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kp_writ 's review for:
We Unleash the Merciless Storm
by Tehlor Kay Mejia
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I gave the first book of this duology a 2.5, but because I had already checked out this one from the library and was intrigued by the potential of a POV switch (and because I knew it would be a quick and easy read), I decided to give this one a chance. I was excited in the first 70 or so pages because it seemed like I made the right call, but by the end it was crawling with frustrations.
This duology suffers a lot from having its characters pulled around by poorly-paced plot. Every time I got excited about a setting and its characters and the potential it had to vamp up the politics and worldbuilding, we were immediately pulled out of it. This happened several times over - opposite of what happened in the first book, which was over-narrated and had too few scenes, this one had way too much going on. The author never lets us as readers sit with the world she has built, so everything feels so intensely rooted in the present - even though this rebellion had hundreds of years of history. But of course that reminds me of all the plot holes, and the instances where it feels like there was a plot hole but really we were just never given enough worldbuilding to have any answers.
The romance was... boring. I didn't think Carmen and Dani had much chemistry to begin with, but their interactions in this were just so bland. And since this romance was the cause of so many questionable decisions, it really should've been much stronger. Carmen's relationship with Alex, for example, was much more interesting to me, but maybe that's because Alex was my favorite character.
Overall I had many of the same qualms in this book as I had in the first: one-dimensional characters, a one-dimensional plot, a lackluster romance. I would say that I did enjoy the first 70-ish pages of this novel, and I think that's the only reason I'd rate it higher than the first book, which was just boring all-round. The ending was fine, but frustrating since it was just confirmation of things we picked up on (and were told rather explicitly by Carmen) throughout the first quarter of the book. No mystery, no political intrigue, just nonstop action.
This duology suffers a lot from having its characters pulled around by poorly-paced plot. Every time I got excited about a setting and its characters and the potential it had to vamp up the politics and worldbuilding, we were immediately pulled out of it. This happened several times over - opposite of what happened in the first book, which was over-narrated and had too few scenes, this one had way too much going on. The author never lets us as readers sit with the world she has built, so everything feels so intensely rooted in the present - even though this rebellion had hundreds of years of history. But of course that reminds me of all the plot holes, and the instances where it feels like there was a plot hole but really we were just never given enough worldbuilding to have any answers.
The romance was... boring. I didn't think Carmen and Dani had much chemistry to begin with, but their interactions in this were just so bland. And since this romance was the cause of so many questionable decisions, it really should've been much stronger. Carmen's relationship with Alex, for example, was much more interesting to me, but maybe that's because Alex was my favorite character.
Overall I had many of the same qualms in this book as I had in the first: one-dimensional characters, a one-dimensional plot, a lackluster romance. I would say that I did enjoy the first 70-ish pages of this novel, and I think that's the only reason I'd rate it higher than the first book, which was just boring all-round. The ending was fine, but frustrating since it was just confirmation of things we picked up on (and were told rather explicitly by Carmen) throughout the first quarter of the book. No mystery, no political intrigue, just nonstop action.