The Broken Vow

Spill Zone Book 2: The Broken Vow

By Alex Puvilland

Published by First Second

This is the sequel to the book Spill Zone (review Here)

Summary:
Picking up right where we left off in Spill Zone one, The Broken Vow returns us to the plight of Addison, Lexa, and Vespertine, now joined by the character Jae, who was the floating guy from North Korea teased in the last book. Something in the rift is changing though, and it seems it involves our merry band of weirdos. Together, bolstered by Jae's knowledge, they must find a way to fix everything. The plot's a bit all over the place.

Art:
The art is the same as last time. It's simplistic with great uses of shape and color. the characters all have unique designs, even if they are pretty simple. There is less detail in some scenes that could use it, and in general the art seems to be more quickly done. It is still quite impressive, with only a minor dip in a few sections.

Characters:
The cast is decent. While there are a few moments where they seem to act without motivation, though this is could be explained by the characters themselves. The new additions to the cast are bland and boring. Jae adds little to the story and is mainly a way of giving the main character information. Over all, it's basically the same, if a bit worse.

Setting:
The setting is the same as last time, but we get a bit more explanation. It's a bit of a mixed bag. Some of it is really cool, while others is boring, especially the explanation of what the zone is and why it's there. I was severely disappointed by that aspect of the book. 

Plot:
The plot mainly ties up loose ends from the first book. It shifts in places to more of a faction drama, with multiple organisations each jostling for power, with our characters in the middle. These human interactions are much more interesting then what's going on in the zone itself, and I wish it had focused more on that. as I said before, I'm disappointing by the ending. There were many more interesting ways the story could have been taken. Though it does open itself up slightly for a sequel. the main plot seems to be over.

TL;DR:
The Broken Vow just seems like the first book but not as fresh. It is worth it to read if you liked the first and want closure, but it could have been more.
6/10