We Unleash the Merciless Storm by Tehlor Kay Mejia

3.79 AVERAGE

anzutaketwo's review against another edition

3.5
adventurous dark emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

alexisday's review against another edition

4.75
dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

hannah_stoch's review against another edition

4.0
adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

slimbooks's review against another edition

2.5
emotional hopeful slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

dustinwmeeks's review against another edition

4.25
adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

nkp94's review against another edition

2.75
adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

dilayra's review

4.0
adventurous challenging medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
sarahhbeth_reads's profile picture

sarahhbeth_reads's review against another edition

dnf @ 24%
avmaris's profile picture

avmaris's review against another edition

4.0
adventurous emotional tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
izzy_bella_reads's profile picture

izzy_bella_reads's review

3.75
adventurous tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
We Unleash the Merciless Storm, was by no means a perfect book or sequel to We set the Dark on Fire. While I still relatively enjoyed the sequel and this duology as a whole, I felt myself wanting so much more from both the sequel and the first book that what I was given was not enough to ignore what was lacking. 
  • First, what dropped this down in rating to a 4 star was that there was no Dani perspective/chapters. Typically, I don’t enjoy a shift in POV in sequels or spin offs, especially when we weren’t given that character’s POV in the first book. Although Carmen grew on me instantly, her passion and internal dialogue being strong throughout the book, I thought it was a massive missed opportunity to not be given Dani’s POV. 
  • Second, I felt that this sequel was, unfortunately, more fast paced and even more of tell and not show in delivering the plot. I found myself at several pivotal plots points in the story
    like when Alex, now the new leader of La Voz, was devising a plan of attack against Mateo’s army
    thinking to myself, “oh I wish we could have seen that!”. 
  • Third, and what ultimately brought this to my final rating of a 3.75 (which does not make this a bad book by any means!) was the forced repetition of Dani and Carmen’s instant love for each other. It felt incredibly one sided; which is attributed to not having  Dani’s POV, but also because of the author’s choice to simply tell it through Carmen’s internalization and not in the actions between them outside of the rebellion. 
 Ultimately, I found myself thinking that because there was almost this repetition of cutting out important moments of seeing more of Carmen’s actions and interactions, which would have propelled the plot, and in turn immerse us in it, and only showing the impact of the rebellion in the beginning and only again towards the end, was to this books detriment. 

However, Tehlor Kay Mejia’s ability to be consistent in theme (self desire versus the greater good) as well as writing passionate characters that you want to root for saves this book and overall duology for me. I would absolutely recommend this duology if you would like to experience a dystopian fiction world that takes what many people deal with in the real world every day (immigration, oppression, misogyny) yet reminds us that hope and radical love are  worthy fighters against it.