Review: War Storm (Red Queen #4)

Author: Victoria Aveyard

Started reading: March 31st 2021

Finished the book: May 8th 2021

Pages: 662

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Published: May 15th 2018

Source: Bought the book

Goodreads score: 3.88

My score:

Synopsis

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?

My thoughts

I've been postponing this for a long time. I find myself pushing the endings of series far, far away. I did the same to the HP series. But now I felt like I was ready to finish this series! I needed a long time to get into the story. Then I rushed through and found myself reading a lot. I do think that the ending was a bit disappointing, but overall I feel like it was a good book.

Pros

• POVS: I loved the different POVS in this book. I feel like it was a smart move by the author, because I notice other readers getting a bit "tired" of Mare. So by adding different POVS there is a character for everyone to love. I also feel like you can understand the other characters way better as well. I think that 4 of the 5 POVS really added something, one of them could've been left out in my opinion. (I won't spoil the POVS ^^)
• Silver blood: I've said this before in reviews, but it's so good that Victoria Aveyard keeps reminding you that it's SILVER blood. I can picture everything so easy in my head but I just keep visioning it with red blood and not everybody in this series has red blood. So maybe other people feel like it's overkill to keep saying it, but I just love the reminder so everything that I picture in my head really fits the story.
• War and action: Some of the best war and action scenes I've ever read are in this book. The big battle that everything leads up to was so cool. Maybe I'm a bit dark right now, but since it's so awful and serious and THE BIG thing everything leads up to... I would've loved to see more casualties. I think that that would really rip out my heart and maybe even make me give the book 5 stars.

Cons

• 250 pages in: The real action in this book only starts around 250. It took SO long before the story really started. I felt like it just took too long to get there.
• Ending: The ending was a bit disappointing in my opinion. 4 books, leading to THIS?! I also kept checking the pages and I was like; "Hmm, 40 pages till the end of this SERIES, HOW?!" So while I feel like the story only started at page 250... Maybe the author could've added 50 pages to wrap it up a bit better. It felt rushed at some point.

Overall

Even though the ending was a bit disappointing; This is definitely a series worth reading. I loved every book in this series. I gave the first and last 4 stars and the books in between 5 stars. After finishing a series I find myself thinking whether the books should be on my shelves or maybe I should find a new home for them? These books will definitely stay on my shelves! I ordered book #4.5 as well, so I'm heading back into this universe very soon.

Thanks for reading!

I'd love to talk books; please let me know what you think about this book review.