Book Review- War Storm

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Title: War Storm

Author: Victoria Aveyard

Published: 2018

Publisher: Harper Teen

Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy

Plot: ♥♥♥♥♥

Characters: ♥♥♥♥♥

World Building: ♥♥♥♥♥

Flow: ♥♥♥♥♥

Synopsis:

Victory comes at a price.

Mare Barrow learned this all too well when Cal’s betrayal nearly destroyed her. Now determined to protect her heart—and secure freedom for Reds and newbloods like her—Mare resolves to overthrow the kingdom of Norta once and for all… starting with the crown on Maven’s head.

But no battle is won alone, and before the Reds may rise as one, Mare must side with the boy who broke her heart in order to defeat the boy who almost broke her. Cal’s powerful Silver allies, alongside Mare and the Scarlet Guard, prove a formidable force. But Maven is driven by an obsession so deep, he will stop at nothing to have Mare as his own again, even if it means demolishing everything—and everyone—in his path.

War is coming, and all Mare has fought for hangs in the balance. Will victory be enough to topple the Silver kingdoms? Or will the little lightning girl be forever silenced?

In the epic conclusion to Victoria Aveyard’s stunning series, Mare must embrace her fate and summon all her power… for all will be tested, but not all will survive.

Review*:

   This is the final book in this series, which is odd because reading through it... it doesn't really feel like it. In my opinion, Victoria left a lot open at the end of War Storm that could continue onto another book. You could argue that this is the end of Mare's story now that her tormentor is gone, they saved Norta... but for her cause which is what propelled this book forward, there is so much more to write. 

   The writing in this book was a lot like the rest of the series, there were some extremely slow sections to get through and some statements or actions that made you have to pause and re-read. There were some character POV that I felt a little disappointed by, some that I actually loved as well. I will break it into pros and cons for the majority of the book, even though I don't care to simply a book down into those two categories, it would be easiest to cover the main points of the book.

Pros:

• Lakelanders- We all were aware from the end of King's Cage that Iris was plotting against Maven. The union of Norta and Lakeland's was completely to benefit the Lakelanders as Norta started churning in a civil war. I though Iris's execution was flawless on her end, from reading Maven's actions; both current and future, to showing how much of a warrior women and the strength her family possesses. I felt like the trade between her and Anabel/Julian didn't make sense and wasn't 100% fleshed out, during the car ride the offer was left very open ended which only made sense to later leave it obvious for Evangeline to find out their plan. Although Iris was the enemy, I knew I would love her character from the beginning and even at the end despite her screwing over Maven, I loved her.
• Cal & Mare- Up until this point, I didn't care for this coupling as much, mostly because it was in a love triangle that felt forced on the Mare/Cal end. However, I did appreciate how Victoria didn't leave the end of this book as a happy ending. Mare chose what she believed what was right over love, and at the end of the book even after Cal gave up the only thing we was raised to want, it wasn't an "Oh, you gave up everything for me. I love you Cal." They still knew they had hurtles to get through and scars that needed to heal.
• Cal as King- Cal 100% surprised me with his character in this book, which made me actually love him more than Maven. Yes, the book starts with him being a twat and picking the crown over the cause, but to be honest it wasn't his cause to start with. It was very obvious that in the position of holding a crown, he could have done more to help the Scarlet Guard politically than as a soldier of an army. The way he navigated both his Grandmother and Julian was great as well, since the book led you to believe that Norta would be ruled by Anabel through her grandson on the throne. Everything really changed when Cal finally found that his "soft heart" that is brought up through the series was because he held the values from his mother. 

Cons:

• Maven- Now up until here, I loved me some Maven. However, this book did a great job at letting you down through Maven. As someone so manic and menacing, he walked right into Iris's trap of throwing him off the crown. He wasn't the usual cunning individual we see up until War Storm, and when you reflect back on it you can see how piece by piece he led himself to this point by finding enemies within his own court. 
• Evangeline- I still love Evangeline as a character and the reason I placed her as a con was simply because of the way her sections were written at times. Within the first 100 pages she is in Montfort and all of chapter 6 really annoying me with her point of view. We know she loves Elane, but her reaction to Davidson revealing that Montfort has no qualms with gay or mixed-blood couples was a little gag worthy. Also, listening to her talk about crowns and being raised as a pawn was a little boring. I am happy though, that she chose to rebel against her father and her brother was supportive. 
• Davidson- I expected a lot more from this character and I don't feel like I got it. This also plays into the feeling that there is a lot of story left to write. His position as a political figure was also strange, simply because he was elected to rule a country but he seemed to have little authority over everything. In general, Davidson's role and the way he interacts with his country could have been elaborated on a little more; like we could have cut out the entire fight scene which didn't really add to anything to delve more into the politics to understand it better.

 Overall, War Storm was a good conclusion to the series. I would like to see another novella post War Storm to really feel like the story was completed. If Victoria would write a new book within this one to continue the story but not from Mare's perspective I don't know if I would pick it up, just because the way the books are written there is a lot to get through in each series. To answer the very simple question of, should I read the Red Queen series? I would say yes, just be prepared to read with a slower pacing.

  Thanks for reading this review guys! I'd love it if you would tell me what you thought of this series below!

*There may be spoilers in this section of the review. If you do not wish to be spoiled, please stop reading.