The Brave and the Broken (Gifted Fae Academy #2) By Brittni Chenelle

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When one of the four elite students of Gifted Fae Academy is murdered, it leaves the entirety of the student body feeling defeated… especially me.

A shocking declaration shatters the fragile peace the school has barely managed to maintain and brings the criminal organization dedicated to murdering Fae to the forefront of society. Their leader is identified--a traitor we believed to be one of our own.

With the only home I have left threatening to close its doors, I must prove where my loyalties lie. There is no such thing as trust within the wall of the legendary academy any longer. It’s now student versus student. We’re all hurt… all broken. The thirst for revenge is palpable and there is no one who craves justice more than I do. But, no one is as conflicted as I am either.

Everything is not as it seems. The lies are too simple and the truth is far too complex. The more pieces of the puzzle that I uncover, the closer I get to the boy who broke us--who broke me. Will I have what it takes to stop him before his plans come to fruition? Or will my hesitation cost me my life this time?

This Upper YA/NA series is intended for mature audiences. It contains cursing, sexual situations, bullying, and violence. The Brave and the Broken (Gifted Fae Academy #2)

What a thrilling story! Kai has grown as a character and Reina has grown into her magic.
I won't lie, this book has shocked me a couple of times reading it! It's powerful and emotional. I'm disappointed that we have to wait almost 3 more months for the next book, but it will be epic and explosive, I can feel it! Brittni Chenelle 3.5 stars: Great continuation of book 1

I discovered this series free on YouTube (the author has uploaded the whole series), and I enjoyed it.

I was pleasantly surprised by this YA Fae Fantasy Series.
The story takes place in an Academy, where only People with special abilities can attend. Their goal is to become Fae and protect the world.
But not everything is what it seems...

Book 2 continued right where book 1 left off. Kai's actions in book 1 needed explanation, and this book delivered them.
I loved both MC's character growth and the connection they share.
I also appreciated that there was more romance than in the first one.
It's pretty angsty, and I just hoped for these two to finally get together.

And that ending...I can't wait to read the final book!

→ Tropes ←
- upper YA Fantasy
- Fae Academy
- Starcrossed Lovers
- Childhood Friends to Enemies to Friends
- Hate to Love
- No spice

⚠️Safety: Mention of death of parents (FMC is an orphan), death & murder

📖Free Audiobook: 1st person, dual POV, and narration

___Reviews:___
Book 1: The Fae & The Fallen
Book 2: The Brave & The Broken
Book 3: The Strong & The Stolen Brittni Chenelle I finished reading this book whilst on holidays and let me just say, I was not disappointed with my first book that kicked off that holiday! I should've totally written my review up sooner but I was hoping that...one, my brain would be working a bit better and two, I kept getting sidetracked by my three little nephews and my family. Oopsie...But alas, do not fear, as this review is finally coming. Hopefully, I can accomplish getting out a decent review.



I literally loved so much about this book! It had so much angst and I loved the uncertainty of where it was heading. Like obvi I had worked out some parts but there were definitely spots of where I was like



And oh how I L-O-V-E those moments. From the ending of the first book til this book, I was hooked and honestly, it was a true struggle to put down the book. Its times like these that I don't get frustrated at my continual fight to stay asleep...because even if I could sleep easier, this book would be definitely pushing all my willpower buttons lol.



If you have read book one I'm certain you would've already started or finished reading this book, because honestly if you haven't...why the hell not? this will be me if you haven't at least added to your tbr pile.



You do not want to miss this second book because for me it only gets better! The story has everything I needed to keep me hooked and I loved how Brittni continued to do dual POV, so I could get lost in both of their heads and know everything happening. This story really thrives in this format! So if you loved book one then rest assured that you will absolutely love this! I give all the yes's in the world!



I guess you want a little bit of story development and all that jazz. Well first off, the character depth is awesome! I was impressed with that...I felt I lost a bit of connection to some of the characters but I also felt like I got a lot more connected to Kaito and Reina which was awesome!...and I really enjoyed exploring deeper into a few other characters like Yemoja and Zane. Also, the main bad dude in this book is hella perfect for his part!



