WAR STORM REVIEW
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Page count: 657
Language: English
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Genre: fiction / romance / drama
RED QUEEN SERIES SPOILERS AHEAD!
"Love can be exploited, I guess, used to manipulate. It's leverage. 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."
“He loved the crown before he loved me, whether he knows it or not."
“Cal is built from his father’s dreams, and Maven from his mother’s nightmares.”
“It's possible the girl he thought he loved is gone. I know what that's like too, to love someone who doesn't really exist.”
PREMISE:
The fourth installment of The Red Queen series follows after Cal's betrayal by choosing the crown instead of the Mare´s cause. Monfort and the Scarlet Guard agree to back up the should've-been-king, only with the promise that once the dust settles, Cal will step down — or his hand will be forced to do so.
PERSONAL REVIEW:
Part of the reasons why I was so drawn to make this review was because I saw a couple of reviews on Instagram and was confused as to why people seemed to dislike this book. I honestly loved it. I have read the series almost four times and I have not gotten tired of it. Aveyard's writing style gets more and more sophisticated as time goes on, noticing a really different writing voice from the first installment up to this one. The characters' voices become clearer, the dialogue becomes flow-y and not forced, and the story moves forward with gracious delicacy.
When you boil it down to the plot, I have always been a sucker for it. It is the right amount of drama, action, romance and bickering dialogues that make you love the characters. Personally, this book opened up so many ideas and feelings I hadn't unlocked, since it came from not only Mare's and Evangeline's perspective, but also from Cal's and Maven's. Maven's parts were my absolute favorite. His thoughts and inner voice were portrayed so perfectly throughout the writing, although I stayed with desires to see more.
As to what actually happens in this book (again, spoilers), I have two main problems: Maven's death was too rushed, and not detailed enough, and Mare's decision to step back from it all and take a breath for herself and from her relationship with Cal seemed to come out of nowhere. I liked how Maven was able to use his advantage and mastermind to get himself out of the jail he was in and back into battle so he could slip by, but the way he died, almost killing Mare, only for her to jab the knife at his throat and then blackout was disappointing. I feel the moment had been gathering momentum for three books only for it to be erased by the character blacking out. As to the ending, where Mare says she needs time to figure out who she is, to me, that seemed like Victoria wanted to give us an open ending (which got resolved in the book after) and that was the only way she thought of achieving that. Despite Mare having killed Maven and Cal feeling some sort of resentment, he seemed ready to forgive her and build things slowly, which was what their relationship needed. Never once did Mare hint before that she wanted to take a time off from Cal after everything they'd gone through. Even after the betrayal, she was still thinking about and protecting him, which culminated in them getting back together a couple chapters before the final war to take Harbor Bay.
As to the things I loved, the scenes between Cal, Mare and Evangeline were exquisitely explained. Mare and Evangeline never lost the animosity they had for each other but came to respect one another, which was lovely to watch it evolve from the first book. The push and pull of Maven and Iris was also great, although I wasn't a fan of Iris' POVs. They seemed out of place and too all-over-the-place at the same time. Mare's relationship with Farley reached a nice friendship point, and Mare's status as a martyr and face was finally acknowledge after her imprisonment from last book.
The way Monfort is described, as well as the war in and of itself is impressive. I can tell from reading that the author took her time crafting out the maps, planning the battles and overall, just keeping it as close to what a country might do now.
Characters like Anabel and Julian reached their stardom, getting a better look at what they thought and how much they loved Cal. Cal's dead mother's wishes in her journal before she was killed linked to the ending of the story, which was an appropriate way of closing a chapter.
The things that made this book a four instead of five star is the predictability Evangeline's actions possess, as well as Iris' point of view and the fact I could've had more of Maven without getting tired of it. I feel like Maven deserved a better ending, and they hinted at it, but with the unexpected death, those plans couldn't be fulfilled. I believe, had they had the time and the author the heart to give us another Merandus or someone who could heal Maven's mind from what Elara did, we would've gotten a much interesting character arc, not only for Maven, but also Mare and Cal. I even think, had that been the case, another book could've been written about Maven's relationship with Mare slowly being reconstructed, Maven feeling regret or hatred toward his mother, and Cal and him getting the relationship they deserved.
All in all, I feel this book was a good (but not great) closure to the series, since it was building up to more, at least in my mind. The characters and their voices make this book worth reading, and it will steal a chuckle or two, as well as a few stomach-drops sprinkled in between if you are as attached to the characters as I am.
Do I recommend it?
If you're a sucker for drama, romance, and monarchies, I 100% recommend you give it a chance. It has everything you could wish in a YA romance novel and even leaves you wanting more. I grew so attached to Cal's figure, it's unbelievable. If you've read previous books in this series and wish to do so (even if I spoiled this one lol), the value of the book is still there, and there are a lot of plot twist I did not cover.
However, if you're more of a drama, mystery and action genres, I do think the fight scenes have something to give, but this might not be the book for you.
Similar books you could read:
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
From blood & ash by Jennifer Armentrout
Shadowhunters series by Cassandra Clare
Thank you so much for reading! Let me know if you disagree with anything I say / plan on reading it!
-goldenmel
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