Review: War Storm (Victoria Aveyard)

Rating:

Maven, Maven, Maven
more Maven that’s all I need!!!

I don’t care
about Mare.

Don’t give a damn
about Cal
that caveman!

I couldn’t care less
about Kilorn
that little a…

Maven, Maven, Maven
more Maven
that’s all I’m living for!!!

Maven, my precious Maven,
I hope you liked my lore!

*bows*
And I’m out! <333

___________________________________

”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.”

And boy was this book dark because all the main characters tried to ignore their feelings and actually hoped they could live without the love of their life. *lol* This book was so heavy in so many different ways (yes even in the sense of actual weight ;-P) that it took me about 2 ½ months to read it and if I’m entirely honest I still don’t know how I feel about it. I mean I finished „War Storm“ about two weeks ago, but did I love it? Did I hate it? ARGH! I just don’t know! >_<

It was realistic. I mean, for a fantasy and YA book this series was damn realistic. Not when it came to the special abilities or the world they lived in, but when it came to human relationships, feelings, the dark abyss of people’s minds, driven characters and the things that move and motivate humankind. Well, if you take that into consideration then this book was brilliant and the ending was more than just fitting. Still, as much as I admired Victoria’s decision to give us a realistic ending, I still can’t bring myself to like it. *lol* Is that weird? XD I guess it is, because for once I actually didn’t want realistic. Haha! I wanted it all to work out nicely, but Victoria didn’t grant me that wish so yeah…

I hurt and I probably will do so until I get over that ending, which in all honesty might never happen. Guess I’ll have to learn to live with the ache and the countless “what ifs”.
Damn this book left me with so many questions, I can’t even! T_T

Anyway, let’s get back to the actual review! =)

”This world is a storm I helped create. We all did, in ways big and small. With steps we could not fathom, paths we never thought to walk.”

Welcome to my spoiler section! 😉 If you don’t want to be spoiled I suggest you skip the rest of my review and don’t even bother to take a peek! You most certainly will regret it if you still want to read the book! I’m a relentless “Spoiler Queen” and this section is going to be full of them! Don’t say I didn’t warn you! XD

Mare – The Lightning Girl:

”Break his crown, break his throne, rip his monarchy apart.” I stare up at her with as much strength as I can muster. The lightning in my blood responds with fervor, begging to crack loose. “But Tiberias lives.”

I really liked Mare’s character development and I think she eventually managed to come to terms with herself. In this book she knew exactly what she wanted, what she aimed to achieve and how far she would go to reach her goals. She didn’t make any compromises, it was all or nothing and I loved her for it!!! Finally!!! I’ve waited for her to be strong for so long, to cut her own path and to do what she needed to do! Yes, she was still broken by what Maven did to her, but she refused to give into it, to give him power over her! She fought back and stood her ground and I think this was one of the best things about this book! Mare you’ve come a long way and I’m proud of you! =))

”Even after Maven, my long months of imprisonment, all the death and destruction I’ve seen or caused. My broken heart, still bleeding inside me. The unending fear for the people I love, and the people I want to save. It all remains, a constant weight. But I won’t let it drown me.
I can still hope too.”

”Lightning has no mercy. Neither do I.”

Cal – Tiberias Calore:

”Tiberias still wears no crown, but I see it on him just the same. In his shoulders, in his eyes, in his slow, firm manner. He is a king as much as anyone can be. To the blood. To the bone.”

Haha! I was right! Cal didn’t change in this book! He was still not ready to give up his crown, he still wanted to be the king of Norta and he was clinging to his crown so stubbornly it was horrible to watch! URGH! What’s even worse is that he could have changed everything but just flat out refused to do so. I mean alone his situation with Evangeline! Why marry a woman that wants nothing more than to kill me in my sleep? A woman that loves someone else and doesn’t want me? For an empty throne? For a destroyed kingdom? I swear if I would have gotten a Euro for every time I wanted to yell “CAL YOU NUMPTY WAKE UP!” I’d be more than rich by now. *lol* So sorry, but I still don’t like him and I don’t get how anyone could love that egoistic and narrow-minded princeling. *grrr* #SorryNotSorry

”But every passing second makes my decision more difficult as I’m reminded of what I’m going to lose when the time comes. What I lost for so many weeks. Not just her love, but her voice. Her sharpness. The push and pull of a person who has no regard for my blood or my crown. Someone who sees me, and no one else in my place.”

Maven:

”He lays the flower on the railing, petals up, and fusses with his fingernails. They’re short, worn by teeth and anxiety. I would expect a king to keep his nails finely manicured, suited to the arms of a throne. Or maybe roughed by Training or combat, as I’m sure his brother’s are. Not ruined by nervous habits better suited to a child.”

