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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
funny
mysterious
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
If you’re after a fast paced YA fantasy romance with A LOT of worldbuilding this is for you!
Elemental magic? Palace and political intrigue? A prince’s attention? And some non prince attention too….? Yes please.
I had a fun time reading this book - I find the YA epic romantasy description to be accurate. It has the usual romantasy vibes, but done YA and with A LOT of worldbuilding and has definitely set up for an interesting series. I’m committed to the romance AND I’m committed to the plot which sometimes doesn’t happen when reading books that are attempting to focus both on romance and plot. But happily this book delivers on both!
I really enjoyed Blaze’s character develpment and how she grows into her feelings and learns to accept them. This is a great message to be sending out, that not just your ‘happy’ feelings are good and useful, but that feelings often linked to negativity such as sadness and anger are equally as important and you shouldn’t shy away from them.
I am a love triangle HATER. And yet….this was a love triangle with a twist. I went to the publishing event for this book and met the author Lauryn (who was absolutely LOVELY) and she said for me to bear with her with the love triangle. And I’m glad I did! I did not know what a twist in a love triangle could mean and I was very pleasently surprised. So if you too are a love triangle hater, don’t let that put you off.
I enjoyed the character dynamics. There were a lot of interesting side characters that will definitely be playing a more important role in the next book. I think they were described well with enough detail to make you care, but not too much that it was overwhelming. You could really clearly see each characters individual character arcs even with very little description which I thought was great! It’s surprising how much information you can gain from a character with the smallest of hints from the author.
The writing for this was easy to read and understand, though there is a lot of detail in this book and at times I was a bit confused, though having come to the end I fully undertsand the world and all that was unfolding throughout. When there’s a lot of worldbuilding and names and things, it’s easy to get a bit confused so it didn’t put me off at all.
For some reason the trials didn’t quite hit me as other trials have done in other similar books I’ve read. I’m not sure why or what about them didn’t quite feel as real to me but they were still easy to read and understandable.
There were some fantastic twists in this book which I didn’t see coming (especially at the end), but there were some I did see through, though I’m not sure if that was intentional or not. But then again, there’s nothing wrong with predicting some things whilst reading and there’s something quite fun about being right (I see you old man).
I left this book wanting to immediately know what happens next and I’m excited to read the next one! Overall it was a fun, easy read with a look into a very interesting world.
Elemental magic? Palace and political intrigue? A prince’s attention? And some non prince attention too….? Yes please.
I had a fun time reading this book - I find the YA epic romantasy description to be accurate. It has the usual romantasy vibes, but done YA and with A LOT of worldbuilding and has definitely set up for an interesting series. I’m committed to the romance AND I’m committed to the plot which sometimes doesn’t happen when reading books that are attempting to focus both on romance and plot. But happily this book delivers on both!
I really enjoyed Blaze’s character develpment and how she grows into her feelings and learns to accept them. This is a great message to be sending out, that not just your ‘happy’ feelings are good and useful, but that feelings often linked to negativity such as sadness and anger are equally as important and you shouldn’t shy away from them.
I am a love triangle HATER. And yet….this was a love triangle with a twist. I went to the publishing event for this book and met the author Lauryn (who was absolutely LOVELY) and she said for me to bear with her with the love triangle. And I’m glad I did! I did not know what a twist in a love triangle could mean and I was very pleasently surprised. So if you too are a love triangle hater, don’t let that put you off.
I enjoyed the character dynamics. There were a lot of interesting side characters that will definitely be playing a more important role in the next book. I think they were described well with enough detail to make you care, but not too much that it was overwhelming. You could really clearly see each characters individual character arcs even with very little description which I thought was great! It’s surprising how much information you can gain from a character with the smallest of hints from the author.
The writing for this was easy to read and understand, though there is a lot of detail in this book and at times I was a bit confused, though having come to the end I fully undertsand the world and all that was unfolding throughout. When there’s a lot of worldbuilding and names and things, it’s easy to get a bit confused so it didn’t put me off at all.
For some reason the trials didn’t quite hit me as other trials have done in other similar books I’ve read. I’m not sure why or what about them didn’t quite feel as real to me but they were still easy to read and understandable.
There were some fantastic twists in this book which I didn’t see coming (especially at the end), but there were some I did see through, though I’m not sure if that was intentional or not. But then again, there’s nothing wrong with predicting some things whilst reading and there’s something quite fun about being right (I see you old man).
I left this book wanting to immediately know what happens next and I’m excited to read the next one! Overall it was a fun, easy read with a look into a very interesting world.
[ad - thank you to House of YA for sending me this book]
Heir of Storms is a fun YA romantic fantasy that I could not put down! I read this one in a day and as someone who has read a lot of books in this genre, I found it to be a really comforting and nostalgic read in both the way it was written and it’s familiar tropes. Set in a world that is split into four elemental courts, our main character, Blaze, causes a leathal storm at her birth - leaving her to be hidden away. We follow along as she learns self acceptance by embracing both her identity and her power.
As a debut novel, this is written beautifully and is spot on with its world building and immersion. The ending was fast paced and I’m really eager to see where this story goes next!
