Warstorm (Red Queen #4)
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Published: 2018
On Goodreads
My Rating: 
Rated P for power politics that may just destroy a country rather than save it.
Rise with the dawn.
The war is nowhere near over. Alliances shift as Mare Barrow and the Scarlet Guard still fight for their tomorrow and the tomorrow of every Red. Maven’s alliance with the Lakelanders is crumbling and Cal is rising up as the true Silver king of Norta, but Mare is done being ruled by Silvers. It’s time to set the country free regardless of the betrayal that stings her heart because of Cal. This war is bigger than her personal feelings. It’s about the future of those to come. Change will sweep over the country.
Red Queen Reviews
Having read the previous three and feeling keyed up each time, I didn’t feel the same this time. Though a bit larger than its previous books in the quartet, Warstorm wasn’t as satisfying as I’d hoped it’d be. Still good, but it didn’t grip my attention as much as Glass Sword and King’s Cage did due to feeling too drawn out, repetitive, and more political than anything previous. Those still hold the top spots as my favorites in this quartet.
One of the most interesting parts about Warstorm was getting the POV from primarily Mare, Evangeline and Iris (Lakelander princess). Each POV was drastically different in voice and position but there was a vulnerability with each of these unbelievably strong and determine young women. This had to be my utmost favorite thing about this book. The power and the storytelling from each of them and how this war affected them. They each had something different, yet not, to fight for. Their people. And love.
There was a nice and smooth ending with future potential though the little sparks fly and surprises truly spark the pivotal moments of this war. This book really set aside the characters emotions and clung on to the war more than anything, leaving the story feeling a tad bland. The chemistry between the characters is part of what really snagged my attention. That and the incredible powers and what they accomplished with them. All of that felt thrown away as if it was pivotal anymore. I understand the primary goal was the revolution of Norta, but those other bits felt important to me and really helped pushed that story.
The triangle that’s not really a triangle with Mare, Cal, and Mavin finally came to an end. Granted, the back and forth really never got old and I really clung to Cal and Mavin’s crumbling brotherhood. I was just ready for it to be over. There’s always somebody that just can’t be saved, but you just can’t get yourself to give up on them and that was Mavin (AKA Joffery from GOT. LOL.). It’s truly tragic what he’s gone through and done to everyone around him just because he’s been brainwashed. Broke my damn heart, even when he pissed me the feck off.
Overall
Typically, an ending to a series leaves one satisfied, but not this time around. It was as if all of the incredible energy of it was put into the other books and this one was just flat as if all that energy had been expended, leaving it feeling blah. The action scenes were great, but everything else in between was just too slow for me. The lull of peace at the end was beautiful though. I’ll give Warstorm that.
Quotables:
“Cal chose the crown. Not me. Not us.” (Mare, p. 75)
“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.” (Kilorn to Mare, p. 83)
“Wars are fought with diplomacy as much as weaponry…” (Mavin, p. 246)
“Lightning has no mercy. Neither do I.” (Mare, p. 420)
More to come soon…
-K.
P.S. Song today? Kings & Queens by Ava Max.
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The Scarlet Reader 
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