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A review by katiehicks
Stormrise by Jillian Boehme
3.0
This story borrows a lot from established tropes and mythologies, and even has the feeling of some other writers' work- the most prominent example is, I think, Tamora Pierce, as others have pointed out and as the marketing of the book itself shows. But I like those tropes, and I have loved Tamora Pierce’s writing since I was a kid, so I was interested in a book that seemed to be in that same vein. Overall, this book was comforting in that it was very familiar, but it didn’t blow me away.
The dragon lore is a little light and didn’t make a whole lot of sense most of the time (but maybe I just have a bias against intelligent dragons- I think I prefer when they’re just animals) and the characters were a little flat (it seems like the marketing set this book up for failure by comparing the MC to Alanna from Song of the Lioness and Arya from A Song of Ice and Fire, both protagonists with a lot more personality from two much longer series which give them room to grow over time).
I just have a personal grudge against “girl dresses up as a boy to join the army” stories that don’t make her love interest openly bisexual. It seems such an obvious thing, and the fact that there are so many of these stories and so few male bisexual love interests feels very wrong. This story I guess gets points for not making the love interest obviously attracted to her when he thinks she’s a boy and then… just… ignoring that and pretending it’s totally NOT GAY to be attracted to a girl that you think is a boy and he must have subconsciously KNOWN the whole time because there is simply NO OTHER EXPLAINATION. This boy is very straight and only starts showing signs of attraction after he finds out. Which… sigh.. I guess is fine…it just… could be gayer is all I’m saying.
The dragon lore is a little light and didn’t make a whole lot of sense most of the time (but maybe I just have a bias against intelligent dragons- I think I prefer when they’re just animals) and the characters were a little flat (it seems like the marketing set this book up for failure by comparing the MC to Alanna from Song of the Lioness and Arya from A Song of Ice and Fire, both protagonists with a lot more personality from two much longer series which give them room to grow over time).
I just have a personal grudge against “girl dresses up as a boy to join the army” stories that don’t make her love interest openly bisexual. It seems such an obvious thing, and the fact that there are so many of these stories and so few male bisexual love interests feels very wrong. This story I guess gets points for not making the love interest obviously attracted to her when he thinks she’s a boy and then… just… ignoring that and pretending it’s totally NOT GAY to be attracted to a girl that you think is a boy and he must have subconsciously KNOWN the whole time because there is simply NO OTHER EXPLAINATION. This boy is very straight and only starts showing signs of attraction after he finds out. Which… sigh.. I guess is fine…it just… could be gayer is all I’m saying.