Heir of Storms is a fun YA romantic fantasy that I could not put down! I read this one in a day and as someone who has read a lot of books in this genre, I found it to be a really comforting and nostalgic read in both the way it was written and it’s familiar tropes. Set in a world that is split into four elemental courts, our main character, Blaze, causes a leathal storm at her birth - leaving her to be hidden away. We follow along as she learns self acceptance by embracing both her identity and her power.
As a debut novel, this is written beautifully and is spot on with its world building and immersion. The ending was fast paced and I’m really eager to see where this story goes next!
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Heir of Storms, which happens to be Book 1 of the Storm Weaver trilogy, left me yearning for MORE!
Fans of the Hunger Games, The Selection series, and Harry Potter will fall in love with this tale that weaves magic with a fierce competition for the crown.
Blaze, also known as Storm Weaver, finds herself thrust into a cutthroat competition for the crown; could she possibly become the Queen of the Aquatori? Blaze must navigate life at the Golden Palace and tap into her potential Rain Singer power all while juggling new feelings that arise towards the prince AND the boy who tore the world apart.
While the novel opens with a great amount of world, hierarchy, and character building, I found myself able to keep up as the plot unraveled. The second half of the novel became such a page turner for me. I was constantly on edge with questioning who to trust, especially Hal and Fox. As a reader that’s always thinking ahead and trying to catch any twists and turns before they happen, I was SHOCKED (multiple times I might add) by the twists towards the end of the book.
Heir of Storms may technically be a YA novel, but don’t let that keep you from what just might be your next favorite trilogy!
Thank you Lauryn Hamilton Murray, Macmillan, and Roaring Book Press for allowing me the opportunity to read an ARC of Heir of Storms and share my honest feedback.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol
adventurous
medium-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
adventurous
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
**Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for this ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Posted to: NetGalley and The StoryGraph
Posted on: 11 June 2025
2 out of 5 stars.
(Okay I know I’m mildly late posting this, I’m sorry. Life happens and then illness happens, sometimes all at once. Anyways, here is my belated review.)
I’m not gonna lie, I struggled to rate this. I had lots of issues with this and upon finishing it, I looked at other reviews and saw others noticed similar things. I wanted to enjoy this though, because lots of others did too! There was just so much I couldn’t overlook when reading it. I’m honestly surprised I didn’t DNF it, which is probably the only reason it gets 2 stars over 1. It has potential, but it could’ve gone further if certain things were addressed better or even just left out? I really just think it could’ve used more eyes on it to not make it seem so… out of touch.
Immediately, I knew I would like the writing. Not one of my favorites, however, but it was still enjoyable. There’s a few choice quotes that do stick and a very powerful opening that hooked me almost immediately. I enjoy a good magic system and I think ‘Heir of Storms’ had one-albeit a bit familiar, but as I’ve said before in other reviews, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Sometimes familiar tropes scratch a nice itch in the brain. However, I also feel like some of these tropes were just that to characters. The love interests are literally just good boy with a secret/bad boy with a secret and I feel like that’s all that’s lent to them sometimes. Or some characters were mean to be mean or nice to be a voice of reason- very singularly built ya know?
To slowly stray from the positives, I want to talk about the character portrayals throughout the novel. I feel like I’ll never be able to eloquently describe my feelings like some people do, so stay with me as I try to explain my thoughts.
One of the love interests is Prince Haldyn Castellion whom is described with pale skin and dark eyes. The other love interest is Fox Calloway Castellion, who is described with golden skin and green eyes. I’m gonna let you guess who is the bad boy and who is the good boy…. Got your guesses? The painted out good guy is the pale love interest while the world renowned bad boy is the love interest with golden skin…. I dunno, just doesn’t sit right with me? Not to mention that Fox is also depicted as dressing with more revealing clothes in that he has low-cut tops/tunics or low rise bottoms that show more stomach/hip… like okay, let the more POC-coded character be the promiscuously dressed one…
Banking off that idea of promiscuousness, while he isn’t specifically stated as being bisexual, there is another character who is queer coded (having been, in-text, stated to be romantic somehow with both male and female guests at the galas) and is given a very stereotypical party-goer, flirty, and multiple flings sort of presence. He’s often seen at these parties just having a good time, unbothered by the coming events of trials and such, and making out with one person and another while having his own potential romantic love interest. Polyamorous people exist, yes, and I don’t mean to speak over them when I say this, but it feels almost… like a harmful and/or stereotypical depiction of the lgbt+ community because you have this queer boy (they’re like- 17 iirc) who is just an amalgamation of ideals that people have spoken up about before? There’s another character who almost fits this similar image and she is this character’s love interest too! Oh- she’s also another dark skinned character.. Like I dunno, just very stereotypical? This second character isn’t as flirty with many people though, just the love interest she has iirc, but I still just find a lot of themes involved here… wrong?
