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bluejayreads's review against another edition
I enjoyed the first book in this series. *Shatter the Sky* was creative and interesting, and I enjoyed the way the reader found out what was actually going on along with protagonist Maren. Plus, dragons and a unique take on dragon taming and riding. It's not one I would call fantastic or a must-read or anything, but it was good enough that I was willing to pick up the sequel.
Unfortunately, *Storm the Earth* didn't do it for me. Not all of it was the book's fault - some of it was the circumstances in which I read it, and some of it was my personal reading preferences. But one of the challenges with a sequel is that the situation and the characters have to change, and those changes also have to be compelling to the reader. The ending of *Shatter the Sky* brought a bunch of changes all at once. And moving those changes forward in this book just didn't do it for me.
Circumstantially, some of that is the fact that I finished the first book almost a year ago and this book picks up mere seconds after book one ended. I think that's always a big risk for authors, for exactly the reasons that happened with me - it's been such a long time since I read the first book that jumping immediately into the other half of the first book's climactic scene left me disoriented. I remembered the big picture of book one, but not the specifics, so I spent a good chunk of the beginning trying to reorient myself within the world and the story. And since the action was immediate, without a slower or lower-stakes section to orient myself before important things started happening, I just had a general feeling that not remembering the past details meant I was missing some important current details.
By the time I felt like I had remembered enough been reminded of enough about the previous book to engage with the story on its own terms, I wasn't interested enough to do so. Spending most of the beginning disoriented and disconnected didn't help. But neither did the fact that the changes in this book removed a large part of what I liked about book one and added several elements I don't really like in books. One of the things I liked most about *Shatter the Sky* was how the reader learned the truth about the dragons slowly as Maren learned it. Understandably, that didn't apply here. But my other favorite thing was the dragons. And beyond the very first scene, they didn't play a huge part. Sure, they were there and they did things, but it wouldn't have taken a whole lot of changes to replace them with horses, or dire wolves, or for the dragon traveling with Maren, a particularly intelligent housecat. The story was *about* dragons, but it didn't really *include* dragons.
Sev and Maren separated towards the end of the first book, so their alternating perspectives in this one showed different events. But Sev's side was mostly politics, which I tend not to enjoy in books overall. And though I enjoyed the accidentally-becoming-a-folk-hero elements of Maren's perspective, her parts were largely travel and her relationship with Kaia. And I'll be honest, I really was not invested in that relationship. I think some of it was that in book one, she was a goal and a memory and a motivation instead of a character - an idealized version of herself that Maren put on a pedestal but that didn't change or grow or act like a real person in any way. In this book, she's a real character with opinions and flaws, and also basically a stranger who the book wants me to believe is Maren's girlfriend. I get that their adventures in book one changed them. But despite how much Maren says she loves Kaia, they don't even seem to like each other very much. This is not actually a huge change from book one. The narrative told me they were in love, but their relationship didn't feel real. Since Kaia's role in that book was to be the reason Maren went on her adventure in the first place, I was willing to forgive that. Now that they have to actually be in a relationship again, it doesn't feel like either of them are actually interested in that. They don't read like characters who are in love, or even ones that were in love in the past. The romantic aspects that do show up feel forced; I can't really bring myself to believe that these two are anything more than casual acquaintances, no matter what Maren's internal monologue tries to tell me.
I've read enough YA fantasies featuring rebellions to predict roughly how this will go. Maren and Kaia will find some backup and Sev will do some stuff from the inside. There will probably be a moment where some miscommunication shenanigans will make Maren think that Sev has gone over to the evil emperor's side. There will be some sort of epic final battle with dragons. And then the rebellion will win, Maren will figure out her relationships, Sev probably becomes the new emperor, and everybody lives happily ever after. I don't want to deny that there's always a possibility that a book could surprise me. But nothing about this book really makes me want to give it a chance to do so. The only thing that's really holding my interest at this point is the dragons, and they're not even doing a whole lot (beyond existing and being pawns in this conflict between the emperor and the rebels). Which is really disappointing, because I enjoyed the first book. The series has some really interesting ideas, and even the weird relationship issues between Maren and Kaia could have been an interesting exploration of how relationships change when the people involved change. But it didn't do any of that. Instead, in spite of all the cool and interesting directions it could have gone, it just ended up bland and uninspired.
Unfortunately, *Storm the Earth* didn't do it for me. Not all of it was the book's fault - some of it was the circumstances in which I read it, and some of it was my personal reading preferences. But one of the challenges with a sequel is that the situation and the characters have to change, and those changes also have to be compelling to the reader. The ending of *Shatter the Sky* brought a bunch of changes all at once. And moving those changes forward in this book just didn't do it for me.
