Title: What Doesn’t Break
Author: Cassandra Khaw
Series: Critical Role – Bells Hells
Publisher: Random House Worlds
Publish Date: October 8, 2024
Genre: Adult Fantasy Horror Queer
Pages: 272
Format: Hardcover
Uncover the lost years of Critical Role’s unrelentingly upbeat undead spellcaster in this original prequel novel to Laudna’s adventures with Bells Hells.
For as long as she can remember, Laudna has had a friend. A mentor. A little voice whispering in her cropped ear, promising that, no matter how monstrous she becomes or how far she wanders, there will always be someone to guide her.
And so, Laudna is content.
But the thought of more—of life, of love, of the magic stirring in her still veins—is unrelenting in its familiarity. More is the dream of the young girl trapped behind the bloodstained walls of Whitestone, and the nightmare of the woman who now stalks the woods outside them. More, Laudna’s little voice reminds her, is dangerous. From Tal’Dorei to Marquet, the world is infested with heroes destined to rid their kingdoms of creatures like Laudna.
The little voice is right, she knows.
But still, she thinks of more. And when she reaches for that dream, what reaches back will change everything.
Written by USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw, Critical Role: Bells Hells—What Doesn’t Break delves into the unexplored years before Laudna joined up with the crew of Bells Hells, chronicling her departure from Whitestone and her solo adventures on the road to Jrusar.
I read this book back on January 31, 2025, so this review is one of the catch up posts.
This story around Laudna was wrapped in sadness and melancholy, the atmosphere dripping with an underlying hope that maybe something good would happen, only for something bad to come shortly thereafter. There were ups and downs, twists and turns, some surprises, and some not-so-surprises that happened. As I followed the Bells Hells campaign, I knew much of the story, but getting to see more of what happened to her was honestly heartwarming… if you don’t also mind a broken heart.
I will say, the writing style took a bit of time to get used to, but I did enjoy the way the author wrote speech and how she incorporated it between thought and conversation. It felt like there was a clear cut way of differentiating between Laudna and others, but also sometimes, it could have been Laudna talking to herself the whole time.
One of the things that stood out to me is that, even though so much of this story is underlying with one atrocity after another, one bad thing after another, there is one thread that kept me pushing through to the end (other than just loving Laudna and wanting to know her story), and that was hope. It was so strong throughout the story, interwoven into the very circumstances that plagued Laudna and caused her to keep moving, to keep running, to lose her mind, essentially, as she went. That hope was just enough that it made me continuously root for Laudna and hope for the best for her.
If you followed along with the Bells Hells campaign of Critical Role (campaign 3), then you know a lot of Laudna’s story, as much of it was revealed at the table just through natural gameplay, but if you want a more in depth look into what happened to her from the time she was alive to the time she was a hollowed one, then I do suggest picking up this book. It’s haunting and just so, so sad. I felt myself just wanting to hug her more and more each chapter – I think she could have really used it.
Reader Rayna 