Oh Maven… *shakes head sadly* I’m sorry to say it but I have to agree with all the people who told me that Victoria ruined his character. Yes, she did. Gosh, he had so much potential, but it was all wasted when he died. T_T I loved the Maven POVs but I really wished there would have been more to them. Don’t get me wrong, we actually got a good glimpse at his mind but it definitely lacked the cunning and cruel side of him. All I saw was a broken and tortured soul but I’d have loved to see more. I can’t describe it but Maven was always such a complex character and even though he was the villain he wasn’t entirely bad. There was a part of him that was still good and Victoria destroyed it. I mean I get that Maven eventually had to die. I actually expected it, but the way it happened? No, I didn’t like it. *sighs* He was nothing but a typical villain in the end and all the fine nuances I loved about him were suddenly gone. I don’t know what I expected but he should have gotten at least a small chance to redeem himself. Like for instance what if he would have hesitated to kill Mare, if he would have realized what he’s doing and Mare would have seized the chance and would have killed him? For me this would have been a better ending. But there was no hesitation, no remorse and that felt so… dissonant with his character. Urgh! I dunno! *cries a river for Maven’s tortured soul* T_T

”Mother’s voice has grown fainter as time passes, but she never truly recedes. Sometimes I wonder if she planted a seed in me, leaving it to bloom only after her death. I don’t know if whispers can even do that. But it’s an easy explanation for the murmurs and the mutters that rattle around in my skull.”

”At least her voice is gentle today. When I falter, when I slow down, it turns sharp, a fraying, splintering shriek, steel on steel. Glass popping in the heat of flame. Sometimes it’s so awful I check to make sure my eyes and ears aren’t bleeding. They never do. Her words never exist beyond the cage of my head.”

”The electric energy is a tease at best. Beyond my reach, beyond the sphere of Silent Stone. I ache for my ability the way I ache for Mare, for Thomas, for who I was supposed to be.”

Iris :

”Maven, his kingdom, they’re a shield, but a sword too. We have to use him, even though he’s a danger to us all.”

I know some people will say “WHAT?!” now, but I really started to like that manipulative and cunning sea lake witch. *lol* Iris and Maven certainly were equal when it came to their machinations and intrigues and their conversations always dripped with venom. I kind of liked that they were at each other’s throat and haha by betraying dear Maven to the enemy Iris definitely showed some serious backbone! *lol* I didn’t think she had it in her but to manipulate the “King of manipulation” definitely is an achievement! 😉 Still, I can’t help but wonder what is going to happen to the Lakelands now. The ending of the book left me with a lot of questions and I’m afraid I’ll never get any answers to them. =S

”In spite of my better instincts, I feel the smallest pang of pity for Maven Calore. He is not of his own making. Not entirely. Someone else perfectly cut him apart and poorly put him back together.”

Evangeline:

”In a flash, I envision the life he wants for us all. The life he would subject all of us to. The crown on my head, his heart in her hand. My children threatened every second by any child she might have. My days spent bending to his will, no matter how gentle it might be. No matter how many days he might let me spend with my Elane, as long as he can spend his with Mare.”

I don’t even dare to say it but I think I love her?! *lol* I mean I always kind of liked her even though she was so bitchy and mean to Mare but during the last three books she really started to grow on me. XD Her character development was awesome and even though some part of her still thinks that Silvers are superior to the Reds she started to learn that not everything is black and white and that change is possible. I guess a lot of her dislike for Reds was due to her upbringing and I’m sure given half a chance she’ll question everything she believed for so long. Well, in fact she already started to question everything in this book and boy was I proud of her when she decided for love in the end!!! She did something Cal never managed to do and I adore her for it!!! <333

”I think the war has done something to me. Put a fear in me I never had before. Not for myself, but for Ptolemus and Elane. The ones I love most, and would kill to protect. Sacrifice everything to keep safe and close. I’ve tasted a crown now, and I know it doesn’t compare.”

”I try to read her thoughts on her face, her carefully worn expression of thoughtfulness. Is she remembering our lives a year ago? When we thought we would be happy beneath the Nortan throne together, living in a future built on our secrets? As if we were ever truly a secret to anyone with eyes.”

Mare & Cal:

”I love you is a promise we both made, and we both broke. It should mean I choose you above all else. I want you more. I need you always. I cannot live without you. I will do anything to keep our lives from parting.
But he wouldn’t. And I won’t.
I am less than his crown, and he is less than my cause.”

