Breaking Damian

Breaking Damian by Eren Morgul is a young adult fantasy with new magical concepts. In Breaking Damian, we follow a young boy who may be the new savior of the world he lives in.

From goodreads:

He wanted to be more than a street kid.
He got more than he asked for.

Damian lives on the streets of the Gauntlet—a megapolis where magic wielding weavers from four different Houses and ordinary people coexist peacefully. His life is a struggle and he’s doing anything to get by, including stealing from wealthy merchants and working in the mines, all the while dreaming of becoming a weaver.

Then, one day, he shows signs of magic and his life changes forever.

But when the Emperor who has been ruling over the Gauntlet for two hundred years disappears, the Houses turn on each other and he finds himself at the center of a power struggle.

Now, with civil war threatening to engulf his world, he realizes that it is up to him, and him alone, to end the conflict between the Houses and save everyone he loves.

“And remember. An illusionist knows not to trust his eyes. A true illusionist knows not to trust others.”

I’d like two address a couple of things that really affect my review here. Firstly, this book is marketed like a YA. It reads more similarly to a middle grade. This is reflected in the way the villains talk, and the more “talk don’t show” method of revealing their evil plans. If this had been marketed as a MG and I had the expectations of a MG, I think it would have done well for the book. However, the impulsivity and characterizations of the individual’s roles in the book really felt young for the group it’s marketed towards. Secondly, the pacing of this book is really confusing. So much happens in the book that it feels like this first book is a trilogy in of itself. This causes a lot of important factors and character development to not be extremely fleshed out, an as mentioned above, we get a lot of “talk don’t show” from everyone involved.

“No. Damian stared back into Yeshi’s eyes. I’m not going to hide anymore. And I’m not going to let my family do the fighting anymore. Damian nodded and turned around, walking toward the rift gate in his room. I can fight my own battles.”

With all that being said, I did enjoy this book. I found the magic in it interesting, and I appreciated that it was explained early on as to what each house of magic was. While the pacing was, at times, detrimental to the plot, it also served as a benefit to allow this book to be a quick and exciting read. There wasn’t a moment where things weren’t happening, which is fantastic if you have focus issues. The twist at the end really surprised me as well, and I’ll be interested to see what happens next in the series!

“But everyone is expendable when it comes to greater good.”

Thank you to the author for reaching out to me about this in exchange for an honest review.

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