“I am different from what my world demands I be. And I am not worse for it.”
-Victoria Aveyard, War Storm
Cal’s betrayal of the Red Rebellion for the crown shook everyone in his alliance, but Mare Barrow most of all. Now, to protect herself and her heart, so Mare resolves to eliminate the crown and the kingdom of Norta forever. But in order to do that, she needs Cal’s help; mostly, his incredibly strong Silver allies. As the war looms on the horizon, Mare is prepared to do anything in order to grant freedom and equality to her land.
To be honest, I felt a bit lukewarm about this series throughout, but I really wanted to see how Aveyard finished out the story. For the most part, I wasn’t disappointed, though I think the book could have been a lot shorter. One of my pet peeves about the series in general was that it changed to multiple narrators halfway through the series. Personally, I think that a series should stay in one narration style throughout, so switching to multiple narrators in the third book really put me off. Why’d you have to do that, Victoria?
As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews of the series, Mare still rubs me the wrong way in this book, mostly because she feels so dramatic, especially when Cal is concerned. Like, we all know that you’ll eventually forgive him, so stop complaining that he chose the crown instead. You still love him, just forgive him already. Evangeline was definitely my favorite aspect of this whole book; she rounds out our view of those with silver blood, and her love for Elane is so apparent. She’s willing to throw away the life she knew for a life that she never thought possible, plus she can definitely hold her own in a fight. Evangeline comes out as the star of War Storm, as least in my eyes.
War Storm certainly wraps up the series nicely, but still leaves room for the imagination at the end. Once you’re invested in the story, you’ll definitely want to keep going in War Storm, even if the length is a bit daunting. Red Queen is still the best book in the series, in my opinion, but this is a worthy follow up.
3.5/5 stars