War Storm Paperback – January 1, 2018

I LOVED the first 2 novels. The third was good also, but this one was just-predictable. There’s this tug of war between Mare & Cal & I feel like the epilogue just didn’t satisfy my hunger. It feels incomplete & I’m left feeling blah at the end. I’m disappointed for that to be the ending to a series that began so great.

Awful. Just awful.1. There were hundreds of pages of filler that I found myself skimming over. I was glued to every word of the previous books, but almost gave up reading this one. Still, I continued, because I love the characters developed in the previous books and I had to know how it ended!2. This book also had very little character development. Nothing was added from the previous books. In fact, it almost seemed like someone else wrote it at times.3. The whole book seemed avoidable with a 2 minute conversation between Mare and Cal.4. The ending was even worse! After fighting for everything Mare and Cal had, this is how it ended?! It felt like the author gave up. Completely. It didn't fit with the story, or with any actions the characters would have ever taken. Ever. It didn't make sense. I've wasted hours and hours of my life, for this!5. I was promoting this series to friends and family to read. However, after this, I will tell them not to bother. And, I won't bother reading anything else from this author.Grave disappointment!

The final installment of this series left me with a bitter taste in my mouth....no, not because, as other commentators have pointed out, Mare and Cal don’t get a fairytale ending, but for other reasons:Mare and Cal have both undermined one another over and over. They understand and love one another, but have different ambitions, opinions, and goals. Their ending was, I feel, believable and as sweet and hopeful as could be expected.!!!Spoilers for the first books and vaguely-phrased spoilers for this one ahead!!!No, my gripe is with “the other Calore” No, no, no, not because I was team Maven: that ship sailed burning over the horizon long ago – no way on earth that was going to end happily. But, Maven’s mind was torn apart by his mother: so much of what he did was literally out of his control. It was a fascinating premise, and I really did look forward to how it was handled. How was it handled, you ask? Poorly. It was an opportunity to explore mental illness and culpability; dogmatism and forgiveness. I’ve struggled with whether or not these themes were addressed, and I just didn’t like the message the author decided on....but no, I think not. It was just used as an opportunity to .....show Mare in a certain light. For a more in-depth (and spoiler-filled!) commentary on that, see the comment attached to this review.Adding to this, other characters who have committed atrocities for ambition, out of ignorance, or just for funsies are given free passes, because they were revealed to have some “redemptive quality” – usually romantic in nature. Ah yes, character X killed hundreds of Reds, contributed to political instability, etc....but it turns out character X has a lower-class lover! Cool, send them to the land of milk-and-honey!As for pacing, the book dragsssss. It’s told over multiple viewpoints, which should give us nuanced insights into each faction’s motivations....except that those motivations were often so bland and and cringe-worthy, I found myself skimming them by the end.Four books, two novellas....aaaaand more on the way! Because that ending *facepalm*. I have never seen a more blatant cash-grab. The epilogue should have just read, "ending coming soon.....for just three more installments of $4 in novella form!" I admire Aveyard's writing, I really do. But how this series was dragged out was unnecessary, and contributed to more money out of my pocket for less quality. I'm not putting any more money into this series, and I'm extremely hesitant to invest in any more from this author, if this is her standard.Ultimately, three stars for an interesting premise, nuanced romance between characters whose backgrounds put them at odds, and decent world-building. Minus two stars for trying to force me to care about characters that I don't care about, dragging the story though too many books, and turning a nuanced villain into ....whatever that was about.

The Red Queen which is the first book in this series is fantastic. I would describe it as a Hunger Games meets Harry Potter story. I was hooked immediately and tore through the first book but unfortunately that’s where this series peaked. Book two was meh and books three and four were terrible. First, they should have been combined and this should have been a trilogy. Second, they just seemed to drone on and on with so many unnessary scenes and story lines. Finally and most frustratingly is that after reading these books it’s appearant Miss Aveyard has never been in love and has quite possibly only experienced terrible relationships. She excelled in describing the disfunctional relationships between the characters but all the emotional moments just fell flat. All the romantic relationships within the book were luke warm at best and unfortunately you are forced to read all four books to figure that out. I had such high hopes for this series after reading Red Queen and was thoroughly disappointed. If you don’t mind ending in a cliff hanger I’d say Red Queen is an enjoyable beach read, but save your money on the next theee books. You won’t get the satisfied ending you expect after spending $45 and countless hours reading.

I am so sad about this ending. I thought the ending of Divergent was horrible, but at least there was an ending. I am so angry right now.

Last book with an ending like that?!!? I'm usually one to re-read books that I love over and over.. Won't be doing that here, not with how I feel finishing it the first time around

I really enjoy this series but I have felt the author has been muddled at points in the series. What on earth is the problem with killing off Maven? Cal and Mare's handwringing just gets ANNOYING. For goodness sake. Back and forth, back and forth. There are aspects to the series I just don't get and I have enjoyed the evolution of Evangeline Samos in particular. Chapters from Iris Cygnet - less interesting but getting away from Mare and her self-righteousness is welcome. The real interest came in the conflict between Cal and Mare fighting their beliefs and their reactions. But the ending - no spoilers - but I think in trying to avoid cliche, she just doesn't end the book. I would imagine there'll be another short story appearing soon, hopefully she'll put the ending in that.Spoilers - only read this bit if you have read or don't care:She thinks Cal resents her for killing Maven? Was he unclear when she explicitly went off to kill him? When she nearly died killing him? Also why wasn't he offed by Tyton ten seconds after they arrived. Nonsense. They also have secret submarines? The conflict isn't resolved and Cal & Mare's romance isn't resolved properly - so how is this the final book. Perhaps less time on the excessive acknowledgements to various politicians might have freed up some time. I also 4 books in still don't get how powers are passed on etc.

