VLK249 reviewed A World in Shards by Kejo Black
Review of 'A World in Shards' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I didn't read the first book in the series, so went in blind to the second book. A good author technically should be able to write in a manner which can handle a reader jumping into the story in the middle of it, and Black definitely did. The most important parts of the backstory were covered without a prologue quite early on, and any important details were threaded in when appropriate, so I didn't feel lost. Great work! My only niggling is that this didn't extend to most of the cast, so knowing what they looked like for example was a blind spot for the entirety of the story. But, are you reading the book because the men look handsome, or for the story?
This is somewhat stereotypical YA Fantasy middle book of a trilogy, where point A to point B is going to be book 1 and book 3, …
I didn't read the first book in the series, so went in blind to the second book. A good author technically should be able to write in a manner which can handle a reader jumping into the story in the middle of it, and Black definitely did. The most important parts of the backstory were covered without a prologue quite early on, and any important details were threaded in when appropriate, so I didn't feel lost. Great work! My only niggling is that this didn't extend to most of the cast, so knowing what they looked like for example was a blind spot for the entirety of the story. But, are you reading the book because the men look handsome, or for the story?
This is somewhat stereotypical YA Fantasy middle book of a trilogy, where point A to point B is going to be book 1 and book 3, and book 2 is the traveling between. If you're a fantasy reader, it will mostly check your tropes except for the romance thread. Interesting, considering the traveling troupe contains only one female. Very refreshing, because I'm personally not a fan of fantasy because of its plethora of tropes (chosen one and hidden princess are the two major ones in this book). The book is however the point A to point B part of the series, so not as much character building as would have been in the first nor the third, other than Kaya confronting her reluctance for violence. And boy, when she goes violent, RIP the enemy. Speaking of the enemy, other trope, the villains are irredeemably bad and the main and supporting cast are super squeaky. Tempted to call Kaya's traveling companions the Company of Extraordinary Gentlemen. These guys were pinch-ably sweet and very chivalrous.
Because of the type of story arc this particular book is, what is meant to engage the readers is HOW the cast gets to point A to B without dying, being majorly inconvenienced, or without some type of alternative plan. Black introduces this hellish concept of an ice bullet storm twister. Thank you for those nightmares, sir... Meanwhile, they're being chased by a crack team contingent of enemy fighters, and an old enemy has a beef against the princess, mostly through frozen and mountainous tundra ala Canada. At some point there are even moose (nicknamed Bullwinkles, because Kaya refuses to not use idioms for everything), I kid you not. In spite of being the middle of the story, the book was engaging, the solutions could be clever and asinine, and I wasn't bored. My only complaint is sort of related to it being part of a series, you need to read the third book for closure; Book 2 is a journey to a final destination.