Book: The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
Reviewed by plotdrunk
Rating: 5/5
This sequel took everything I loved about The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and somehow made it softer, stranger, and more beautiful. It is equal parts mystery, character study, and quiet reckoning with divinity.
I loved watching Itempas’s punishment play out in real time, and seeing even a hint of redemption from one of the most infuriating gods in the first book felt earned. His slow shift toward empathy was deeply satisfying.
But Oree absolutely stole the story for me. Her strength, compassion, and perspective were so quietly powerful. Her connection to magic and art, and how her choices ripple through gods and mortals alike, was gripping.
Jemisin’s worldbuilding remains unmatched, dense and mythic yet so human in its emotional texture. She turns cosmic stakes into something heartbreakingly personal, and I found myself completely absorbed from start to finish.
Jemisin is, without question, a master storyteller.