** spoiler alert ** With Mare’s rescue complete and Harbor Bay won, Mare has to abandon hope for her and Cal as he becomes King of Norta. With Maven making allegiances with the Lakelanders, it is a battle of the brothers of who will become the King. Can Mare and Cal ever be together? Can the Scarlet Guard ever overthrow the monarchy? Which brother will win?Firstly, I’ve really enjoyed the series and would recommend this to any fiction fan. I really liked that Aveyard has written chapters from different characters perspectives rather than just Mares again - it allows us to get to know them just that bit more before the end; Mare’s still on edge, scared of Maven, scared to be in shackles again, Evangeline is still hopelessly devoted to Elane and will do anything to be back with her, Iris, Maven’s Queen, determined to overthrow her husband and avenge her father’s death. A lot of dedication has been put into this series to war strategies and with so much description of the setting it’s very hard not to imagine a Game of Thrones type scenes!*SPOILER ALERT*I’m a bit miffed at the ending… Mare Barrow… you have done nothing but worry, fret, cry and hope for Cal to choose you over the throne… So why at the end of it all did you not leap into his arms and be with him?! What is all this “I need to find out who I am” rubbish?! I’m sorry, 4 books in and you still don’t know and you’re turning down the man you are completely in love with and threw away his family, his home, his reign and changed the world for you to go on some “find yourself” tour? Just no! We went on a journey with you guys and we deserved the ending we wanted! I was a Mare fan until that point. It was completely unnecessary and if I were Cal I’d tell you to get on your jet and not come back! The man has lost his father, his brother, his home, EVERYTHING and if you truly loved him you wouldn’t punch him in the gut one last time! Aaaaaand breathe…Overall, it was a great series with great characters and a fantastic storyline!

War Storm is the final book in the Red Queen series.This series seems to be a bit like marmite - people either love it or hate it. I’m firmly in the love it camp!Now these books aren’t perfect but I love all the intrigue, court drama, plotting, revenge and back-stabbing that goes on. Throw into the mix a fabulous villain, a love story and some epic battles and you’re on to a winner with me.War Storm carries on from where Kings Cage left off with our main protagonist, Mare, separated from Cal after he chose the crown instead of her. Mare is working closely with the Scarlet Guard and Montfort to ensure equality for reds and newbloods in a world where silvers still rule.This was a satisfying conclusion to the series as a whole although it wasn’t quite the ending I was hoping for. It felt right that after so much had happened not everything was perfect for everyone. Also it might just be wishful thinking but the ending did leave it open just in case Victoria decided to revisit this series again in the future 😉The book did have some flaws. For example some of the chapters moved slower than others. In particular the chapters from Iris and Evangeline’s POV. Mostly I’ve liked Evangeline as a character as she’s a bit of a bad ass but in this one she was a little too whiney and love sick for my liking. I did like the fact that she eventually stood up to her family and chose her own happiness over doing what her parents wanted.Maven. Oh my lovely Maven. I know he’s the villain but he’s just so freaking great. I love his character and how awful he is. My main criticism of this book is that there isn’t enough Maven in it. I would have liked for there to be more chapters from his POV.Cal. What a terribly flawed hero he is. Although he doesn’t make the right decisions (or any decisions at all sometimes) he does what he thinks is right. What he’s been brought up to think is right. He doesn’t always get it right but his intentions are good.Mare. She’s such a funny heroine. Throughout the series she hasn’t always been my favourite but her character arc has been a great one. She is much more herself in this book and more sure of herself.I’ve loved these characters and this world for several years and I’m sad to see it end but I’m happy with this ending.Well worth my 4 ⭐️

Despite the often clunky writing, distractingly repetitive use of the same words and unnatural phrases, predictable 'twists' and fairly weak character development, I absolutely devoured these books. While the characters aren't particularly original (think of all the other 'talented girl wins against all odds whilst every man she meets unrealistically falls in love with her' YA series of recent years), there's something very engaging about this story. I didn't like most of the characters, but I did care about them and I really wanted to know what was going to happen. I found the introduction of new characters and powers a welcome lift.As with the previous books in the series, it would have been much more enjoyable to read if the editor had tightened the writing, preferably removing all the 'oh-so-'s, the 'how many/how/what, I don't know's' etc. Adding in the different points of view chapters only reinforced how annoying the repetition was as you could no longer dismiss it as just Mare's way of speaking.I can see some others weren't satisfied with the ending but for me, it was a fitting end. I liked that it showed the first hint that self-important, whiny Mare might be maturing a little.There's a frustratingly cliched and unsophisticated view of romantic love on show here but the series touches deftly on some big issues, gently easing in narratives of power and privilege, race and sexuality and Aveyard should be congratulated on that.While there's lots of reasons not to like these books, I haven't read anything else so engaging this year!

And so this tetralogy ends. I find it hard to have sympathy with any of the characters. The continual repetition of saying what they are feeling, rather than showing through action and dialogue, becomes wearing way before the end. They growl and grind through gritted teeth so often that were it not for the healers the main characters would be permanently in a dentist's chair having repair work done! There are enough loose ends to suggest that the author is leaving the door open for another volume - I hope that it is slammed shut because I have lost all interest in the doings of Mare, Cal and the rest. In the end this is one only for the true believer.