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laureenreads's review
1.0
Normally I like to kind of sum up the book that I just read and give you my take on what the plot was. This time… Well, to be perfectly honest, I don’t think I know what the plot was here, or what was going on, oh, the entire book?
(More.)
(More.)
geekwayne's review
2.0
'Weather Witch' by Shannon Delany takes place in an alternate Philadelphia where electrical power is generated by people with a strange gift.
Jordan Astraea has lived a life of privilege among the wealthy. During her birthday party, it is discovered that she might be a weather witch. This devastates her family as their home is forced to remove all electricity for harboring a weather witch and Jordan is taken into custody to be shaped with her newfound power. Her imprisonment is cruel as it is thought that torture brings forth the power. Meanwhile, a young suitor rides to her rescue, only stopping to participate in a duel first.
I read it and I finished it, but it didn't hold my attention. I found myself thinking about my next book, and that's never a good sign. It's certainly got a good premise, and the world seems interesting, but the characters that populate the setting are either dull or melodramatic tropes.
I received a review copy of this ebook from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
Jordan Astraea has lived a life of privilege among the wealthy. During her birthday party, it is discovered that she might be a weather witch. This devastates her family as their home is forced to remove all electricity for harboring a weather witch and Jordan is taken into custody to be shaped with her newfound power. Her imprisonment is cruel as it is thought that torture brings forth the power. Meanwhile, a young suitor rides to her rescue, only stopping to participate in a duel first.
I read it and I finished it, but it didn't hold my attention. I found myself thinking about my next book, and that's never a good sign. It's certainly got a good premise, and the world seems interesting, but the characters that populate the setting are either dull or melodramatic tropes.
I received a review copy of this ebook from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
amethystbookwyrm's review
2.0
This and my other reviews can be found at http://amethystbookwyrm.blogspot.co.uk/
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for giving me this book to review.
In an alternative 1844 Philadelphia, noble born Jordan Astraea is celebrating her 17th birthday with her beau Rowen and best friend Catrina. However, her party was brought to a halt when she is accused of being a weather witch, a person who can control the weather. Jordan is sure that she is not a weather witch, but that does not stop her whole world turning upside down, never to be the same again.
I could not get into Weather Witch as the writing was not easy to read and I could not connect to the characters, which was annoying as the plot sounded interesting. I wouldn’t recommend this book as it was not my cup of tea.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for giving me this book to review.
In an alternative 1844 Philadelphia, noble born Jordan Astraea is celebrating her 17th birthday with her beau Rowen and best friend Catrina. However, her party was brought to a halt when she is accused of being a weather witch, a person who can control the weather. Jordan is sure that she is not a weather witch, but that does not stop her whole world turning upside down, never to be the same again.
I could not get into Weather Witch as the writing was not easy to read and I could not connect to the characters, which was annoying as the plot sounded interesting. I wouldn’t recommend this book as it was not my cup of tea.
peridot936's review
4.0
Weather Witch by Shannon Delany was an excellent fast paced read where the reader was thrown into the 1800's US and into a world of magic. Jordan Astraea comes from a flawless background with no magic in her blood but on her 17th birthday she is accused of being a weather witch. Taken from her family and beau, Rowen, she is to be enslaved on an airship and forced to serve the government however she proves to be hard to break. After losing Jordan, Rowan has to become the hero he never would have dared to be.
This book picked up pace part way through as scandal arises when Jordan is accused of being a weather witch. Jordan is whisked off on a journey with other witches to be trained and prepared to work for the government by the Maker. This book follows Jordan, Rowen, and the Maker as they walk through this experience causing all of them to be pushed.
With this book comes the many issues seen in 18th and 19th century books such as class and honor, yet this book also contains issues of love and morality as these characters awaken to see the world in new eyes. This book was intriguing and interesting.
Overall a wonderful read that I would recommend. Can't wait for the sequel!
This book picked up pace part way through as scandal arises when Jordan is accused of being a weather witch. Jordan is whisked off on a journey with other witches to be trained and prepared to work for the government by the Maker. This book follows Jordan, Rowen, and the Maker as they walk through this experience causing all of them to be pushed.
With this book comes the many issues seen in 18th and 19th century books such as class and honor, yet this book also contains issues of love and morality as these characters awaken to see the world in new eyes. This book was intriguing and interesting.
