Breaking Legacies

All of my reviews can be found at The Romantic Reader Blog. 100% dedicated to honest reviews of lesbian romance novels. Breaking Legacies by Zoe Reed is phenomenal! It has everything you want and need all wrapped up in one glorious tale. This is easily, EASILY one of the best books I have read in 2016! The romance gives you the feels, the characters are strong dynamic women, it’s just so freaking good. Kiena Thaon is a nineteen-year-old woman who is beyond skilled as a hunter and tracker. Her family is dirt poor, left to starve after her father was killed after being labeled a traitor to their king. While the family’s name has been ruined, Kiena has learned to provide by taking what she can from the forest. Her family would die if not for the provisions that she provides. Her skills have been honed out of the direst necessity. What is amazing about Kiena is her graciousness and selflessness. She is one of those characters that while her life has been so difficult, she never lets those hardships jade her. Her spirit captivates you as the reader. Think of her as a Katniss Everdeen type character. She takes the role as the hero, not because of machoness but because that role falls on her. You love her for her vulnerability as much as her strength. Ava Gavestonis is the other main character in Breaking Legacies. When we first meet her she is a runaway princess that Kiena has been hired/forced to find. Her father, King Hazlitt wants her brought back to the castle immediately.…

I recommend this book often to my friends, not as an wlw story but as a neat fantasy novel with a well-written relationship between two main characters. Kiena is a fascinating narrator, biased and flawed and palpable. I was wary in the beginning of the way she would be portrayed, but by the first chapter I was hooked. Sometimes it feels like all the LGBT books out there are written by people who have no clue what same sex relationships are really like - this isn't one of those. I love these characters, the genuine (and not hypersexualized) relationship between Kiena and Ava, and the world Zoe Reed has created. I was intrigued by Reed's allusions to celtic mythology and the unique veins of magic, as well as the detail given to the animal characters and the world's history alike. It can be so difficult to find well written, interesting LGBT books - especially those in the fantasy genre. So often in media, LGBT characters draw the short straw and are put through hell without clear reason or even character development. In Breaking Legacies, the characters have their share of drama, but nothing you wouldn't find in any more mainstream fantasy novel. My heart was definitely in my throat in some bits of the story, but the ending was what I'd hoped for - I just wish there was more! Overall this is a well-written, action-packed fantasy novel featuring a great, realistic wlw relationship.