{Review} Breaker (Ondine Quartet #4) by Emma Raveling

Posted by Melanie 
Release Date: January 28th, 2015
Finished Date: January 27th, 2015

Publishers: Self Published 
Genre: YA, Urban Fantasy, Romance
Source: For Review
Format: EBook

Pages: 552

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US 

War. Prophecy. Freedom.
She fought for herself.
She fought for friendship and love.
Now, Kendra Irisavie fights for the survival of her world.

War rages on, leaving no one untouched. Destruction rips through elemental communities and terror flourishes in its wake. Suspicion soars, order fractures, and loyalties crumble despite Kendra’s desperate attempts to protect everyone she holds dear.

When an organized Aquidae army launches a series of merciless assaults, Kendra and her friends set out to end the bloodshed once and for all. With the fate of elementals hanging in balance, the Shadow and sondaleur hunt each other down in a brutal match of cunning and will.

Kendra has trained for this her entire life. But in a ravaged world where trust is scarce and no life is sacred, she soon realizes her battle may be against an invincible enemy and that her darkest days lie ahead.

Twists and turns shape her harrowing odyssey, leading to a stunning climax that challenges everything she believes in.
Torn between destiny and autonomy, Kendra must finally decide whether the cost of freedom is too high.

Heartbreaking decisions, turbulent alliances, and shattering revelations collide in Breaker, the explosive conclusion to the Ondine Quartet.

The Review: I honestly don’t know what to write because I have a whole mess of emotions going on right now but one thing I know for sure is that this book was epic!

Through each book I felt that Kendra had to find something in herself, some lesson that she needed to learn to grow and become who she needed to be but non-more so here. What she must go through here would break anyone, but Kendra has always been special and she faces her ultimate challenge in Breaker - because it’s time to unravel herself. Clarity makes her realise that her harsh upbringing served a purpose, that she must put trust in those who trust her, allow herself to feel love and understand that sometimes… a sacrifice needs to be made for the greater good. She has been a remarkable character, the epitome of strength, loyalty, power and determination, someone who can be the deadliest person but also the most vulnerable, someone afraid to love for fear of that love being a weakness or simply because trouble follows her and those closest to her inevitably end up hurt – she was trained to be a weapon, the hope of a community and now she must face her fears and become the Sondaleur.

My heart literally broke for her throughout this, I don’t want to say too much but if you thought she had it bad in previous books – that is nothing to what she must face now. Her world is so filled with duty and death that it’s easy to forget that she is just an 18 yr old girl who only found out about her true heritage a year ago and in that year she has had to master her power, her skills, learn of their history and the prophecy. I was so grateful for the people in her life but for Tristan most of all, she needed him so much, she needed his love and his unfaltering belief in her, he offset the violent world they lived in and loved her for her and not who she was prophesised to be.

The story was split into three parts; War – The Shadow leaves devastation in his wake, no one is safe and fear runs rampant as communities are decimated leaving most everyone hopeless. Everyone looks to Kendra but she is torn between duties, she doesn’t know how to beat ‘The Shadow’ and although they are sometimes one step ahead, they never gain the advantage and the losses are huge. Prophecy is the second part and here we see Kendra make some decisions and sacrifices so that she can be true to herself and accept her part in the prophecy. The Shadow taunts her with riddles and battles and there’s no stopping the inevitable showdown that is to come in the third and final part; Freedom. Freedom sees all of the players placed, the lull before the storm, it’s like a goodbye in itself. Preparations are made, loose ends tied up and now Kendra is ready, she will be the Sonaleur – but at what cost?

Action, devastation and heartbreak riddled the story from beginning to end but hope, faith and love offset the tragedy that Kendra and those she chose as her family had to deal with, it was simply breath-taking and I spent most of the book in some form of anxious state hoping that Kendra would make it – that they ALL would make it – because this series has spanned 4 yrs and every single one of the characters mattered to me. The story started with a huge reveal and those answers kept on coming right along with the action, it truly felt like a chess game between Kendra and the Shadow and I had no clue how she could prevail. It all leads to a final showdown that will leave you stunned but satisfied after going through a rollercoaster of emotions.

 I have loved every second of every book in this series, the characters, the world, the diverse population that in habited Haverleau, the action, the story, the magic, the prophecy…. And of course the romance. I will never forget this series or its characters and I thank the author for sharing her beautiful writing and storytelling skills that captivated me from the start. I’m so sad to be at the end….but what a way to go!

Thank you to Emma Raveling for giving me the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review.