Oree is such a great character. I really liked this story. On to book 3 ( )

The writing of The Broken Kingdoms was a lot better than its predecessor, so I enjoyed it much more. The buildup of the story was better, the main character was a lot more likeable and Jemisin didn't spend half of the pages to mind-blowing, explosion-filled, supernatural sex scenes.
But I can't help but feel that it would have made so much more sense to have read this before the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Nothing seems to have happend for the world of this book, and, because I presume Oree doesn't feature in the last book, not a lot happened to the characters as well. Which would be fine for the introduction of the series, but after the first book the story felt ... inconsequential. ( )

While I really enjoyed this second installment, I didn't feel as attached to the characters as I did in the first book. Lots of great action and world-building, but the pace was just a little too fast for me. Love that I got to see characters I'm familiar with, but think it could have used another 150 pages or so. Definitely still give it a read! Jemisin is a master word-smith! ( )

Review coming soon ( )

I attempted to read this novel a couple of times in the past but, for me, it has this quality of simply marking time for too long before the plot begins to pick up, and this is keeping in mind that I really enjoyed the first book in the trilogy. Though one could argue that this marking-time quality is perfectly realistic for characters who are basically just getting by on a day to day basis. This also ties into Jemisin's recurring theme of women carving out their own place in life, on their own terms, as much as they can. Then events escalate rapidly.

To be honest, having read all Jemisin's other novels besides the third book in this trilogy, it has to be my least favorite of the lot. It's a very middle kind of book, however, on the basis of the climax and ending of this story, I still have a positive attitude toward the work. I will not be taking years to get to the third volume in the set. ( )