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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Did me right while suffering from insomnia this week: not very challenging in terms of plotting, but also energetic, with a lot of anti-corporate sentiment so I could froth a bit.
I didn't read the prequels which I think I maybe should have as the world was somewhat confusing. I just didn't buy into the characters and the plot, and being slightly confused about the world didn't help. I really enjoyed the class 5 series by Michelle Diener but I doubt I'm going to carry on with this one.
French & English reviews
Un premier tome qui m'a laissée quelque peu indifférente ...
J'ai voulu essayer cette série après avoir lu la série The Rising Wave de la même auteure mais j'ai été assez déçu : les personnages sont plats, l'univers un peu fade et l'intrigue trop simpliciste ...
Ce n'est pas horrible c'est juste bof ...
Bref, je vais tenter le deuxième tome pour voir si ça s'améliore mais je suis loin d'être convaincue ...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A first book that left me somewhat indifferent ...
I wanted to try this series after reading The Rising Wave series by the same author, but I was quite disappointed : the characters are flat, the universe a bit bland and the plot too simplistic ...
It's not horrible it's just blah ...
Anyway, I'm going to try the second book to see if it improves, but I'm far from being convinced ...
Un premier tome qui m'a laissée quelque peu indifférente ...
J'ai voulu essayer cette série après avoir lu la série The Rising Wave de la même auteure mais j'ai été assez déçu : les personnages sont plats, l'univers un peu fade et l'intrigue trop simpliciste ...
Ce n'est pas horrible c'est juste bof ...
Bref, je vais tenter le deuxième tome pour voir si ça s'améliore mais je suis loin d'être convaincue ...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A first book that left me somewhat indifferent ...
I wanted to try this series after reading The Rising Wave series by the same author, but I was quite disappointed : the characters are flat, the universe a bit bland and the plot too simplistic ...
It's not horrible it's just blah ...
Anyway, I'm going to try the second book to see if it improves, but I'm far from being convinced ...
Breakaway is the first full novel in the Verdant String series. But I would highly recommend readers to read Interference/Insurgency. These are two novellas that are really great introductions to the Verdant String world and I loved both of those stories as well.
The story introduced us to the first main character, Sofie Erdo. She lives on Garmen, which is a breakaway planet and not part of the Verdant String Coalition (or VSC), meaning that companies owned by sketchy people basically control all of Garmen so the people living there don't have the best existence to say the least. And although Sofie is part of the resistance fighting it all, she just wants to leave Garmen as soon as she can. Enter Leo Gaudier, the second main character, a crime lord working in the shadows who, just like the resistance, wants to overthrow those in control of Garmen. Oh and he's the guy Sofie recently started dating...
Let's just say right away that Sofie was a badass. She saved Leo's life several times and isn't that just a nice change of pace compared to how it's usually the hero doing the saving. Don't get me wrong, I did love Leo, he was a really great character to read about but Sofie was one heroine I could definitely get behind.
The world building was amazing as well. It's a pretty complex world that the author created but oh that's just how I like it. And I gotta say, the author has written many books in different genres but her scifi worlds are some of my all time favorites.
Overall Breakaway was an amazing book that I couldn't put down. Well-written, excellent world building and Michelle Diener does romance like no other. There's no unneccesary drama, the heroine is not a helpless damsel in distress and the hero isn't overly protective. I loved it!
The story introduced us to the first main character, Sofie Erdo. She lives on Garmen, which is a breakaway planet and not part of the Verdant String Coalition (or VSC), meaning that companies owned by sketchy people basically control all of Garmen so the people living there don't have the best existence to say the least. And although Sofie is part of the resistance fighting it all, she just wants to leave Garmen as soon as she can. Enter Leo Gaudier, the second main character, a crime lord working in the shadows who, just like the resistance, wants to overthrow those in control of Garmen. Oh and he's the guy Sofie recently started dating...
Let's just say right away that Sofie was a badass. She saved Leo's life several times and isn't that just a nice change of pace compared to how it's usually the hero doing the saving. Don't get me wrong, I did love Leo, he was a really great character to read about but Sofie was one heroine I could definitely get behind.
The world building was amazing as well. It's a pretty complex world that the author created but oh that's just how I like it. And I gotta say, the author has written many books in different genres but her scifi worlds are some of my all time favorites.
Overall Breakaway was an amazing book that I couldn't put down. Well-written, excellent world building and Michelle Diener does romance like no other. There's no unneccesary drama, the heroine is not a helpless damsel in distress and the hero isn't overly protective. I loved it!
world building kinda takes romance and plot very tell not show
Had some potential, enjoyed the MFC being competent. Struggled to follow the threads of the plot at points, especially the significance of the different races.
Unfortunate typos including pubic for public.
Unfortunate typos including pubic for public.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Breakaway is a great example of Diener’s rich, meaty SF romance writing, giving us a complex portrait of a world where the rich get richer and work only to protect and expand those riches, while the poor suffer. Sofie and Leo are each taking a different approach to addressing this imbalance, as Sofie works with a planet-wide resistance that’s trying to make life better for the oppressed classes, while Leo, rich beyond words but not considered to be part of the uppermost Core class, is using his means to find ways to counterbalance the corruption of the Cores.
