The Broken World

akes, stifling heatwaves, and weird fluctuations in gravity. Places like The Grove were mentioned and I couldn't help but think, "Oh, that's so cool because I've been there so many times!" then imagine it being completely empty and ruined was weirdly amusing and very intriguing.

The Broken World pretty much stayed true to the feel of the first book in terms of vibe and the writing style. Even though it had been a while since I first read the first book, it wasn't too difficult getting back into this world but I did have trouble remembering some of the revelations and rules of it. The raised stakes and constant roadblocks Liv and her friends faced motivated me to keep reading and had me constantly wondering what their next move would be. Every time they thought of a possible solution they would try to pursue it only to realize that they were too late or always one step behind their enemy. It almost got me a little frustrated, to be honest. Haha There was also a crazy intense car chase that had me at the edge of my seat! That, the climax that followed, and the moped chase were my favorite action sequences.

I am happy to say that my opinion of Cedric has now changed since the previous book. He goes through so much character development in this book and matures a lot. I really liked how instead of constantly trying to be like his father, after going through so many ordeals, Cedric realizes that he is different from him and instead tries to be a better version of himself; someone he can be proud of becoming. Liv also impressed me with how much more mature she's become, especially when she takes responsibility for the events happening in LA and chooses to fight for the city she calls home at the expense of her developing relationship and feelings for Cedric. Also, I'm going to be honest and say I was totally into the minor drama between Liv, Cedric, and Rafe.

The side characters were stronger and a little more memorable this time around, particularly Merek and Shannon. Liv's siblings took more of a backseat in this book to make room for more Joe and to introduce Rafe, Merek's older brother and I didn't mind so much because they were all charming and endearing in their own rights. Sad to say though, I was still disappointed with Kat's character. Between Cedric, Merek, and Kat, she had the least amount of character development and became the character I cared about the least out of the main cast. If it weren't for her fighting skills, Kat almost felt like her only purpose was to stay in the background and be the barrier that prevents Cedric and Liv from being together. The only time where I felt we were finally seeing character development with her was at the very end.

One of the main things I was looking forward to the most was learning more about the world of Caelum because I'm absolutely fascinated with medieval worlds. I'm a huge fan of The Lord of the Rings and medieval fantasy role-play games like Dragon Age: Origins, so I guess I was hoping for Caelum to feel similar to those. Unfortunately, while it was very much medieval - unpaved, dirt-roads; no electricity; no technology; etc. - it didn't feel as magical as I was expecting. Sure, we got to learn more about Caelum and its origins - which was pretty interesting - but there were no elaborate descriptions of an amazing world stuck in time. The only impression Caelum left on me was that it's a typical medieval world except for unusually large scenery - grass, rocks, mountains, and whatnot. I honestly felt underwhelmed with Caelum and felt like most of the magic was actually back in Los Angeles, since that's where all the strange and fantastical things were happening.

As exciting as the scenes leading up to the climax were, the way things ultimately ended left me feeling mostly disappointed. Everything fell into place too easily and there were no real casualties worth caring about. Although I'm a huge fan of happy endings, considering how high the stakes were, I found the ending to be a bit too cheesy, juvenile, and unrealistic. This was when I realized that this story is probably better suited for the younger YA crowd, borderline middle grade. Overall, I'm glad I gave this duology a chance because despite its shortcomings, in the end I was still entertained and enjoyed certain aspects of it, like the chase scenes and world building. I would definitely recommend this to the younger YA crowd if you enjoy reading urban fantasies or are interested in diving into the genre.