Right off the
bat, I have to say that before I even started reading War Storm, I was
definitely feeling really nervous about how much I was going to like this book,
and feel satisfied with it being the ending of the main part of the Red
Queen series; especially since I was very aware of the fact that War
Storm has gotten a lot of mixed, if not bad, reviews from the fans of the
series before I had even started reading the Red Queen series back in December of 2018. That being said, after having read War Storm, I’m
thrilled to say that I really loved this book for the most part. Don’t get me
wrong, I do think that War Storm definitely has some flaws that I’ll
talk about later on in this review, but ultimately, I still loved it for many
reasons.
Something that
really stands out to me as being one of the things that I loved the most about
this book is that I felt like Victoria Aveyard did a really great job of
conveying each of the P.O.V. characters’ (Mare, Evangeline, Cal, Iris, and Maven)
individual internal struggles that they were dealing with throughout the course
of the book. For starters, it was especially interesting to see how Mare was really
struggling at the beginning of this book with Cal’s betrayal at the end of King’s Cage. While I really enjoyed Evangeline’s P.O.V. chapters in King’s
Cage, I enjoyed her P.O.V. chapters in this book even more. One thing that
I especially loved and appreciated about Evangeline’s first P.O.V. chapter (Chapter
Two) is the fact that in the opening moments of the chapter, she considers killing
Anabel Lerolan, only to quickly feel bad about the fact that she had even
thought about doing that when she was simply alone in her own head. Even though
I personally haven’t fantasized about murdering someone, that moment still
really resonated with me; because there was honestly a period of time in my
life when I was really struggling to come to terms with me being bisexual to
the point that I didn’t even like simply thinking about the possibility of
being bisexual when I was alone in my own head. Honestly, I think it’s
perfectly normal for people to have things that they don’t like thinking about,
or for people to have things that they feel bad for thinking about when they’re
simply alone in their own mind. Plus, I feel like that moment added even more
depth and complexity to Evangeline as a character; so, I really love and
appreciate the fact that Aveyard included that moment in the book.
Personally, I’m
thrilled beyond words that Maven and Iris were both P.O.V. characters in War
Storm, but I’m definitely especially thrilled about the fact that Maven was
FINALLY a P.O.V. character in this book. That being said, one criticism that I
do have about Maven’s and Iris’ P.O.V. chapters is that I don’t think that
Aveyard delved as deep into developing them as characters as she probably could
have in those chapters. While I do think that Aveyard did a great job of conveying
the fact that Maven and Iris’ marriage was essentially nothing more than a
political alliance, and that there definitely weren’t any romantic or loving
feelings between the two of them; I still felt like Aveyard could have delved a
little deeper into developing Iris as an individual character than she did in
Iris’ P.O.V. chapters throughout the book, especially since Iris was just
introduced in King’s Cage.
As far as I’m
concerned, Maven is definitely the most complex character in the Red Queen
series, and while I thought that both King’s Cage and Maven’s P.O.V.
chapters in this book offered a lot of really great insight into Maven as a
character, and providing backstory to help explain why he is the way he is as a
person, he’s such a complex character that I really do think Aveyard should
have had Maven be a P.O.V. character beginning with Glass Sword,
and that he should have also been a P.O.V. character in King’s Cage,
instead of having Maven simply answering the questions that Mare asked him
about his life throughout the book be the only way Aveyard helped the readers
to understand Maven better as a character. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely
love Aveyard’s writing for Maven in King’s Cage, this book, and the Red
Queen series as a whole; I just think that both the writing for Maven as a
character and the series as a whole, could have been even better if he had been
a P.O.V. character in the series beginning with Glass Sword.
That being
said, I still thought that Aveyard’s writing for Maven in this book was
especially phenomenal when it came to his P.O.V. chapters, and I especially
loved the writing for Maven once I got to the part of the book where Maven had
been taken prisoner, and he was reflecting on his life. I thought that it was
really interesting to see Maven wondering about how his life could have turned
out if Thomas hadn’t died, and if Thomas would have been enough to keep him
from becoming as evil as he became if Thomas had lived. I just felt like Aveyard’s
writing for that particular aspect of the book was especially profound; since one
of my all-time favorite quotes is the Aesop quote, “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is
ever wasted.” Plus, I
truly believe that showing a person kindness, even if it’s just a small act of
kindness, can make a huge, potentially life-altering difference in their life. Considering
the fact that Maven and Aveyard’s writing for him has always been one of my top
favorite things about the Red Queen series, there’s definitely a part of
me that would have loved to have seen Maven be redeemed somehow; but after all
of the horrible things that Maven did throughout the series, I think that it would
have been extremely difficult for Aveyard to accomplish that, so I’m not all
that surprised that the series ended with Maven dying. That being said, I really
do think that Aveyard should have expanded upon the details regarding Maven’s
death, and how his demise actually played out, because there’s no denying that
Maven’s death was a major part of the series’ ending; and yet I still found
that part of the book rather vague and underdeveloped.
While I’ve always
loved the political intrigue aspect of the Red Queen series as whole,
the political element of War Storm in particular is definitely one of
the things that I loved the most about the book; especially since politics definitely
factor into the plot of this book even more than politics factored into the
first three books in the series. Considering the fact that this is the last full-length
novel in the Red Queen series, and the characters were pretty much all
trying to bring the war that’s been going on since before the series even began
to an end, it makes a lot of sense to me that Aveyard would have politics and the
war be a central aspect of War Storm. Not only was I thrilled to see politics
factor heavily into the overall plot of the book, I also feel like Aveyard executed
the political intrigue aspect of both this book, and the series as a whole,
very well.
