“Cal is built from his father’s dreams, and Maven from his mother’s nightmares.”
War Storm….
The ending to an epic battle of power and blood.
And a book I will not admit is part of the series.
There’s a lot to this book. Like the others, we are dropped in where the third book leaves off. Cal has just decided to go for the crown instead of Mare. And this, besides the political and war drama, is the premise of the entire book. Everything revolves around whether they will return to each other, even, I would say, the other characters.
“I walked away from his offer. From him. I was torn apart by another betrayal—Cal’s betrayal, but also mine. I love you is a promise we both made, and we both broke. It should mean I choose you above all else. I want you more. I need you always. I cannot live without you. I will do anything to keep our lives from parting. But he wouldn’t. And I won’t.”
And boy are there other characters. Aveyard decided to add everyone and the kitchen sink - which I think was the worst idea. Do not add people to pull the plot forward. Especially if you only let them have a chapter or two. The biggest disappointment was Cameron. She isn’t a POV at all in this book which proves that she was used as a plot tool in the last book. Such a disappointment. I was promised her story, and though we see a somewhat happy ending, nothing is entirely resolved.
I may disagree with everyone on the planet, but Mare stole my heart and having to waste my time on so many other characters I could care less about ruined the last two books for me. Aveyard set a promise that this was Mare’s story. She breaks this promise in the last two books. If instead, she had added additional POV from the beginning, she would have had more leeway in adding and subtracting later. Still, I stand firm that if you want to add a POV you need to add it throughout the book - not thrown in a part of the way allowing only a small glimpse into the character’s mind.
Rant is now over….
I was holding that in for the entire read.
It’s hard to say that this story was boring. A lot happens and we get a few, very obviously foreshadowed, plot twists. How else was this expected to end? Only a bloody war could be the ultimate deciding factor. The fault lies in its length. (Another reason to have stayed with one POV… ok really done now) Aveyard goes so nitty gritty into the war maneuvers and strategy, not something you will expect when starting the series. In essence, she lost the tone of her series and ended on a very low note.
Such a low note. You will see what I mean when you get there.
Sometimes, I even wonder why I picked this series up when I’m handed that to walk away with.
What I will give Aveyard an award for is her ability to stay true to Mare the entire story. Through all the books, she never lost Mare’s true character and I can see she made the hard choices. Except for the end. Ok, no spoilers. Also another round of applause for the second mountain scene. Excellent little nugget there - you’ll know it when you arrive.
All in all, I loved the first two books of this series. If I had to give an overall rating, I would go for 4 stars. Now for War Storm, we will dip down to 3 stars. I hate to do it, but she gets what’s delivered. I do look forward to whatever else she decides to write.
Happy Reading Everyone!
Love Kait
Reading Challenge: 58/100