As for the story, it picks up right where it left off and jumps into everything fairly quickly. Right after Gifted Fae Academy was breached - GASP the horror - and now in the aftermath, everything is up in the air. People have died, people are angry and some people are looking for a fight.



But to make it all the more Romeo Juliet style, Reina and Kaito are on two opposing sides. Reina struggles with the fact that Kaito betrayed everything they had both wanted, to be with The Fallen Arrow. She's angry and becomes unsure, wanting to seek answers from the boy she is falling for...

And on the other side we have Kaito who gave up everything for something he is kinda unsure about. He questions a lot and can see why these people are mad but at the same time, he is locked in a stalemate of sorts, by someone you are going to question from day dot, well I did...This person has an agenda and definitely isn't all he appears. Kaito, in my opinion, grows so much as a person so for me, I think I finally got that connection I had been searching for from the beginning of these books.

Oh and btws Kaito and Reina are totally in on my whole Romeo and Juliet thoughts lol.

“Damnit, Reina. You’re really not going to be happy unless we Romeo and Juliet this, are you.”
I laughed, rolling onto my stomach. “Do you mean fall in love or die tragically?”
“Both.”

You are going to love returning to this world, where legit anything can happen and where a world is on the brink of change...well hopefully...coz it's def clear that things need to change...but unless some higher-ups start listening, there could be a world of trouble. Maybe even war. Coz clearly that's the only way some people will start listening.



Let's hope it doesn't come to that though...I'm sure Reina, Kaito and their friends can come to a better solution...



Otherwise there is the whole frypan trick...🤷🏻‍♀️Maybe we could knock some really good sense into people? What? 🤷🏻‍♀️It's an option...and a good one 😁😂



Anywho, moving on...If you love a good enemies to lovers, world on the brink of war, magic and a whole heap of angst... this story is going to be perfect for you. People who enjoyed books like Assassin's Academy, Wicked Academy or Evermore Academy are definitely likely to be swept away in this world also.

So get yourself the book, get comfy. and read, read, read...



Thank you to the absolutely amazing Brittni for another incredible read and for letting me read early! I cannot wait to get my hands on what you have in store for us next!



That's all for now...

Happy Reading Nerdy Friends Brittni Chenelle 4.5/5

Original review

This book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Brittni Chenelle!

The Brave & The Broken is the second book in the Gifted Fae Academy series and continues the story of Reina and Kaito.

The Brave & The Broken was another great book written by Brittni Chenelle! I’ve been reading a lot of books about fae and I really like the concept of the Gifted Fae Academy! It’s something different than I’ve read before and I really like that. These days books are really similar, and that not always bad, but I love reading a story that is a bit more original.

Reina and Kaito changed a lot from book 1 until the end of book 2. I really like some character development in books and Brittni Chenelle did so well! Just like the first book, The Brave & The Broken is written in two perspectives (Reina and Kaito) and I love reading in both perspectives. I just love it when you get to know more about the main characters by reading their thoughts and by reading about their feelings.

The Brave & The Broken was such a quick read. I love the shorter chapters because then it feels like you finish the book in 10 seconds. It’s also a lot easier to read, in my opinion. I don’t really like chapters that are too long. The Brave & The Broken was such a good book and I’m really excited for the next book in the series! Brittni Chenelle Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Brittni Chenelle for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

It just keeps getting better and better!

This is the second book in the Gifted Fae Academy trilogy and I think this one was so much better than the first one. I’m hoping that the third one can finish the trilogy strong. I was very surprised at the reason why the first book ended the way it did, and being able to see Reina and Kai on opposite sides and not always interacting with one another was amazing. I think it worked that the book didn’t solely take place in the Academy like the first one mostly did. Their world really did expand after the first novel, and I feel like this completely changed the dynamic between the two main characters.

I was proud of the character growth that Reina and Kai showed from the first novel, and I’m excited to see more of their progress in the last book.