As someone who
has always had VERY mixed feelings about romance in YA books, I have to say
that I’ve always loved the way Aveyard handled the various romances that were
featured throughout the Red Queen series, and War Storm is
definitely no exception to my feeling that way about that aspect of the series.
For starters, I’m actually really happy about the fact that Mare and Cal didn’t
end up together at the end of the series. I say this because I just don’t think
that they’re both at a good enough place in their lives for them to actually be
able to be in a healthy, mature, and functional romantic relationship with each
other. Plus, they’re still pretty young, so I’m really glad that Aveyard didn’t
feel the need to end the series with Mare and Cal acting as if it was either “now
or never” when it comes to them being together as couple. I think it’s great that
the series ended with them both going their separate ways, at least for now; with
Mare going to Montfort so she can have some time to find herself, and Cal going
to Norta to help deal with the aftermath of the war. It was also a really nice
touch on Aveyard’s part to have Mare put in the earing that Cal gave her in King’s
Cage. I also love the fact that it was actually Evangeline who encouraged
Cal to abdicate the throne, instead Mare being the one who encouraged him to do
that. As someone who just got into the Red Queen series in December of
2018, which was before Aveyard had announced the release of Broken Throne;
I have to say that while I’m really glad that Mare and Cal didn’t end up
together at the end of War Storm, I’m definitely not opposed to Aveyard
revisiting their relationship, and possibly having them end up together in one
of the stories that’s featured in Broken Throne, though.
The relationship
between Evangeline and Elane is definitely another romantic relationship that I
thought Aveyard did a great job of writing and handling in War Storm. I’ve
always loved the interactions between the two of them throughout the course of
the series, and I also love the way Evangeline talks about Elane in her
internal narrative as well. While I’m really glad that Mare and Cal didn’t end up
together at the end of War Storm, I’m actually thrilled that Evangeline
and Elane did end up together in this book, because I feel like it was a great
way to show Evangeline’s character development, and her growth as a person. By
having Evangeline and Elane end up together at the end of the book, I think it
really shows that Evangeline isn’t the narcistic, rich girl that she was at the
start of the series anymore. Evangeline is finally at a place in her life where
knows that she deserves to be happy, pursuing the life that she wants, and that
she deserves to be with the woman that she loves (Elane); instead of continuing
to struggle internally with trying to make her parents happy. One last thing
that I would like to comment on in terms of Evangeline in this book is that I
continued to love the writing for her relationship with her brother, Ptolemus;
especially since it had served as her motivation for helping Mare to escape
from being held prisoner by Maven in King’s Cage.
Aside from the
fact that Aveyard didn’t do as much with Iris’ and Maven’s P.O.V. chapters as I
think she could have, the only other real complaint that I have about War
Storm is that I felt like the overall pacing of the book’s plot was rather
uneven. At times, the plot would move at a fairly steady pace, and then there would
periodically be a chapter that was incredibly action-packed, followed by a chapter
where I felt like nothing really happened in terms of the book’s plot
progressing. On the positive side, in regards to the chapters where I felt like
not a lot happened with the plot moving forward, those chapters oftentimes had
some really great character introspection.
All things
considered, as I said at the beginning of this review, there was definitely a
part of me that was really worried that I was going to end up being very
disappointed by War Storm before I had even read the first book in the
series. While War Storm definitely isn’t a perfect ending to the Red
Queen series, which is mostly due to the overall plot of the book being somewhat
bogged down by uneven pacing, I’m thrilled to say that I ultimately still loved
this book for many reasons. As someone who’s a big fan of stories that really
showcase the internal struggles of the characters, I thought that for the most part,
Aveyard did a fantastic job of portraying each of the characters’ internal
struggles throughout the book.
A big part of
what made War Storm such a satisfying final full-length novel in the Red
Queen series, is the fact that Aveyard FINALLY delivered on giving me
something that I had been longing for ever since I was reading Glass Sword,
which is to have Maven be a P.O.V. character in the series. While I absolutely
loved Maven’s P.O.V. chapters in this book, and felt like they did offer some
really great insight into his psyche, I still felt like Aveyard barely scratched
the surface of the complexity that is Maven Calore. Maven’s character
development throughout the series definitely could have benefitted
significantly from him being a P.O.V. character in both Glass Sword and King’s
Cage, instead of waiting until this book to feature Maven’s point of view
in the series. I also felt like Aveyard could have handled the writing for
Maven’s death a little bit better than she did.
Iris’ P.O.V.
chapters really were also somewhat lacking in terms of providing all that much
insight into her as a character, or as much character development as they could
have; especially since she wasn’t introduced into the series until King’s
Cage. That being said, despite the fact that I think Aveyard could have done
more with Iris’ P.O.V. chapters than she did, I still thoroughly enjoyed her chapters,
and I was definitely intrigued by her throughout the book. Aside from Maven
finally being a P.O.V. character in this book being one of the biggest
highlights of War Storm, the political aspect of the book’s plot definitely
was another one of the biggest highlights of the book for me. As far as I’m
concerned, Aveyard did a fantastic job of executing all of the political
elements that have been present in the series throughout War Storm as
the war was coming to an end.
One last thing
that I would like to mention in this review is that with the release of Broken
Throne, I’m honestly not sure whether or not I should view War Storm
as the end of the Red Queen series, since it’s the last full-length
novel in the series; or if I should think of Broken Throne as being the
end of the series, since it’s the last book that Victoria Aveyard wrote for the
series. Based on what I know about some of the new stories that Aveyard wrote for
Broken Throne, the book sounds like it’s kind of an epilogue to the
series. For that reason, I’m going to wait until I write my review for Broken
Throne to discuss my final overall thoughts on the Red Queen series.
That being
said, my score for War Storm is 8 out of 10.
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