Nicky's Reviews > The Broken Kingdoms

I can't remember exactly when I reread this -- July, I think. Not sure why I didn't review it again at the time. Anyway, I think for the sheer absorbingness of Jemisin's writing this would get five stars every time from me, even if reading it again I decided that I preferred the first book. The fact that she has a disabled main character, and takes a lot of care to make that realistic, really endeared this book to me the first time. I think there are a few cracks where it's not quite believable that she could really be blind and yet accept magical sight so easily, but for the most part, it worked for me.

The story itself... I agree with a review I read recently that mentioned that the writer was disappointed that Oree actually turned out to be super special in herself, like Yeine, when to begin with they appear like 'ordinary people' (what's an ordinary person?) caught up in events too big for them. It builds on what happened in the first book, while being a separate story, so in that way it fits perfectly, but -- I do wish there were more 'ordinary' fantasy protagonists who don't turn out to have the souls of dead goddesses in them, or to be princes, or the one who will bring balance to the Force.

Anyway, this book confirmed my massive love for Jemisin all over again. And the ending stomped on my heart a little. I love her narrators, too, and the little twists of why they're telling their stories -- it's a detail people don't always think to put in: why are we being told this story? Who is the audience? And I love that in the third book of the trilogy, narrated by Sieh, he says that he's not going to use those narrative tricks. There's a lovely self-awareness about that aspect of Jemisin's writing.