Format: Hardcover, 352 pages
Release Date: November 7, 2023
Publisher: Holiday House
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / Epic
The king is dead. The world is lost. Long live the queen.
The
thin membrane of magic separating the human and demonic planes has been
destroyed. Nightrender, the immortal warrior of the gods, must find a
way to rebuild it, but Hanne—the serpent girl, always too cunning to be
trusted, too hungry for power—has become High Queen, and is too consumed
with ambition to cooperate. Meanwhile, Rune—married to Hanne, but in
love with Nightrender—is lost in the realm of demons after a disastrous
battle, wandering alone in a twisted landscape of mercury seas,
black-glass spires, and winds blowing ash … In this second and final
installment of the Nightrender duology, the circle will close, and the
world will be saved—or burnt to a cinder.
Jodi Meadows Dawnbreaker is the second installment in the authors Salvation Cycle duology. In the middle of nothingness is the continent of Salvation. Reality bends easily here. Villages disappear. Forests burn forever. Pockets of inconsistent time are everywhere, their boundaries strung with yellow ribbon. And the three kingdoms of Salvation (Caberwill, Embria & Ivasland) have been at war for a thousand years. But the greatest threat is the Malice, an incursion from the demon plane slowly tearing its way through the world's weakest seams. Seams that--once split--will lead to the total unraveling of night and day, light and dark, life and death.
Key characters: Rune Highcrown, Johanne (Hanne) Fortuin, and Nightrender. As the story opens, Rune is in the unfortunate position of being stuck in the Malice alone, and tormented by Daghath Mal, the Caged King. Rune's only hope is the feather that the Nightrender gave him as her soul shard which allows him to stay alive and hope for a way to escape. Later, after Rune returns home, he learns that Hanne has been kidnapped and is now charged with treason and will likely die for her actions. Regardless of everything Hanne has done, there is still hope that she will understand the errors that lead her down this path.
Meanwhile, Hanne Fortuin, married to Rune, but in a loveless marriage that was supposed to benefit Embria and Caberwill, is hated by nearly everyone, including those of her own home of Embria who are rebellion against her family. They blame her for the devastation that turned men into cattle, and destroyed valuable resources. The fact remains that Hanne has done some grotesques things in the name of peace. But, when you dig deeper into what happened to her when she was a child, you understand that she has been a tool for a power evil that can't be defeated easily.
Nightrender, the hammer of the gods, an immortal warrior more weapon than girl, was created to be a powerful weapon against Daghath Mal, but she can not defeat or kill him. If she does, she will end up taking his place. But if she can find a weapon which nobody has seen in over 400 years, there may be a way to survive the upcoming battle and save the world. Nightrender is not a fan of Hanne by any stretch of the imagination. And, when Hanne makes a devastating mistake that seems to be the opening for a major disaster, it leaves Nightrender to clean up her messes. The connection between Nightrender and Rune has grown leaps and bounds since they first met, and Rune learned that he was her soul shard.
*Thoughts* It is fair to say that Hanne gets a whole lot of deserved hatred, but when the veneer is slowly peeled away, and we learn of her past and what happened to her, it gives readers a better understanding. She is a good person overall, but misguided by those who were supposed to love and support her. For years, she has been guided by a voice in her head who she thought was a God. There is a hint that Hanne may like a character from the previous installment, but that relationship is not explored.
The book end on what appears to be a cliffhanger as one of the characters is battling for their very lives trying to maybe find a new future that she can make up for her mistakes, while the other two are enjoying peace. It is very hard to find anything to complain about when it comes to Rune. He tries to understand Hanne's reasons for what she did, and still finds a way to use her in the final battle. He is firmly in love with Medella, and their future seems to be bright.
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