Ok, I don’t know if it was me or the fact that I read this entire series in a row but this didn’t blow me away. Not what I expected at all. Yes, there were some redeeming qualities and characters that did stay true to themselves but it just seemed to fall flat.
At around 400 pages or so, what really got me was how, by this time they had already traded Maven from Iris, in exchange for Salin Iral to avenge her father, begging the question, why is there still over 200 pages of content to get through? To me that didn’t make much sense. There was so much build up in the other two novels (Glass Sword and King’s Cage) of how difficult it was to keep up and beat Maven who seemed to be this all-powerful yet corrupt puppeteer and then just like that Iris, who don’t forget is pretty much new to this game was able to capture and subdue him. It seemed cheap. Too easy even. I thought it would happen in like the last 50 pages or so after a very climatic war, hence the name War Storm but that did not happen. Now saying that there was a war between Cenra, Iris and the Lakelanders and Mare, Cal and the Newbloods but it was very anticlimactic because let’s face, it Cenra and Iris are no match for Maven. He’s cunning and smart and unpredictable and they were just rage filled, blinded by their grief. It wasn’t the war I was expecting, it’s as simple as that. Especially considering fighting Maven would’ve opened up old wounds between him and Mare and Cal which is something that Cenra and Iris couldn’t have. It wasn’t personal like it was if they fought Maven at the end. Less hesitation for them.
Where was that fire from Iris?? I had so much hope for her character especially when she bonded ever so briefly with Mare in King’s Cage. She had extremely powerful control over water and yet she never really seemed to use it for a valid purpose. I thought her fighting was misplaced and ultimately led to her character’s un-likability. She wasted so many opportunities because she was either unsure or under someone else’s thumb (aka her mother, her sister and even Maven) She was always a pawn and never a queen. She never struck me as the kind that would disagree with the liberation of Silver control or agree to the eradication of the reds and newbloods and I guess she didn’t, but she didn’t care to stop it either. For some reason I thought her to be fair and to an extent on Mare’s side but then War Storm turns it around and she’s all they killed my father, I want vengeance, I’ll only stand by my own people. The people she can trust. It just seemed silly and was a letdown for me because she had so much potential to be good.
Speaking of disappointing characters, what the hell happened to Cameron? She was there for the longest time until she helped bring down her tech town with the help of her father, then she’s all of a sudden out of the picture. Only to be mentioned sporadically throughout the rest of the novel and never seen again in person or interacting with the main characters. I’ve gotta say, as a fan of her character, this was really disappointing to me. As I mentioned in my previous reviews, I loved how her character and her chapters seemed to open the story a bit and liven the overall dark and oppressive nature that these books obviously possessed due to their war torn and backwards society. I feel like once her character dropped off the radar, so did the story. I know that sounds harsh but I mean her character did really help the story along and added another element, so once it was gone it made it harder to read because her quick wit and unchecked manner were no longer there. Her hilarious and obviously strained relationship with Cal once Mare was captured was gone. I think Cal needed a friend who would help him and I think although they weren’t friends they were working to better their society and I think she could have helped him bridge the gap between Mare and the newbloods once Maven was captured. But because she wasn’t there it kind of all collapsed around him and he had no one in his corner, except for Julian and Anabel who both still wanted a crown on his head.
That being said I did like how Mare and the Newbloods wouldn’t compromise on what they wanted the Kingdom of Norta to be. They were not going to stand by as they were enslaved by another Silver and their crown. So props to them! Like honestly I hate when books concede, especially in the last installment which makes all of the books before it pointless! She stood her ground after Maven was captured and I truly believe that that was the right decision.
I could not believe the return of Jon, the newblood eye. I have to give it to Victoria Aveyard that that was a twist I did not see coming (no pun intended). It essentially breaks the whole story wide open. He was the one who got the ball rolling when he pushed Kilorn’s master, sentencing him to a life of war. This started the domino effect that led to Mare discovering her abilities and ultimately ignited all of this chaos and strife in Norta that spread throughout their cities. I still can’t believe that he was the one who did this! Like I’m seriously shocked and I knew I didn’t like his character pretty much from the beginning but this takes a whole another level of dislike for me. If I was Mare I don’t know how I would react from what he said because she’s dealt with a lot of crap because of what he did. Lost people because of what he did.
Who was surprised when Mare killed Maven? Let’s be clear, ever since his betrayal at the end of Red Queen this should have been the expected result! Not even Cal was surprised when it happened. Maybe hurt that it had happened but again this was bound to happen! How else were they planning on moving forward? Changing the way their world thought?
“I killed his brother. I took him away. I killed a murderer, a torturer. An evil person, twisted and broken. A man who would have killed me if I hadn’t stopped him. Killed everyone I love. A boy, made into a monster. A boy with no chance and no hope.”
And with that quote, how about we discuss that awful in between ending that
Aveyard left fans with. What is this nonsense of her coming back? If you can’t stop thinking about it, then do it! Bite the bullet. Mare has been very active in her pursuits pretty much from the beginning but then here she kind of just says (only after pages of contemplation) does she finally say that she will do something now that the fighting has ceased…I just didn’t get it and honestly that could be me and I’m not interpreting it right but who knows, at the very least it was a strange and bitter end.
And what was that whole thing about Cal and Mare not ending up together??? Like seriously? If anything he’s too good for her and yet still nothing. He gave up his crown like she wanted and she still didn’t go with him. Yes, Aveyard did leave it open ended with the possibility that these two would end up together but why do that? They should have been together after Cal didn’t get a throne because that was apparently why they couldn’t be for the entire series!! It’s just annoying, did anyone else feel that way? Like I feel like their relationship kept building up despite the constant stop start but then it just kind of stalled, it didn’t really start up again and it didn’t really stop completely because you know they both have feelings so I mean I’m pretty much left as confused as I can be about the whole thing and I don’t think that’s a good way to end a series. Some might like this open ended end because those who liked the Mare/Cal relationship can think she went back and they ended up together and those who didn’t like it aren’t forced to read their reconciliation. Not sure whether this is what Aveyard was going for but that’s how it feels like to me.