War Storm reminds me a lot of my father.
Or rather it reminds me to be better than my father, not that my father was bad or anything. He just had the nasty habit of not finishing what he started.
From the concrete pillars marking the entry to his driveway that still needed another 20 or so stones to the garage that had one wall less than it should have had or the sliding door that he jimmy-rigged because he didn’t plan its construction properly.
My father was notorious for doing a project half way, stopping when it was “good enough” or cutting corners to save time.
When I first got a hold of Red Queen, I fell in love with the story and the characters. But by King’s Cage, I was a little disillusioned with the series.
Then War Storm came out and I didn’t get started right away for one reason or another and the reviews started to pour in. ‘War Storm was a disappointment’ they said, and I believed them so much that I didn’t end up reading this book for another two years.
But I will not be like my father and leave projects unfinished, and I could not leave this story unresolved.
So here we are.
War Storm Review
What is there to say other than the reviews you’ve already read are correct.
War Storm was a lackluster final installment in what could have been an amazing series. Why did it flop?
Well it mostly all comes down to the characters.
This whole story focuses around Mare and Cal’s relationship, and their rivalry with Maven. But both aspects of these relationships were massive disappointments in War Storm.
Cal and Mare won’t even talk to each other for the first half of the book, and when they do talk, it’s forced and uncomfortable. There is little love, and you have almost no hope for these characters to resolve.
In fact by the 85% mark in the book you still feel this way.
And don’t get me started on Maven. The poor boy, once a worthy villain, is a shadow of his former self. He’s a spoiled brat obsessed with Mare to a fault. And he has no presence, no power, and no respect in War Storm.
What’s War Storm about?
As you might expect, War Storm brings all the wars of the land to an epic conclusion. Who will win? Norta, led by Maven along with an alliance with the Lakelanders? Piedmont whose allegiances are tenuous at best? Montfort and the Scarlet Guard along with Cal and Volo Samos and the Rift?
You’ll have to find out how it all plays out because just about every allegiance in this book shakes up and some point or another.
The Characters
Evangeline, a character I once despised, has many redeeming moments, and in fact might be the sole bright spot in this otherwise bleak book. You can’t help but root for her and her decisions.
Tension between Mare and Cal persists throughout and the resolution to their predicament is less than satisfactory.
For a brief moment I actually thought things would turn out the way I wanted, but instead Aveyard gives me a bittersweet type of ending, which I suppose is satisfactory. But meh…
And Maven, don’t get me started.
I am soooooo disappointed with how everything turns out regarding Maven.
I will say no more. Other than it’s absolutely pathetic what happens.
I can’t remember if we had an Iris POV in the previous book or not, but we get to see through the eyes of Iris Cygnet, the queen of Norta and princess of the Lakelands.
Why, I couldn’t really say. Because I felt like her POV was pretty worthless. I didn’t learn much of anything anytime we were in her POV except what the bad guys had planned, which I feel ruined a lot of potential tension and suspense throughout.
Bleh.
Audible Narration
I listened to War Storm via audiobook, and I thought the narrators did a good job. I particularly liked Evangeline’s voice. Mare was okay. Iris drove me nuts.
We do get to listen to Cal and Maven, though I only remember a few scenes with Maven as the POV. He is very minor. And we don’t even see either of the men’s POVs until after the first half of the book at least.
Cal’s narrator is my favorite, but I might be a little biased. Vikas Adam voiced my own book, Sworn Guardian, as well as a favorite series, the Completionist Chronicles by Dakota Krout.
Final Thoughts
Can I say I’m glad it’s over?
In typical fashion these days, the author left some aspects of the story open ended in case she wants to keep writing in this series, but I can pretty much tell you I have no plans to continue on with this world.
That all being said, I read worse books recently, so my rating won’t be too harsh.
Looking for more great books?
Check out my review of The Princess Trials by Cordelia Castel.
