instead of just coming out with what his actual crimes are… there could have been some mystery or even had a peak into his nightmares to give us clues. Mystery and intrigue are always best for capturing the reader's attention. Info-dumps can be very off-putting.

Overall, I am curious to find out what will come of the guilt Reuben feels and the hatred that Auraroa has towards him. It will make for a wonderful story that should have plenty of surprises and character growth in the end.