As with most of Diener’s books, the romance here is subtle. Sofie and Leo have already started seeing one another at the start of this book, and they’re moving away from their relationship, each trying to protect one another as they realize they could be far more than a casual connection and wanting to avoid the risks to the other from their undercover activities. But there’s a fantastic affection that gradually grows throughout Breakaway that made me believe in this core romance completely. In particular, Sofie shows fantastic strength and agency throughout Breakaway that balances well with Leo’s established power and position.
Diener has also built a classic oppressor/oppressed society on this “breakaway’” planet of Garmen. It reminded me of the movie Metropolis in many ways, complete with the layers of the primary city, Felicitos, leaving the masses at the bottom and the elite at the top, both figuratively and literally.
There’s also a marvelous mystery at the core of Breakaway involving hidden tools that Sofie, the daughter of the architect of Felicitos, comes to realize her father has hidden throughout the structures he’s created. All of this connects to the Halatian myths and past tragedy that are at the heart of Diener’s earlier books in this series, Interference and Insurgency.
So if you want an exciting story of an uprising coupled with a mystery combined with myth, there’s a lot to delight you in Breakaway. Add to these two wonderful lead characters who build a convincing relationship, and you’ve got yourself one excellent book!
As with most of Diener’s books, the romance here is subtle. Sofie and Leo have already started seeing one another at the start of this book, and they’re moving away from their relationship, each trying to protect one another as they realize they could be far more than a casual connection and wanting to avoid the risks to the other from their undercover activities. But there’s a fantastic affection that gradually grows throughout Breakaway that made me believe in this core romance completely. In particular, Sofie shows fantastic strength and agency throughout Breakaway that balances well with Leo’s established power and position.
Diener has also built a classic oppressor/oppressed society on this “breakaway’” planet of Garmen. It reminded me of the movie Metropolis in many ways, complete with the layers of the primary city, Felicitos, leaving the masses at the bottom and the elite at the top, both figuratively and literally.
There’s also a marvelous mystery at the core of Breakaway involving hidden tools that Sofie, the daughter of the architect of Felicitos, comes to realize her father has hidden throughout the structures he’s created. All of this connects to the Halatian myths and past tragedy that are at the heart of Diener’s earlier books in this series, Interference and Insurgency.
So if you want an exciting story of an uprising coupled with a mystery combined with myth, there’s a lot to delight you in Breakaway. Add to these two wonderful lead characters who build a convincing relationship, and you’ve got yourself one excellent book!
Breakeven is a blast of a book, full of adventure, love, suspense, and daring. Diener continues her saga of the Breakaway planets by focusing on Lassa, a planet that has become precipitously split between haves and have-nots. Into this tension-filled time comes our heroine Dee (a secondary character from the first book in this series, Breakaway). She is inadvertently taken to Lassa from her home world of Garmen. And while she thought the divide between the rich and poor was bad on Garmen, she finds the division on Lassa to be a veritable chasm.
I loved the strength and ability of Dee, a woman who’s worked as security for a wealthy man on her own world. And I adored her hero Sebastian, a man thrust into leadership of a planetary resistance that’s rapidly reaching the end of its rope. They are two marvelous, talented people who don’t do silly things in service of the plot. And how refreshing that is!
What’s fantastic in this book is the relationship between Sebastian and Dee. Diener’s romances are often understated, but that’s not the case in Breakeven. You can feel that magnetic attraction between these two throughout the book, and I loved the way they couldn’t help but touch one another affectionately whenever they were together. Add in some gorgeous, gentle love scenes, and you’ve got one of Diener’s strongest romances to date.
But Diener excels in rich, complex plots, and Breakeven is chock-full of dramatic elements. It’s almost episodic, in that the story moves from one form of danger for Dee and Sebastian to another. It takes time for all these threads to connect into a wonderful tapestry of danger, but when they do the action is nonstop and exciting. The secondary characters are well developed, with several of them hinting at stories of their own.
Breakeven is a fantastic addition to the Verdant String series. While we’ve dealt with the breakaway planets in this duology, I hope Diener returns to the Verdant String in future books.
I loved the strength and ability of Dee, a woman who’s worked as security for a wealthy man on her own world. And I adored her hero Sebastian, a man thrust into leadership of a planetary resistance that’s rapidly reaching the end of its rope. They are two marvelous, talented people who don’t do silly things in service of the plot. And how refreshing that is!
What’s fantastic in this book is the relationship between Sebastian and Dee. Diener’s romances are often understated, but that’s not the case in Breakeven. You can feel that magnetic attraction between these two throughout the book, and I loved the way they couldn’t help but touch one another affectionately whenever they were together. Add in some gorgeous, gentle love scenes, and you’ve got one of Diener’s strongest romances to date.
But Diener excels in rich, complex plots, and Breakeven is chock-full of dramatic elements. It’s almost episodic, in that the story moves from one form of danger for Dee and Sebastian to another. It takes time for all these threads to connect into a wonderful tapestry of danger, but when they do the action is nonstop and exciting. The secondary characters are well developed, with several of them hinting at stories of their own.
Breakeven is a fantastic addition to the Verdant String series. While we’ve dealt with the breakaway planets in this duology, I hope Diener returns to the Verdant String in future books.