Now I know that Reina and Kai didn’t start off really…. personable I would say… but Kai finally gets out of his own butt in how he would treat Reina before she realized that she had powers. He was just a jerk-face, okay? We all know this. Luckily though, it seems like Kai becomes self-sacrificing with his own reputation and life in order to save Reina’s and the rest of the students at GFA from The Fallen’s attack. There didn’t need to be a massacre, and that’s what Kai was able to prevent during the dance.

The more that we see Kai with The Fallen, the more that we can see what’s going through his mind and whether or not he really made the right decision. We can also see him understand more of The Fallen’s motive, and a part of him may be more understanding than before. Does that mean he’s going to stay with The Fallen for good? We don’t know. Well, you don’t know. It doesn’t help make Kai’s decision any better when the true leader of The Fallen makes an appearance and ends up becoming friends with him. Can you truly trust a guy that could kill with a single touch? Doesn’t that make him more dangerous than the Fae that they are fighting so hard to eliminate? What about the other gifted people within The Fallen? Are they being hypocrites? What’s the deal? There’s a lot to learn while Kai is within the ranks of The Fallen, and things aren’t as black and white as initially thought.

My favorite part of this novel was the growing dynamic between Reina and Yemoja Roux. Yes, there is a mentor-mentee relationship since Yemoja is the one that truly helps Reina learn how to harness her power, but the relationship grows to one that is more familial in nature, and it warms my heart. Reina sees Yemoja as the big sister that she never had, and even though a part of her knows that Yemoja isn’t her blood sister, she hasn’t felt like she had a family since her parents were killed. They end up growing closer not just on the “practice field” so to speak, but outside of their public interactions. It’s a really beautiful budding relationship and the more you read the novel, the more you can see how that relationship takes its course. I’m hoping for more of this in the third novel to really solidify how important Yemoja and Reina are to one another outside of being gifted. I mentioned my love for their relationship in the first novel and again Brittni just wrote that dynamic perfectly to me.

And the relationship between Bri and Reina. Oh my gosh I’m so freaking happy that Reina finally has a female best friend that she can truly trust and love. Bri is such a great character, and I am so glad that I got to see her more in this novel. Seeing her emotional, but also being true to herself and to Reina was the best. Both Reina and Bri have learned one another’s strengths and weaknesses, triggers, and nuances in what seems like a short amount of time. But for me, it shows that they really took the time to make sure that the other wasn’t just a roommate to them this year, you know? I loved how Bri was so supportive and loyal to Reina even when the elites of the school turned their back on Reina. It was such a quick flip too that honestly it made me wonder whether the elites were actually friends with Reina and cared about her, or if they just accepted her because she was Odin’s girlfriend. Either way, Bri is a true friend to Reina and I do hope that… knowing what happened at the end of this novel… we get to see just how far they are willing to go for one another. Brittni Chenelle

3.9 stars. I enjoyed this better than the first book although Reina's impulsivity annoyed me to no end. She had no experience in what she was dealing with. She was really new to the other side of the world of the gifted but she disregarded sound advice from those with more experience and ran into dangerous situations just clueless. She was immediately always in trouble when she did this.

Even though Reina gets on my nerves at times, I'm really invested in the story. And I do love Kaito's character development. I do wish that DT could have been redeemed. His methods were horrible and he relished in how Fae feared him, but his intentions were good. I am not mad at The Fallen. Brittni Chenelle So the only bad thing I have to say about this book is that it came to an end. And quickly too, since it took me only hours to read because I couldn't put it down. I don't know how I will wait to find out what happens next.

First, I wanted to hate Kai--really I did. Not because of what he was doing, but because of what he'd done before. But I just couldn't. The moments spent in his point-of-view are just spot on for me and gives me the ability to relate to his actions and motives. No spoilers, but the chapter where he and Zane are tipsy-texting was so well written and the dialogue was so hilarious that I read it twice!