Overall a wonderful read that I would recommend. Can't wait for the sequel!
hyms's review
2.0
This had so much potential to be an amazing story but it fails miserably. The world building is lacking non-existing. I was so confused at first and it just got worse through the book. More and more stuff is revealed but it didn’t help the world building and it seemed like a lot of great ideas that were only partly explored. It was such a shame and I wanted to know more without having my wish fulfilled. So many new words were introduced and used as if the reader knew all about it and since they are never fully explained, they didn't really matter – they are just fancy words.
The blurp makes it seem like the book is about Jordan. That is not correct. She is part of the story and actually rather important, but she is in no way the main character. No one is. There are several storylines and they are very different and could be interesting if it had felt like the story was going somewhere, but it felt like a long short story. An introduction before the real story could begin.
Jorden is a pain in the ass, quite frankly. She is stupid, arrogant and naïve and all she worries about is her reputation, her clothes and shoes and who is going to rescue her. I disliked her so much that I considered skipping her chapters. Rowen is a weird character. I didn’t understand him one bit and it seemed to me that he changes his way the second Jordan gets taken away. Then there are some other random storylines that are mildly interesting, but so weird that I stopped caring. Lastly there is Bran. He is kind of cool at first, but by the end I just thought he was stupid as well. And the ending – OMG. So weird, confusing and fast. Everything has to happen within the last 5 pages so it seems rushed and not at all well done. Such a shame! I liked the writing, though, and the story had its funny moments. Mostly weird-funny or ‘stupid-funny’, but funny nonetheless.
The thing about this book is that the premise is brilliant. The idea that witches are being exploited and used as slaves is fascinating. Especially because we get to see it from different points of view. But the lack of world building, the annoying characters and the confusing story almost completely destroys it. I do, however, still have a fragment of hope that the story will pick up and become amazing which is why I’m going to give the second installment, Stormbringer, a chance to blow me away.
The blurp makes it seem like the book is about Jordan. That is not correct. She is part of the story and actually rather important, but she is in no way the main character. No one is. There are several storylines and they are very different and could be interesting if it had felt like the story was going somewhere, but it felt like a long short story. An introduction before the real story could begin.
Jorden is a pain in the ass, quite frankly. She is stupid, arrogant and naïve and all she worries about is her reputation, her clothes and shoes and who is going to rescue her. I disliked her so much that I considered skipping her chapters. Rowen is a weird character. I didn’t understand him one bit and it seemed to me that he changes his way the second Jordan gets taken away. Then there are some other random storylines that are mildly interesting, but so weird that I stopped caring. Lastly there is Bran. He is kind of cool at first, but by the end I just thought he was stupid as well. And the ending – OMG. So weird, confusing and fast. Everything has to happen within the last 5 pages so it seems rushed and not at all well done. Such a shame! I liked the writing, though, and the story had its funny moments. Mostly weird-funny or ‘stupid-funny’, but funny nonetheless.
The thing about this book is that the premise is brilliant. The idea that witches are being exploited and used as slaves is fascinating. Especially because we get to see it from different points of view. But the lack of world building, the annoying characters and the confusing story almost completely destroys it. I do, however, still have a fragment of hope that the story will pick up and become amazing which is why I’m going to give the second installment, Stormbringer, a chance to blow me away.
greenvillemelissa's review
4.0
Book #11 Read in 2013
Weather Witch by Shannon Delany (YA)
This is the first book in a new series by Shannon Delaney. Weather Witch is set in Philadelphia in 1844. The culture is one of fear of the paranormal. . . those thought to be weather witches are imprisoned and tortured.
Jordan is taken into custody for being a weather witch, though she swears she is not one. She is taken to the Maker, a man named Bran, who tortures the witches until they show their power. But Bran cannot get Jordan to unleash her power, and he begins to doubt whether or not she really is a Weather Witch. Meanwhile, Jordan's possible match, Rowan, is trying to get to the prison to rescue her. The cliffhanger ending of this book will leave readers begging for book two.
Jordan is a great heroine--though a lady, she finds a strength that she did not know she had when faced with the horrid prison conditions and the horrific torture. She is caring, bonding with her fellow prisoners. She is compassionate, especially when it comes to Meggie, the Maker's daughter. Rowan is a compelling flawed hero. He seems to be after fun at the beginning of the book, then comes into his own and when suffering a loss, he realizes that even if he dies, it will be worth it if he saves Jordan's life.
Readers will root for the couple to be safely reunited. Book two will have many ends to tie up and I cannot wait to read it.
I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for a review.
