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A review by a_mae13
Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout
4.0
“Isn't that evil's greatest achievement? It often hides itself in innocence?"
I didn't think I would enjoy this book as much as I did...and then went on the buy the rest of the series. It's definitely a classic YA trilogy with very trope-ish plots, but it acknowledges how cringey it is and I loved that! The premise is angels vs. demons, but with the added twists of gargoyles being shapeshifting people that protect the world against a demon up rise called wardens. Our main character Trinity is half-angel, half-human, otherwise known as a trueborn. She's special, because she's the main character. But the wardens she lives with don't know of any other trueborns in existence. Her mother was killed and her father is the angel Michael. She has angelic strength in a human body. Because of her rarity, she lives at a warden compound with her adoptive parents Thierry and Matthew (who are obviously more involved fathers than her actual father, the angel) and her warden protector, Misha. Trueborns and other half/half creatures are assigned protectors basically at birth, so the pair have been together for about 18 years.
Well, we are set in the modern world (which is usually a negative aspect for me but this book made the modern references really funny) where demons and wardens walk among humans. There is a very convoluted tier system of demons (I'm not religious so this may be a norm in Christianity) and only so many of them are allowed "topside" aka on Earth. Upper level demons and fiends have a human skin that they can wear to fit in with others. There is an unspoken agreement between the Heavens and Hell that so many demons are allowed topside, because there is a natural balance of good and evil. Wardens were created as a buffer; they kill off demons or demons that weren't supposed to be topside in the first place. The warden compound where Trinity lives is experiencing a higher number of demon activity, forcing them to ally with a compound in Washington D.C. When they arrive, we meet the love interest, Zayne. Of course there are rules that wardens and other creatures (demons, angels, trueborns, etc) are not allowed to be with wardens. But that doesn't stop Trinity from falling for him.
*training and meet cute montage*
Demons attack the compound and kidnap Misha. Trinity is terrified of losing Misha, her best friend, and begs her adoptive dads to go with the D.C. clan and try to bring him back. Like all other YA fantasies of this generation, Trinity and Misha are bonded, so she can feel that he is still alive, just lost. She goes with the D.C. clan, Zayne, Dez, and Nicolai along with her ghost roommate, Peanut (the best character) to find Misha. I'm not sure why we know that he would be in D.C., but he is. This is where the book gets more interesting because it challenges what Trinity understands as truth. Zayne, a warden, works with demons, who they're sworn to kill. And not just any demon, but the crown prince of Hell, Roth. Roth has all sorts of connections in D.C. to help Zayne take down bad demons and keep the good ones alive.
Roth is with his girlfriend, Layla, who is the daughter of Lilith and is half-demon, half-warden, and his friend Cayman, another demon. They all team together to try and find the demon that took Misha, named Bael. He's an upper level demon and it turns out, he's taking out both wardens and demons. The warden clan and the demons patrol throughout D.C. in search of Bael or Misha. Roth and Trinity go and meet with witches in hopes that they would give them some information about the demon uprising. The witches mention that the senator is working with the demons to build a school (goes into the next books) and that they have no other information for them. And then the witches betray them and essentially trap everyone in the senator's home.
The final showdown between the group and the demons is a bit anti-climatic since they all want Trinity, they can smell her trueborn blood. And then we find Misha, who willingly left the clan to work with the Harbinger, a character that is not really defined until the next book. Misha was never supposed to be Trinity's protector, it was supposed to be Zayne. He grew bitter and unloved with his position and wanted to flip sides, and the Harbinger promised that he would get the praise and attention that he deserved. Trinity stabs him with her demon blades and is then summoned by Michael, her father. He gives Zayne the burden of being her protector and begs them to find the Harbinger and take him down before he can destroy the world.
The characters were really funny and there was something about the way Trinity was written that made her enjoyable yet insufferable. There are so many YA series that make the main character seem too mature or too logical; Trinity does everything without logic and doesn't "win" everything she's thrust into. She is relatable and grounded. She uses the most ridiculous phrases and says exactly what comes to mind, making her a believable 18 year old. Some of the worldbuilding is a bit clunky, but everything eventually comes into play. The twist at the end wasn't very surprising but the introduction of the mysterious Harbinger was enough to keep me reading.
I didn't think I would enjoy this book as much as I did...and then went on the buy the rest of the series. It's definitely a classic YA trilogy with very trope-ish plots, but it acknowledges how cringey it is and I loved that! The premise is angels vs. demons, but with the added twists of gargoyles being shapeshifting people that protect the world against a demon up rise called wardens. Our main character Trinity is half-angel, half-human, otherwise known as a trueborn. She's special, because she's the main character. But the wardens she lives with don't know of any other trueborns in existence. Her mother was killed and her father is the angel Michael. She has angelic strength in a human body. Because of her rarity, she lives at a warden compound with her adoptive parents Thierry and Matthew (who are obviously more involved fathers than her actual father, the angel) and her warden protector, Misha. Trueborns and other half/half creatures are assigned protectors basically at birth, so the pair have been together for about 18 years.
Well, we are set in the modern world (which is usually a negative aspect for me but this book made the modern references really funny) where demons and wardens walk among humans. There is a very convoluted tier system of demons (I'm not religious so this may be a norm in Christianity) and only so many of them are allowed "topside" aka on Earth. Upper level demons and fiends have a human skin that they can wear to fit in with others. There is an unspoken agreement between the Heavens and Hell that so many demons are allowed topside, because there is a natural balance of good and evil. Wardens were created as a buffer; they kill off demons or demons that weren't supposed to be topside in the first place. The warden compound where Trinity lives is experiencing a higher number of demon activity, forcing them to ally with a compound in Washington D.C. When they arrive, we meet the love interest, Zayne. Of course there are rules that wardens and other creatures (demons, angels, trueborns, etc) are not allowed to be with wardens. But that doesn't stop Trinity from falling for him.
*training and meet cute montage*
Demons attack the compound and kidnap Misha. Trinity is terrified of losing Misha, her best friend, and begs her adoptive dads to go with the D.C. clan and try to bring him back. Like all other YA fantasies of this generation, Trinity and Misha are bonded, so she can feel that he is still alive, just lost. She goes with the D.C. clan, Zayne, Dez, and Nicolai along with her ghost roommate, Peanut (the best character) to find Misha. I'm not sure why we know that he would be in D.C., but he is. This is where the book gets more interesting because it challenges what Trinity understands as truth. Zayne, a warden, works with demons, who they're sworn to kill. And not just any demon, but the crown prince of Hell, Roth. Roth has all sorts of connections in D.C. to help Zayne take down bad demons and keep the good ones alive.
The characters were really funny and there was something about the way Trinity was written that made her enjoyable yet insufferable. There are so many YA series that make the main character seem too mature or too logical; Trinity does everything without logic and doesn't "win" everything she's thrust into. She is relatable and grounded. She uses the most ridiculous phrases and says exactly what comes to mind, making her a believable 18 year old. Some of the worldbuilding is a bit clunky, but everything eventually comes into play. The twist at the end wasn't very surprising but the introduction of the mysterious Harbinger was enough to keep me reading.