Book Review: War Storm by Victoria Aveyard

Author: Victoria Aveyard

Series: Yes - Book #4 in Red Queen series. Final Book.

Cover: The cover is absolutely gorgeous. This series has the best covers ever. I love all the crowns and the vibrant red blood in all of them.

Rating: 5/5 Oh. My. God. What did I just read? Is this series seriously over? Like what do I do now? This was the book that I was waiting for ALL YEAR. It's done. It's over... My brain is still in after book coma...

Previous Reviews: King's Cage Review

Review: Okay okay... As usual, there will be spoilers in this review. First, I would like to say that this series has been a roller coaster ride for me. I've told my friends that the Red Queen series is like a drug addiction to me. I bought the book the moment it came out on May 15th. I didn't even wait. I stayed up late into the night to read the story of reds, silvers, and new bloods.

So... I'll admit, the first 100 pages starts off slow. The book starts off exactly where King's Cage left off. Mare and Cal are still head butting with their ideals, Evangeline is still the sassy, entitled, vicious princess, and Maven is still being Maven. Like the previous book, War Storm lets readers see through the eyes of multiple characters during the war. We get to see this war unfold through Mare, Cal, Iris, Evangeline, and Maven. 

I wouldn't say that this book is my favorite out of the four. I was really really excited to read this book and be completely enamored with it, but I wasn't. It was literally the last 100 pages that made me waver. I almost gave this book a 4/5 just because of how the ending came to be. I love Aveyard and the world that she has created, but that ending... could use some work lol...

Okay, so what did I love about this book? Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised with the romance in this book. It wasn't a hot, steamy, heavy romance nor was it slow, steady, and sweet. There were so many conflicting feelings between each of the characters. They debate on what is love worth. Is the love for your country worth as much as the love of your life? Do you choose your family or freedom? Is it ever too late to change? Just beautiful.

So... The debate about this series is, are you #TeamMaven or #TeamCal? Ladies and gents, I've been on Team Cal since day one. I know a lot of people are on the whole, I love the dark, mysterious, bad boy, but Maven is not that. Maven is broken. Cal? Sure, he has made mistakes, but he's not crazy like Maven.

Another thing that I loved in this book was the realization from all the characters that they're just pawns and insignificant. One YA trope that bugs me a lot is when one character is THE ONE that will save the city, kingdom, or world. Aveyard decided to break that trope. The main characters know that even without them, their war will continue. Every single one of them knows, the story doesn't end with them, it's just beginning. 

Although the ending of this book is mehhhhhh (I'll talk about this more in the SPOILERS area). I am pretty satisfied with the ending of the series. Now, there could have been a BETTER ending, but I'm not mad with this ending. Aveyard has made me fall in love with the world that she has written. Now Aveyard, if you EVER want to write a 5th book to this series, I would totally buy it and support it in a heartbeat. 

!!!!!!!!!! MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD !!!!!!!!!!

Omg... the tension between Mare and Cal killed me. I was so happy Evangeline wanted to shove both of them into a closet together. I wanted to shove them together. Chapter 20 is my soul. I literally felt my heart hurt for them and at the same time I was jumping around in excitement. 

Also, I love how both Mare and Cal chose each other second. They both chose their cause first and their feelings second. So many times, I've read about X character giving up the entire safety of X thing for ONE person. I get it, you love this person and all, but seriously, you're like 16-18? You'll probably find someone else you'll love. The fact that Cal refused to accept change until the VERY END... made the love 50x better for me. He realizes that it is never too late to change (well... I mean... if he did it earlier a lot less people would have died...).

Can we talk about the love in this book? I love Mare and Cal. I love how Evangeline is willing to kill her dad for Elane. I love that Davidson has a silver husband. I love that Iris and her family are out there for each other. I love Mare's family. I love that Maven realizes that he loved Thomas. I love that Kilorn gets some love. I also love that Gisa finds love too and freaking Bree. There's so much love hahaha its perfect. I love cheese.

The amount of loyalty in this book also drives me mad in a good way. The fact that Mare chooses the Scarlet Guard over Cal speaks volumes to me. I forget that she's 18 sometimes because she seems wiser than a lot of other YA characters I've read. Sure, she gets annoying with all the whining, but I think Evangeline whined more LOL.

Also, a lot of the characters have like a spirit animal in them. So many lines involve them snarling or growling haha. I just imagine them as dogs with super powers sometimes. I mean, technically they're all savages with the whole killing, capturing and torturing. Now, onto the thing I didn't want to talk about.

What was that ending? Like what was it? It was so open ended. There could have been another 100 pages added to have a clearer ending. Also, what was that epilogue? An epilogue shouldn't be a week or two after the event, I feel like that's just an extra chapter lol...

Also, what is with Mare and Cal at the end? I thought they both agreed that one of them with kill Maven. Literally, Cal tells Mare to go find him and kill him. After she goes and does that, he gets twitchy around her? That just doesn't make sense with me. Also, what happens with Norta? I know they want change but how so?

Honestly, there could have been a 5th book. Or maybe a small novella. I want to see Cal and Mare married and popping out five kids. Will those kids have powers? What color is their blood? WHY DO I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS STILL AT THE END OF A SERIES? 

Favorite Line:

The three men stand back, giving us all the space we need to breathe.

Kilorn looks between Evangeline and me, his mouth hanging open in disbelief. And maybe fear. "Girls are weird," he mutters to himself. 

Tiberias and Ptolemus bob their heads, agreeing.

Top 3 Favorite Characters

Cal - I love this guy for all his flaws. I get that he isn't perfect, and he knows that too. Heck the entire world knows it. He is trying to be what everyone's expectations of him has been the moment he was born. I can't blame him for who he is because for the past 19 years he's been raised to be a king.

Mare - Yeah, she's annoying at times, but she knows what she wants. Mare understands that she isn't the main character in this war. She knows that she isn't important to the cause, but important to the people around her. I absolutely love that about her. 

Evangeline - This was one of the only straightforward characters. Also, one of the most annoying and selfish character in the book and I love her for it. She only cares about the people around her and herself. Forget the kingdoms. She doesn't give a crap about that. I think she's the only annoying character I like.

That's it everyone. The Red Queen series is over. I feel emotionally drained from this book. Like I've waited years for this series to conclude and now that it has I don't know what to think. Will I find another series that can be my drug addiction again? Maybe. I don't know xD

If you'd like to buy this book, buy it through my link! <3

War Storm (Red Queen)