Weather Witch by Shannon Delany (YA)
This is the first book in a new series by Shannon Delaney. Weather Witch is set in Philadelphia in 1844. The culture is one of fear of the paranormal. . . those thought to be weather witches are imprisoned and tortured.
Jordan is taken into custody for being a weather witch, though she swears she is not one. She is taken to the Maker, a man named Bran, who tortures the witches until they show their power. But Bran cannot get Jordan to unleash her power, and he begins to doubt whether or not she really is a Weather Witch. Meanwhile, Jordan's possible match, Rowan, is trying to get to the prison to rescue her. The cliffhanger ending of this book will leave readers begging for book two.
Jordan is a great heroine--though a lady, she finds a strength that she did not know she had when faced with the horrid prison conditions and the horrific torture. She is caring, bonding with her fellow prisoners. She is compassionate, especially when it comes to Meggie, the Maker's daughter. Rowan is a compelling flawed hero. He seems to be after fun at the beginning of the book, then comes into his own and when suffering a loss, he realizes that even if he dies, it will be worth it if he saves Jordan's life.
Readers will root for the couple to be safely reunited. Book two will have many ends to tie up and I cannot wait to read it.
I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for a review.
waywardskyril's review
3.0
Well..., I really wanted to give this a 4, or at least say 3.5 because I could tell the author tried and put a lot of effort into it, but it didn't quite work out.
Let's see, first, every now and then there would be a phrase of a couple of lines that I just... didn't understand... It was confusing, and I had to re-read those phrases or give up on them.
Second, there was a fair amount of swearing, and I, being Christian, don't like any, although I seem to have to tolerate some in almost all good books. Still, it's not a necessary part of any novel... It doesn't make it any better... Check out Divergent by Veronica Roth or Enclave by Ann Aguirre- they have none, and they're absolutely excellent... Therefore, if Shannon Delany insisted on putting any, she could have lessened it.
Third, on the back of my copy, there was praise, and amongst that praise, someone had said there was a lot of "virgin sexual tension," or, in other words, boy and girl quite like each other and might be in love as they go along in their book's adventure falling harder.... Sometimes in books, you can feel the distance between them, and you wish it were less... In Weather Witch... Well, they insisted they didn't love one another [which is fine, if they actually DID love one another], but more than that, Jordon and Rowen weren't even in the same area together except for a short part during the beginning. They weren't especially anxious to meet up, besides realizing they kind of missed one another either either. So... there wasn't any tension.
Fourth, now, I'm not one of those crazy fan-girls of characters who have fight, defiance, and stubborn will in them. They're alright, but I don't have to have such a character to enjoy it. Still.... Neither Rowen, nor Jordon even sort of, kind of have any guts in them... Poor Rowen couldn't even find his horse there for a while. I understand that they're wealthy without much experience, but if Rowen's been hunting [which he has], he should at least be able to track [which he can't]. It didn't especially make me want to root for them.
Fifth, well, it took an awfully long time for the meat and potatoes of the story to appear. There was building and building and building for over half of the book before everything was in place for the real plot to commence. I started to get tired of waiting and started to hope it would get going soon...
Sixth there was a lot of unexplained things. I understand books throw you in without necessarily giving you a back-story, but even so, most books explain things along the way, either by an ignorant character asking question, or an all-knowing narrator... Sometimes the main characters just tell you by explaining what they see. Everything was pretty vague, indefinite. I don't have much of an impression of this world because everything is still.... hazy.
... Alright, well, that's everything. Now with the good news. The story idea was a unique one. What there was of the plot didn't waver- neither did the characters. They all have a definite personality that I understand. It's interesting both in concept and practice if it could just be... brightened, lightened, illuminated more fully.... What do things look like? How does magic work? Do the witches feel something when they use magic, or is just like a 6th sense? Things like that.
Basically, it was a so-so book.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway
Let's see, first, every now and then there would be a phrase of a couple of lines that I just... didn't understand... It was confusing, and I had to re-read those phrases or give up on them.
Second, there was a fair amount of swearing, and I, being Christian, don't like any, although I seem to have to tolerate some in almost all good books. Still, it's not a necessary part of any novel... It doesn't make it any better... Check out Divergent by Veronica Roth or Enclave by Ann Aguirre- they have none, and they're absolutely excellent... Therefore, if Shannon Delany insisted on putting any, she could have lessened it.
