Review: Faithbreaker by Hannah Kaner

Title: Faithbreaker
Author: Hannah Kaner
Series: Fallen Gods #3
Genre: Fantasy/War
Publisher: HarperVoyager
Publication Date: March 13, 2025
Edition: Ebook
Source: Library
Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Bookshop | Kobo | Powell's | 

Synopsis:

   War has come. The fire god Hseth is leading an unstoppable army south, consuming everything in her path. Middren’s only hope of survival is to unify allies and old foes against a common enemy.
   Elo navigates an uneasy alliance with Arren; his friend, his enemy, and his king. Now they each must decide how much they're willing to sacrifice to turn the tides of war.
   Meanwhile, Inara joins her mother on their ship, the Silverswift, to seek aid. Still grappling with her powers, Inara must reconcile who she is and where she belongs, while Skediceth has to question if their bond will be enough to keep them safe.

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 I do wish that I had been able to read this right after reading book 2. This is a trilogy that is very easy to binge read. I love the characters in this series so much, and this is one of the very few books that has a child as an MC, that isn't a middle-grade or YA, where the kid isn't annoying and acts like a child. I think that's what keeps her from being annoying. Inara is 13 and acts like a 13year old. Too often authors write a child character that doesn't sound or behave like a kid. 

All that aside, this book was very tense, I was never sure who was going to make it out at the end. Nobody felt safe, even though I was fairly sure that they'd win. But I didn't know who was going to be there at the end.

 

 There were aspects of this book that felt a little rushed. I liked Lessa was confronted for lying and abandoning her daughter by both Kissen and Inara. It wasn't excused away or swept under the rug for "bigger fish to fry" with fighting a war. It was an issue that needed to be talked about, and it was. And I also like that Inara didn't fully forgiver Lessa by the end of the book. She was a little less hurt, but all wasn't just forgiven. The flirtation between Lessa and Kissen was well done. I like how this queer-normative was done. It felt more organic than some other books I've read that state to also be queer-normative.

I didn't really care about following Arren and Elo, I like Elo as a character, but I do not like Arren. But I don't think I'm supposed to. I also don't believe or understand his motives. It seems like he caused more problems than he solved by joining with a Fire God. It seemed for a bit there that he was needed to form an army. But Lessa could've also been the leader of the army that fought the invading army, it felt like Arren was kept around for as long as he was for drama. As far as the ending goes, it was bittersweet. There are two character deaths, that I didn't see coming and both made me sad.

 

 

I look forward to whatever Kaner writes next. Because this was a very strong debut series.