Second, I think the thing this book does best is what Reina suggests at one point--it blurs the line between good and evil. It does this so well. Usually this would be heavy-handed or preachy, but in Chenelle's hands, it is complex, nuanced and balanced. Who is bad? Who is good? Who's to say? I come away with this as the ultimate lesson, and I can't wait to learn more! Brittni Chenelle While I still don't love the use of the f word I did enjoy the book. I liked seeing Kai grow and care about something more than himself. He was willing to sacrifice his own priorities to save the GFA and prevent the destruction of the one girl who was always there for him, even when he was cruel to her. I thought the story flowed smoothly between each perspective so we got to understand each character better. I enjoyed the interactions between the characters and the introduction of new heroes and villains. The lines blur a little as you realize that the fae aren't always the good guys and the fallen are trying to even out things for the gifted and non gifted alike. Who can you trust? It ends with a bang and I can't wait to read what happens next. Brittni Chenelle I really enjoyed reading this one! The characters really grew on me, especially Kai, which kind of surprised me because I didn't like him in the first.

I'm looking forward to reading the last one in the trilogy. Brittni Chenelle I suppose it's time I wrote a review for this book. I waited so long to give others a chance to declare how they felt, feeling my opinion, being a tad biased since I was the Content Editor for it, needed to be kept out of their views. But it's been out long enough now that I don't feel my opinion would influence anyone else's, so here it is.

I loved this book. Much more than book 1. Probably because I feel I have far more invested in this one than I did in the first one. Two of my favorite characters were strongly highlighted: Kaito and DT. Kaito, because he was allowed to grow into the guy I knew he could be, the guy buried under that messed up teenager from book 1, who wasn't sure who he was or how he should act. In book 1, we saw the side of him that could be cruel, but mostly was overwhelmed by the onset of his powers, and the notoriety they brought him. As a teenage boy, he naturally got a case of a swelled head, and as such, decided to distance himself from his long time friend, Reina, a simple serf, to stay at the head of the cool kids. But in doing so, he nearly lost the one friend he had that would always be true.

In book 2, Kaito realizes Reina is much more to him than a childhood friend, and that he was less than he thought he was, having realized he had a propensity towards cruelty. But, once faced with real cruelty in the form of a friend, forced on him by circumstances, (and, of course, I mean DT)/ he realizes he's not nearly as evil-minded as DT is, nor does he want to be.

From there, we go on quite the ride with these mixed up teenagers, never knowing on which side we're going to fall, nor which group is most sincere. Outside forces, going by the moniker The Fallen, start to intervene, and DT starts to show his true colors. As the antagonist, DT shows signs of being a very troubled person from his own sketchy past. While we know we should hate him, it is difficult, as we discover there's much more to him than just the cruel boy who does damage willy nilly. The development of his character went deep into the psyche of a teenaged boy who came into his powers young, with all the consequences that you'd expect from such an occurrence. This early development did damage to DT emotionally, causing him to have difficulty discerning the difference between right and wrong.

Kaito develops into a guy with a conscience, which he never expected. Nor did Reina. That conscience helps him stay the course after being forced to join The Fallen, an outside group with a grievance against The Gifted. But when the influences of DT, The Fallen's actual leader, become too much, Reina, having become quite strongly Gifted in her own right, determines to keep Kaito on the right side of the line, no matter how hard he makes it for her. With Reina in one ear, DT in the other, and The Fallen proving to be less evil than he first believed, Kaito is torn.

Book 2 has a storyline that is action-filled with a strong emotional impact. You find yourself coming to like all the characters, to some degree, making it difficult to have a definitive good guy/bad guy scenario, which I found to be a fascinating way to go. Much more like life actually is than most fairy tales bent on giving us a moral to follow. In this book, we see how ambiguous life really can be, and how difficult it is to know if you're doing the right thing all the time. I definitely found myself liking book 2 much more than book 1, and for more reasons than just my participation. And while I will not be participating in the writing of book 3, I do admit to a curiosity as to how well it will continue to do, in all aspects of the story, and I wish this author the best of luck in her future endeavors. Brittni Chenelle