Third, on the back of my copy, there was praise, and amongst that praise, someone had said there was a lot of "virgin sexual tension," or, in other words, boy and girl quite like each other and might be in love as they go along in their book's adventure falling harder.... Sometimes in books, you can feel the distance between them, and you wish it were less... In Weather Witch... Well, they insisted they didn't love one another [which is fine, if they actually DID love one another], but more than that, Jordon and Rowen weren't even in the same area together except for a short part during the beginning. They weren't especially anxious to meet up, besides realizing they kind of missed one another either either. So... there wasn't any tension.
Fourth, now, I'm not one of those crazy fan-girls of characters who have fight, defiance, and stubborn will in them. They're alright, but I don't have to have such a character to enjoy it. Still.... Neither Rowen, nor Jordon even sort of, kind of have any guts in them... Poor Rowen couldn't even find his horse there for a while. I understand that they're wealthy without much experience, but if Rowen's been hunting [which he has], he should at least be able to track [which he can't]. It didn't especially make me want to root for them.
Fifth, well, it took an awfully long time for the meat and potatoes of the story to appear. There was building and building and building for over half of the book before everything was in place for the real plot to commence. I started to get tired of waiting and started to hope it would get going soon...
Sixth there was a lot of unexplained things. I understand books throw you in without necessarily giving you a back-story, but even so, most books explain things along the way, either by an ignorant character asking question, or an all-knowing narrator... Sometimes the main characters just tell you by explaining what they see. Everything was pretty vague, indefinite. I don't have much of an impression of this world because everything is still.... hazy.
... Alright, well, that's everything. Now with the good news. The story idea was a unique one. What there was of the plot didn't waver- neither did the characters. They all have a definite personality that I understand. It's interesting both in concept and practice if it could just be... brightened, lightened, illuminated more fully.... What do things look like? How does magic work? Do the witches feel something when they use magic, or is just like a 6th sense? Things like that.
Basically, it was a so-so book.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway
melissapalmer404's review
4.0
Book #11 Read in 2013
Weather Witch by Shannon Delany (YA)
This is the first book in a new series by Shannon Delaney. Weather Witch is set in Philadelphia in 1844. The culture is one of fear of the paranormal. . . those thought to be weather witches are imprisoned and tortured.
Jordan is taken into custody for being a weather witch, though she swears she is not one. She is taken to the Maker, a man named Bran, who tortures the witches until they show their power. But Bran cannot get Jordan to unleash her power, and he begins to doubt whether or not she really is a Weather Witch. Meanwhile, Jordan's possible match, Rowan, is trying to get to the prison to rescue her. The cliffhanger ending of this book will leave readers begging for book two.
Jordan is a great heroine--though a lady, she finds a strength that she did not know she had when faced with the horrid prison conditions and the horrific torture. She is caring, bonding with her fellow prisoners. She is compassionate, especially when it comes to Meggie, the Maker's daughter. Rowan is a compelling flawed hero. He seems to be after fun at the beginning of the book, then comes into his own and when suffering a loss, he realizes that even if he dies, it will be worth it if he saves Jordan's life.
Readers will root for the couple to be safely reunited. Book two will have many ends to tie up and I cannot wait to read it.
I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for a review.
Weather Witch by Shannon Delany (YA)
This is the first book in a new series by Shannon Delaney. Weather Witch is set in Philadelphia in 1844. The culture is one of fear of the paranormal. . . those thought to be weather witches are imprisoned and tortured.
Jordan is taken into custody for being a weather witch, though she swears she is not one. She is taken to the Maker, a man named Bran, who tortures the witches until they show their power. But Bran cannot get Jordan to unleash her power, and he begins to doubt whether or not she really is a Weather Witch. Meanwhile, Jordan's possible match, Rowan, is trying to get to the prison to rescue her. The cliffhanger ending of this book will leave readers begging for book two.
Jordan is a great heroine--though a lady, she finds a strength that she did not know she had when faced with the horrid prison conditions and the horrific torture. She is caring, bonding with her fellow prisoners. She is compassionate, especially when it comes to Meggie, the Maker's daughter. Rowan is a compelling flawed hero. He seems to be after fun at the beginning of the book, then comes into his own and when suffering a loss, he realizes that even if he dies, it will be worth it if he saves Jordan's life.
Readers will root for the couple to be safely reunited. Book two will have many ends to tie up and I cannot wait to read it.
I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for a review.
sandraselvas's review
4.0
Woah, just realized I haven't reviewed this yet!?
I got an ARC of Weather Witch and I absolutely adore Shannon Delany and this amazing book.
Proper review to come.
I got an ARC of Weather Witch and I absolutely adore Shannon Delany and this amazing book.
Proper review to come.