Mare and Cal! ARGH! I swear no couple ever made me feel so frustrated! Their constant back and forth was horrible and if you ask me Cal is still a coward!! And a numpty!!! I mean let’s face it, they both made their POV very clear, they drew the lines in the sand and both of them didn’t want to budge. They were determined to do what they thought they had to do and not even their love for each other was strong enough to change that. And then Cal finally loses his kingdom and everything he fought for and chooses Mare?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!! Was it even a choice if he had nothing to lose anymore?!! It was like: Oh, worst case scenario happened and I lost everything, but wait now I can be with Mare! YOU NUMPTY COULD HAVE HAD HER ALL ALONG!!! Seriously, this was sooo stupid and what is Mare doing? She ACTUALLY TAKES HIM BACK!!! ARGH!!! After everything that happened, after everything Cal did!! SHE. TAKES. HIM. BACK!!! I can’t even… no I just can’t!!! They’ll never be my OTP!!! Sorry! But no way! All Cal would have gotten from me would be a certain finger right into his face! Guess it’s good Mare is more forgiving than I. *lol*

”Try as I might, I can’t stamp out the hope still burning in my heart. I still want him to choose me. And I would still forgive him if he admitted his mistake. That hope refuses to die, stupid as it might be.”

”But I also can’t –“
Stay away. Keep doing this. Denying ourselves in the face of always-looming death.
Tiberias hisses out a breath. “Neither can I.”

”I’m done with crowns,” he murmurs to the top of my head.
“Finally,” I whisper.

Mare & Maven:

The full force of his gaze almost knocks me out of my seat. “And I want to die the way my mother did,” he says plainly, as if asking for an extra blanket. Again I feel too stunned to think. All I can do is keep my jaw locked in place so my mouth won’t gape open in shock.
“Ripped apart by your fury,” he pushes on, his eyes horrible, unforgettable, searing into me. The brand on my collarbone seems to burn. “And your hatred.”

Their relationship was always cruel, dangerous and crazy but I still loved their dynamic. XD Those two never gave each other an inch as well and even though Maven was the villain I still think that he loved Mare even more than Cal. I mean for Cal his kingdom always came first, for Mare the Red Guard always came first and for Maven? He had the throne, he lost the throne but he always wanted Mare. She was his main motivation and even though his love for her was twisted, obsessive and wrong, it was still love. His mother made him into the person he became and changed him so much that he lost himself in the process. It was not voluntarily, she just did it without his permission. I’m with Farley on that one, he might have been a decent human being if not for his mother’s poison. I really wish it wouldn’t have ended that way and I can only hope that Maven met Thomas again. After all he was the first domino that fell and Maven’s love for him was genuine. *sighs deeply*

He smiles. “That’s enough for me. A better good-by than I deserve.”
“And what do I deserve, Maven?”
“Better than we ever gave you.”

”We’re alike in some ways, too many ways. I’ve tasted darkness, and he lives in it. He represents what I could become, without my family, without an anchor, if I’m pushed into the abyss.”

Maven & Cal:

”The impossible. Part of me still refuses to believe that. My brother is not a lost cause. He can’t be. I won’t allow it.”

Well, and that’s about the only thing I liked about Cal! *lol* His love for his brother! His hope that Maven might still be saved! Cal knew what Maven’s mother did to him and he always tried to find a solution that would not end with Maven being killed. Unfortunately there was no way to undo what Elara had already done and we all know how it ended. T_T Still, I have to give Cal kudos for never giving up on his brother. Even when the end was near, he still hoped that he would change and that they’d find a cure. He loved him until the bitter end and I couldn’t help but love him for it. Even though I actually don’t like him. *lol* Talk about confusing feelings. XD

”We grew up knowing I would be king and he would stand at my side. My strongest ally, my most fervent supporter. My best adviser, a shield and a crutch. A second opinion. A sanctuary. Not once did I question the arrangement, and I never thought he did either. How wrong I was.”

”Maven,” I sigh, shaking my head at his blindness. “The last person who loves you isn’t standing in this room. He’s out there. And you burned that bridge to ashes.”

Despite being able to clobber someone with this huge book I still liked it and enjoyed to read the many different POVs. Sometimes it felt like there were just too many political discussions going on and like the plot didn’t move an inch and then something unexpected would happen and everything would go way too fast again. I have very mixed feelings about this book because I think a few pages less and a little more characterization would have been desirable, it’s just my personal opinion though. All in all it was a good ending to a great series and even though I might feel conflicted about some of the characters choices and their development it ultimately was Victoria’s decision to make.
So all told this leaves me with 3,5 paws rounded up to 4. 😉