Reviews with content warning for Grief - War Storm

If you know me you know that this series has been one hell of a ride for me. From it taking so long to finally finish, to having very mixed opinions on the books. I'm very glad I finally managed to finish it though, as I thought this was a great conclusion to this journey.
Just like King's Cage we get more than just Mare's POV, but I actually thought it was actually a great addition to this one. I really apreciated the different POV's we got. I feel like it did a great job fleshing out the story, and showing different perspectives to the conflict, and story. It only made me wish that we had gotten this earlier on in the series. I truly do feel like this series would have been better if we hadn't been following just Mare in the first two books. It made everything just feel more well rounded.
This book was very packed with political intrigue. So if that's not your thing, this book might not work for you as well as it did for me. I thought it was very interesting to see the characters make all these different manouveres to get what they want. I do feel like at times it felt a bit directionless, but I do overall think it all came together really well. The very end was very abrupt, and I feel like a little time jump within the epilogue would have solved that. Therefore it felt a bit rushed. I just wanted that little bit more from it, I guess.

Content Warnings

hwerle's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

too much was happening. and words could not describe how little i cared about the other POV's... like why start a book series as one POV, then add new ones, but so inconsistently and at such random times that it actually adds nothing to the plot or character development?

Content Warnings

lawbooks600's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Representation: N/A
Score: Five out of ten.

What a disappointment. Again...

I'm done with Victoria Aveyard. I picked War Storm up to finish the Red Queen tetralogy or quartet, but I headed in with low expectations after being underwhelmed by Glass Sword and King's Cage. Red Queen was enjoyable--how could Aveyard fall this far? The series could've been so much better, but it was dreadful instead.

It starts (more like finishes) with Mare, who needs no introduction, Cal and Maven, all living separate lives. At least there's a map now, but anyway. The novel starts off slow and continues its pace after Cal betrays Mare by joining the Silver side, leaving Mare to fight for the Red side with other characters. War Storm didn't need to be above 650 pages when it could be shrunk to 100 or less, especially considering Glass Sword and King's Cage suffered from the same issue, meaning Aveyard didn't rectify that. The worldbuilding was lacklustre as usual as Aveyard did not answer some questions I had, not to mention the absurd number of unnecessary subplots detracting from War Storm. The characters are hard to connect or relate with, and the plot goes on and on. The climax is ironically anticlimactic as only one character died in the big battle, Maven, finishing War Storm on a low note.

Content Warnings

ameydireads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“But I would never call loving someone else a weakness. I think living without love at all, any kind of love, is weakness. And the worst kind of darkness.”

The war has begun and both sides get ready to fight. But the fight isn’t just between both sides, there are also many internal conflicts. One example is the relationship between Mare and Cal. It has always been complicated and now once again they find themselves on opposite sides. Mare wants to abolish the monarchy altogether and Cal still holds hope for a better world in which he gets to keep his crown. Their mental traumas don’t exactly help either, but this situation does provide interesting characters. We see how Mare is still traumatised by Maven and the silent stone whilst Maven is still haunted by his dead mother and Cal is still haunted by what he thought Maven was and what Maven really could have been if not for Elara. We really have some very interesting characters! I loved Cal and Maven. Cal is such a sweetheart and Maven is a great antagonist. Let’s not forget about Evangeline by the way. She has a great storyline! For so many years her future was fixed and now she sees that she could also make her own choices and live a different life. I didn’t like her at the start of this series, but I’ve grown to love her. She is loyal almost to a fault and is honestly a badass. She comes across as someone who is merciless but that is because of the wall she built around her. I loved that we get to see her POV in this series where we see her inner thoughts and discover a different side of her.

War Storm really is a chunky book but it’s so easy to read that you almost forget its size. Almost! Unfortunately my hand did remind me of this fact, multiple times… Anyway, I enjoyed how this story plays out and now I feel a bit sad that this is the end of this series.

Also, WHY AREN’T MARE AND CAL TOGETHER AT THE END OF THIS BOOK?! They need a happy ending!! This seriously is the only part where I felt betrayed. I mean it makes sense and it’s good that they take a break to recover from everything. It’s a healthy choice, but I need some closure….

Content Warnings

stitchof's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Content Warnings

emjspeaks's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I’ve blazed through this series so far, and I’ve loved the inner monologue of several (what I would consider) main characters. It gives us as. Readers an opportunity to understand how the diverse group of people driving this story see the world around them. This also helps with world building. There’s also just enough of relatable emotions to keep a reader engaged in the psychology of their individual personalities. Truly, one of my favorite series so far.

Content Warnings

kingspite618's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

TOP 5 books that emotionally scarred me and changed me as a person and ruined my life forever! Loved it, would recommend it to everyone and also I hope no one has to go through the pain of reading this.

Content Warnings

More...