Circumstantially, some of that is the fact that I finished the first book almost a year ago and this book picks up mere seconds after book one ended. I think that's always a big risk for authors, for exactly the reasons that happened with me - it's been such a long time since I read the first book that jumping immediately into the other half of the first book's climactic scene left me disoriented. I remembered the big picture of book one, but not the specifics, so I spent a good chunk of the beginning trying to reorient myself within the world and the story. And since the action was immediate, without a slower or lower-stakes section to orient myself before important things started happening, I just had a general feeling that not remembering the past details meant I was missing some important current details.
By the time I felt like I had remembered enough been reminded of enough about the previous book to engage with the story on its own terms, I wasn't interested enough to do so. Spending most of the beginning disoriented and disconnected didn't help. But neither did the fact that the changes in this book removed a large part of what I liked about book one and added several elements I don't really like in books. One of the things I liked most about *Shatter the Sky* was how the reader learned the truth about the dragons slowly as Maren learned it. Understandably, that didn't apply here. But my other favorite thing was the dragons. And beyond the very first scene, they didn't play a huge part. Sure, they were there and they did things, but it wouldn't have taken a whole lot of changes to replace them with horses, or dire wolves, or for the dragon traveling with Maren, a particularly intelligent housecat. The story was *about* dragons, but it didn't really *include* dragons.
Sev and Maren separated towards the end of the first book, so their alternating perspectives in this one showed different events. But Sev's side was mostly politics, which I tend not to enjoy in books overall. And though I enjoyed the accidentally-becoming-a-folk-hero elements of Maren's perspective, her parts were largely travel and her relationship with Kaia. And I'll be honest, I really was not invested in that relationship. I think some of it was that in book one, she was a goal and a memory and a motivation instead of a character - an idealized version of herself that Maren put on a pedestal but that didn't change or grow or act like a real person in any way. In this book, she's a real character with opinions and flaws, and also basically a stranger who the book wants me to believe is Maren's girlfriend. I get that their adventures in book one changed them. But despite how much Maren says she loves Kaia, they don't even seem to like each other very much. This is not actually a huge change from book one. The narrative told me they were in love, but their relationship didn't feel real. Since Kaia's role in that book was to be the reason Maren went on her adventure in the first place, I was willing to forgive that. Now that they have to actually be in a relationship again, it doesn't feel like either of them are actually interested in that. They don't read like characters who are in love, or even ones that were in love in the past. The romantic aspects that do show up feel forced; I can't really bring myself to believe that these two are anything more than casual acquaintances, no matter what Maren's internal monologue tries to tell me.
I've read enough YA fantasies featuring rebellions to predict roughly how this will go. Maren and Kaia will find some backup and Sev will do some stuff from the inside. There will probably be a moment where some miscommunication shenanigans will make Maren think that Sev has gone over to the evil emperor's side. There will be some sort of epic final battle with dragons. And then the rebellion will win, Maren will figure out her relationships, Sev probably becomes the new emperor, and everybody lives happily ever after. I don't want to deny that there's always a possibility that a book could surprise me. But nothing about this book really makes me want to give it a chance to do so. The only thing that's really holding my interest at this point is the dragons, and they're not even doing a whole lot (beyond existing and being pawns in this conflict between the emperor and the rebels). Which is really disappointing, because I enjoyed the first book. The series has some really interesting ideas, and even the weird relationship issues between Maren and Kaia could have been an interesting exploration of how relationships change when the people involved change. But it didn't do any of that. Instead, in spite of all the cool and interesting directions it could have gone, it just ended up bland and uninspired.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Mind control (of dragons)bisexualwentworth's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
I wish that this book had been better. I really do.
It wasn't bad. It just felt very rough around the edges and could have done with a lot more work in a lot of areas.
Shatter the Sky was hardly the best book I've ever read, but I enjoyed it so much. It played with familiar tropes in ways that I enjoyed. It was deliciously queer. I got attached to the characters.
Storm the Earth is similarly tropey. I like Maren and Sev, and they both get good arcs here. The dragon lore is great. But the whole story plays it safe in ways that frustrated me. I wanted Wells to take more risks here. I wanted the story to have room to breathe, not just in the romance aspect but in the revolution stuff as well.
A lot of basic writing stuff falls down a bit in this one. Characters who were never previously mentioned appear to help at the eleventh hour, which feels deeply unsatisfying and also hints at a whole chunk of plot that we never got. A longer book with more point of view characters actually might have been a smart move here, but that's something that Wells probably would have had to set up in book one since this was just a duology rather than a longer series.
