Reviews

We Unleash the Merciless Storm by Tehlor Kay Mejia

annorabrady's review

As much as I loved the first book, this one fell completely flat for me. The character's actions don't make sense for the backstory we've been told of them both in this book and the previous book. And Carmen's "I'm going to throw everything away for love" makes no sense with who she's already been established to be. On that same thread, the whole "could she love a killer" thought process doesn't make sense with the establishment of the narrative that Carmen has already killed *many* people. 

I also don't understand how she's supposed to have had regular contact with the resistance (seemingly multiple times a week) during the years leading up to this book and she didn't know about the changes in the group or how/when they happened. 

I like the idea of trying to establish resistance as more than just violence. However, I think there are better ways to establish that narrative without making Carmen into an impulsive, fool-hearty character who will do anything for love except sit still long enough to see a plan through. 

allykhat328's review

3.5

This book is the conclusion to the 'We set the dark on fire' duology. In this book we follow Carmen (in book one we follow Dani) After a wild turn of events in book one we find out more about Carmen and her role. I wont give to much away as it is a total spoiler for book one. 

A quick synopsis on book one to intrigue you. Dani is a wife in training attending the Medio school for girls where they are trained for one of two roles. Depending on each women one will run the household while the other raises the family. Dani is recruited by a resistance group to spy on the man and family she is chosen for. Book 2 is following the POV of the other wife chosen for the family. 

The series as a whole was good, rather predictable but still interesting. There was romance, double crossing, friendships and deaths. I don't know if its something that was amazing enough to stick with me but I had fun reading it. It is young adult which I tend to steer clear from now unless it is super intriguing and this one had the comparison to the handmaids tale which roped me in. 

Would recommend as a fantasy if you are just getting into them as its easy to digest and understand while still being very interesting and high stakes. 

viarwn's review

3.0

what i felt like was missing from the story was carmen's pov as she was getting closer to dani and falling for her. we get dani's pov in the first book which i enjoyed but because we didn't get carmen's i found it hard to believe why carmen would feel that way for dani and why she was going against everything she knew when i couldn't understand why she felt that way because the carmen we get to know in this book is very different from the carmen we got to know in the first book. it felt like we were dropped in the middle of a story which worked well with everything going on considering this was a sequal except for the love story which is such an important aspect to the story. it felt like it took up a much bigger proportion of the overall story and i just wasn't convinced sadly but i really wanted to be

mugglebornofoz's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

georgiap101's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

khruska94's review

adventurous hopeful tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The first in the series was better than the sequel

alicehc's review

medium-paced

2.0

if it wasn’t sapphic i would’ve dnfed it and unfortunately even their relationship wasn’t executed well enough for me to rate it any higher 

jazzyjbox's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.5

pmreads13's review

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

In this squeal, for the most first half we are left wondering if Dani is loyal to la voz as carmen tries to prove herself to la voz and herself. The rash actions lead to frustrating situations which added to tension and showcase characters flaws and emotions. I personally became frustrated with carmen and la voz <spolier forward on> even with the reveal of a traitor/double agent. I guess it became more focused on the romance, which was fine and enjoyable for me, but it became more character base and I didn't really like all the misunderstandings and anxiet  between characters that much. I mean, this added to the drama which is fun for the story but I don't completely like all the characters.  And the ending kind of felt rushed. Actually, after the mistake at the party, everything seemed too quick to me. Like let's get this revolution handled with so that these 2 can end up together, hopefully. Still enjoyed it.

lionssong's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0