Reviews

Storm the Earth by Rebecca Kim Wells

krystaldelusion's review

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adventurous
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

schketty's review

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3.0

I am glad it didn't go the way I expected

jakinabook's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

lorien13's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a bit of a letdown, especially after how fucking AMAZING Shatter the Sky was. It had a lot to live up to, and it didn't, really.

I was excited to see Kaia and Maren burn the empire down together and maybe build a three way relationship with Sev, and that 100% did NOT happen. The drama between Maren and Kaia was painful and felt stupid to me, detracting from plot of Maren freeing dragons. I LOVED Sev's side, but it was like pulling teeth to get through Maren's chapters. Sev's plot of undermining the emperor really kept me going, and kept my rating at a four star, or it would have been a two.

lucaengelhard's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

dianafraser17's review

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adventurous emotional inspiring 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? No

3.5

While I do think this duology could have been a two-part single book and edited with a closer hand, I did really enjoy them and flew (heh!) through both books. 

Seeing a side character become the main character by going on their own journey is a powerful YA story, and there will always be love in my heart for dragon adventures seeking justice, peace, and freedom. Maren, Sev, Tasia, and Naava and their companions embody the future I hope we create.

elfycatwoman's review

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

bisexualwentworth's review against another edition

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  • 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

3.5

I wish that this book had been better. I really do.

It wasn't bad. It just felt very rough around the edges and could have done with a lot more work in a lot of areas.

Shatter the Sky was hardly the best book I've ever read, but I enjoyed it so much. It played with familiar tropes in ways that I enjoyed. It was deliciously queer. I got attached to the characters.

Storm the Earth is similarly tropey. I like Maren and Sev, and they both get good arcs here. The dragon lore is great. But the whole story plays it safe in ways that frustrated me. I wanted Wells to take more risks here. I wanted the story to have room to breathe, not just in the romance aspect but in the revolution stuff as well.

A lot of basic writing stuff falls down a bit in this one. Characters who were never previously mentioned appear to help at the eleventh hour, which feels deeply unsatisfying and also hints at a whole chunk of plot that we never got. A longer book with more point of view characters actually might have been a smart move here, but that's something that Wells probably would have had to set up in book one since this was just a duology rather than a longer series.

And I'm not mad at how the romance stuff played out, but it did feel very safe. I think that if we'd gotten Kaia's perspective in this book (and maybe in the first one as well), things might have felt more satisfying. Or if
things had just ended in polyamory
, but that would have required large-scale changes to the whole book. Oh well.

Overall, I still mostly enjoyed this and would recommend the duology to fellow queer dragon book fans or just anyone looking for a YA fantasy novel with a bisexual lead. I just wish that book two had taken more risks and gotten some better editing and maybe been paced a bit better.

I would absolutely love to revisit this world if the author is interested in doing that cause I think there's a lot of potential to tell interesting stories in it. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

shmarr's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

jessiriegs's review

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adventurous hopeful 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

3.0