And I'm not mad at how the romance stuff played out, but it did feel very safe. I think that if we'd gotten Kaia's perspective in this book (and maybe in the first one as well), things might have felt more satisfying. Or ifthings had just ended in polyamory , but that would have required large-scale changes to the whole book. Oh well.
Overall, I still mostly enjoyed this and would recommend the duology to fellow queer dragon book fans or just anyone looking for a YA fantasy novel with a bisexual lead. I just wish that book two had taken more risks and gotten some better editing and maybe been paced a bit better.
I would absolutely love to revisit this world if the author is interested in doing that cause I think there's a lot of potential to tell interesting stories in it.
It wasn't bad. It just felt very rough around the edges and could have done with a lot more work in a lot of areas.
Shatter the Sky was hardly the best book I've ever read, but I enjoyed it so much. It played with familiar tropes in ways that I enjoyed. It was deliciously queer. I got attached to the characters.
Storm the Earth is similarly tropey. I like Maren and Sev, and they both get good arcs here. The dragon lore is great. But the whole story plays it safe in ways that frustrated me. I wanted Wells to take more risks here. I wanted the story to have room to breathe, not just in the romance aspect but in the revolution stuff as well.
A lot of basic writing stuff falls down a bit in this one. Characters who were never previously mentioned appear to help at the eleventh hour, which feels deeply unsatisfying and also hints at a whole chunk of plot that we never got. A longer book with more point of view characters actually might have been a smart move here, but that's something that Wells probably would have had to set up in book one since this was just a duology rather than a longer series.
And I'm not mad at how the romance stuff played out, but it did feel very safe. I think that if we'd gotten Kaia's perspective in this book (and maybe in the first one as well), things might have felt more satisfying. Or if
Overall, I still mostly enjoyed this and would recommend the duology to fellow queer dragon book fans or just anyone looking for a YA fantasy novel with a bisexual lead. I just wish that book two had taken more risks and gotten some better editing and maybe been paced a bit better.
I would absolutely love to revisit this world if the author is interested in doing that cause I think there's a lot of potential to tell interesting stories in it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Toxic relationship
olivialandryxo's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Shatter the Sky was one of my favorite reads of 2020 and is still one of my favorite books, so I was looking very forward to Storm the Earth. Although a reading slump did hit when I started this book, said slump had more to do with life in general than the book itself, which I loved.
The story did drag ever so slightly in the middle, and there was something in the first book that was missing in this one I can’t quite pinpoint. Despite that, and the fact that reading this took me about two weeks, I enjoyed this sequel. Wells’ second novel is as fierce and fun as its predecessor, and not only does it showcase Maren’s phenomenal character development, it also has more dragons.
One other thing I liked that I haven’t seen in many other YA novels was the exploration of whether or not Maren and Kaia were still romantically compatible. Nine times out of ten, the protagonist falls in love with someone and the two stay together through it all, so it was refreshing to see a protagonist unsure of whether her first love or new crush was better for the person she had become. Does that make sense? I’m trying to explain myself without spoiling anything.
All in all, I found this sequel to be very enjoyable, and a satisfying conclusion to the duology. These books are undoubtedly hidden gems in YA fantasy. I plan to recommend them to as many people as possible, and I eagerly await Wells’ next book.
Representation
The story did drag ever so slightly in the middle, and there was something in the first book that was missing in this one I can’t quite pinpoint. Despite that, and the fact that reading this took me about two weeks, I enjoyed this sequel. Wells’ second novel is as fierce and fun as its predecessor, and not only does it showcase Maren’s phenomenal character development, it also has more dragons.
One other thing I liked that I haven’t seen in many other YA novels was the exploration of whether or not Maren and Kaia were still romantically compatible. Nine times out of ten, the protagonist falls in love with someone and the two stay together through it all, so it was refreshing to see a protagonist unsure of whether her first love or new crush was better for the person she had become. Does that make sense? I’m trying to explain myself without spoiling anything.
All in all, I found this sequel to be very enjoyable, and a satisfying conclusion to the duology. These books are undoubtedly hidden gems in YA fantasy. I plan to recommend them to as many people as possible, and I eagerly await Wells’ next book.
Representation
- bisexual protagonist of color
- sapphic love interest of color
- established sapphic romance (f/f)
- side characters of color
- side character that uses they/them pronouns
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Torture, and Violence
jamesflint's review against another edition
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Torture, and Violence
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