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A review by thebiasedbibliophile
Find the Storm by Michelle Dawn
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
Do I have a lot of spare time for reading right now? No.
Did I stay up until 5am to finish this book? Yes!
Am I seriously considering abandoning all responsibilities and dropping off the of the Earth to binge read the next three books? Also yes!!!!! 😂
I will start off by saying that dark fantasy is typically not my genre of choice. Truth be told, I usually avoid books with trigger warnings like this. However, I won Michelle’s series in the 12 days of giveaways last year, and I couldn’t resist the beautiful covers. I am SOOOO happy that I took a chance on this book because it is now one of my favorites!
The story follows Aria, a young woman who lives in Bastran, a kingdom that only keeps powerful women as breeders. Aria’s mom had spent her life hiding her daughter’s magic from the world, but when Aria slips up in front of Bastran soldiers, her mother is killed and she knows she will be taken captive as a breeder. When she wakes up in Azurin, the kingdom Bastran has been at war with for many years, she resigns herself to a similar fate in enemy territory. She is shocked to hear that breeders are no longer used in Azurin, but she cannot help to mistrust what everyone says, especially the men.
I was absolutely enthralled by Find the Storm! The plot was captivating and dynamic, and Aria was the perfect protagonist. I thought her mistrust of others was portrayed really artfully, and I enjoyed the way the reader got to follow along with her internal struggles. The constant battle betwee feeling like her only options were to be one king’s property or another’s pet was interesting and added a lot of tension to the story.
Similarly, I appreciated the way Aria fights against the way women are treated in Bastran, not only for her own sake but for all women. The fact that she also recognizes toxic practices in Azurin was compelling as well. Reading about her journey was emotional and heartbreaking. I am truly looking forward to seeing her have the chance to heal from the trauma she experienced in the next books.
Finally, the magic system was phenomenal! It is a bit of a looser magic system, as it seemed like the things characters could do with their magic was almost unlimited. However, there were rules put into place that made sense, and Dawn did an exceptional job of creating plausible reasons if any rules were broken. I loved the addition of elemental magic, although I was glad that the magic system went far beyond simple elemental magic.
As a whole, Find the Storm was an outstanding read!
Did I stay up until 5am to finish this book? Yes!
Am I seriously considering abandoning all responsibilities and dropping off the of the Earth to binge read the next three books? Also yes!!!!! 😂
I will start off by saying that dark fantasy is typically not my genre of choice. Truth be told, I usually avoid books with trigger warnings like this. However, I won Michelle’s series in the 12 days of giveaways last year, and I couldn’t resist the beautiful covers. I am SOOOO happy that I took a chance on this book because it is now one of my favorites!
The story follows Aria, a young woman who lives in Bastran, a kingdom that only keeps powerful women as breeders. Aria’s mom had spent her life hiding her daughter’s magic from the world, but when Aria slips up in front of Bastran soldiers, her mother is killed and she knows she will be taken captive as a breeder. When she wakes up in Azurin, the kingdom Bastran has been at war with for many years, she resigns herself to a similar fate in enemy territory. She is shocked to hear that breeders are no longer used in Azurin, but she cannot help to mistrust what everyone says, especially the men.
I was absolutely enthralled by Find the Storm! The plot was captivating and dynamic, and Aria was the perfect protagonist. I thought her mistrust of others was portrayed really artfully, and I enjoyed the way the reader got to follow along with her internal struggles. The constant battle betwee feeling like her only options were to be one king’s property or another’s pet was interesting and added a lot of tension to the story.
Similarly, I appreciated the way Aria fights against the way women are treated in Bastran, not only for her own sake but for all women. The fact that she also recognizes toxic practices in Azurin was compelling as well. Reading about her journey was emotional and heartbreaking. I am truly looking forward to seeing her have the chance to heal from the trauma she experienced in the next books.
Finally, the magic system was phenomenal! It is a bit of a looser magic system, as it seemed like the things characters could do with their magic was almost unlimited. However, there were rules put into place that made sense, and Dawn did an exceptional job of creating plausible reasons if any rules were broken. I loved the addition of elemental magic, although I was glad that the magic system went far beyond simple elemental magic.
As a whole, Find the Storm was an outstanding read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Rape