There’s also the topic of slaves brought up quite a few times in the book that overall felt gross for the fact that literally nobody else seems to have an issue with slaves (sorry, ‘serfs’ as they’re known here) being used as attendants despite actual attendants being around (as in- there’s people forced here as some crude form of ‘freedom’ from the war their ancestors lost years and years ago vs people who get paid at least with a few coins here and there or a roof over their heads…). Nobody but the main character seems to care. The MC also is one of the only ones who treats her own assigned serf ‘kindly’ and tries to befriend her in some very loose feeling white savior-esque energy scenes… I dunno, maybe I just read too much into it. I feel like you can’t look at this enslaved girl and feel bad for her, but also suddenly think that she’s a good well of information about the Otherlands though (because, I dunno, the library filled with books couldn’t tell you more without prying into this poor girl’s life who could get in serious trouble if she’s found out to be talking about her home with you?) Like… wow, go off girl, pretend to care about the serfs until their presence suits your needs??
Two more things I didn’t enjoy and I’m done, I swear. I’m a professional hater though, what can I say. Anyways, the first is the usage of the term ‘savages’ and how it’s describing more indigenous seeming people… I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s not my place at all to say yay or nay to this term considering I am not Native American, but I have seen Native Americans disagree with the usage of this word and how its harmful stereotype and term towards them. Seeing it in 2025 still is jarring to me (yet it’s not the first 2025 book I’ve seen it in) and it’s just… tiring that people have said before to please stop using this word yet its so causally tossed in here when talking about very Indigenous-esque peoples of the Otherlands.
There’s also a scene towards the end where a character receives an injury that impairs their vision. The MC, when monologuing about it, calls this person ‘damaged’ and like… how did that terminology slip by editors?? I really wanna ask if there were any sensitivity readers used for this. I feel like it’s such a minor mention too, but it just made me feel icky reading the way this disabled character is described? That’s such a harmful view of disability and people with disabilities, the act of calling them ‘damaged’ as if they are suddenly flawed and broken? I dunno, I didn’t enjoy any of it at all. Even if the MC is supposed to be naive to the world, I feel like she shouldn’t look at this injured person and think about how she is ‘horrified’ and ‘unsettled’ to see this other person ‘damaged’…
I think this about sums up a lot of what I felt about the book. I really wanted to love it, but there were multiple times where I wanted to drop it. I was hoping for character development somehow too, though. Maybe that’s why I ended up finishing it. I wanted, so badly, to believe that it would get better but alas… I’ve seen other people compare it to 2010s YA novels and… yeah, I see it. I just think that a lot of these issues could’ve been avoided somehow? I dunno. I was left disappointed. So many people were hyping this read up, yet I feel like it fell short. Either I thought too much into this or y’all are lying to yourselves about enjoying it (or you’re glossing over issues with the narrative). But anyways, to each their own, I suppose. I was just left wanting and wondering.
CONTENT WARNINGS:
Past war mention, slavery, enslavement, blood, fighting, injury, derogatory words towards characters (namely ‘bitch’ used multiple times), bullying, death of a parent, death, strangling (done so by vines down the throat, described on page but not overly detailed), vomit, alcohol, inebriation, violence due to inebriation, fire, fire injury, near-drowning, death of a child by asphyxiation (not really detailed, more-so mentioned on page and alluded to)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Slavery, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Child death, Vomit
adventurous
mysterious
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was so good. SO good.
I have to be honest, it did take me a minute to get into the story but once I was in, I was well in.
The world building is great and the premise reminded me of Lightlark but with the Triwizard Tournament, the vibe made it feel more like the OUABH series.
Blaze is not an innovative character in how she's framed, yet I found myself particularly intrigued and immediately invested in her journey and development. Especially when interactions with other characters increased.
She generally has a lot of progress to make and I love that while plot wise the focus is on her abilities and strength, it isn't terribly drawn out and allows for the natural development of her social persona.
Between her family and the new acquaintances, her view on people is so tainted with trauma that it's difficult to discern who is actually in her corner and who isn't. Her mistrust and doubt are so strong and it makes watching her grow in these dynamics even more interesting.
The insecurity also heavily influences the romantic tension in the book and it's so well written!
There might have been bits that felt predictable, then there were those that I did not. see. coming. At all. To me, it was perfectly balanced: surprising and keeping me on edge, yet comfortable enough to not have me anxious.
As for the romance arc, I will not say much as not to spoiler anything. Except that I loved it so, so much! The banter, the confusion, the plot twists. So many secrets and layers and I feel like we only just got started.
It kept me on my toes and oh I am so in love although we don't know everything yet.
One thing that took a bit of warming up for me was the narrator but this is so subjective. They are totally doing a good job, this was very much just a me thing!
The writing is good and the author hit the spot with the pace in my opinion. The trial arc can easily feel either drawn out or rushed but was perfectly timed and had just the right amount of attention. Lauryn Hamilton Murray generally did such a great job at structuring the plot and crafting the web of characters.
Heir of Storms is a really good romantasy read and comes with some of my favourite tropes and I cannot wait for book two!
Tropes:
- masquerade ball
- Magic maze
- Triwizard tournament
- She lost her power
- Banter
- Mysterious bad boy
- Feminie ragę
Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and Lauryn Hamilton Murray for an ALC of this book.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes