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A review by hereisbridget
Amid Wind & Stone by Nicole Luiken
4.0
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Guys. guys. GUYS. I’ve discovered that I’m more than just a contemporary girl. After reading Through Fire & Sea and Amid Wind & Stone by Nicole Luiken, I now consider myself a fantasy reader, too (as long as it has some romance in it because a leopard can’t completely change its spots)! I honestly didn’t know what to expect with this series. I requested Amid Wind & Stone on Netgalley before I even read the first book, so that made me a wee bit nervous. What if I didn’t like Through Fire & Sea? I already committed to review Amid Wind & Stone so that would be really unfortunate. But lucky for me, I loved both!
Amid Wind & Stone is just as well-written as Through Fire & Sea. The world building continues to be stellar, and the rules continue to be followed. The Wind and Stone worlds really came to life for me–even more so than the Fire and Water worlds. I felt more strongly for Dorotea and Audrey than I did for Leah and Holly in the first book because the stakes are much higher in Amid Wind & Stone. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the stakes are high for Leah and Holly, too–they still haven’t defeated Qeturah, and they can’t let her win. They vow to help their Stone and Wind otherselves protect their soulmates and get rid of Qeturah for good.
Anyways, during the opening scene, I felt every single emotion that Dorotea was feeling because the situation she found herself in (trapped in a cave in the dark–a cave that is only big enough to crawl through) was described in such great detail. I honestly almost had a panic attack because I felt Dorotea’s claustrophobia and fear–the writing was that good. Also, I thoroughly enjoyed my introduction to Audrey and her family–her family was probably my favorite out of the bunch. Audrey and Dorotea were much more hands on–the flying, the walking through stone, it was all very exciting. Their soulmates were more up my alley in terms of personality that Gideon and Ryan were–they were more rough around the edges and Piers was a seriously cute flirt.
I will admit that I started to form an extreme dislike of Leah in the middle of the book–when she took over Dorotea’s body. I could understand why she did that to Holly in the first book. I could understand that in her grief, she confused Ryan to be the same as Gideon, but I could not understand why she let the same thing happen again with Dorotea. She was letting Jasper fall in love with her when she knew that Jasper was Dorotea’s soulmate–not her. I didn’t want that. It felt wrong some how. I mean, luckily Leah came to her senses and Dorotea and Jasper reconciled their differences and let go of their prejudices. Once that happened, they became my favorite couple.
Also, I feel it’s important to point out that Qeturah doesn’t appear in this book as much as one would expect after reading the first one. She’s still the enemy, but the chaos she creates is behind the scenes if that makes sense. What I mean is that, bad things are happening, and it’s known that Qeturah is the reason, but Qeturah’s physical whereabouts are not known for quite some time. And I found the ending of Qeturah quite shocking. It was a good shock, but also a bit anti-climatic. I expected an epic fight to go down between Leah and Qeturah, but that’s not what happened. Although, I suppose that the epic fight is yet to come. After all, Qeturah was just a puppet. Malachi is the true evil in this fight for freedom. And that surprise tease at the end of book one? Not really addressed yet. I suspect–or at least I seriously hope–that we will take a visit to the True world next, and I suspect that it will be truly epic.
Overall, Through Fire & Sea and Amid Wind & Stone are truly thrilling and magical reads. The complexity of the characters and the world building is fantastic. The adventure is exciting, and I would really love to visit these fascinating worlds again. Definitely recommend for YA Fantasy readers.
Review originally posted @ Bridget's Book Bungalow: http://bit.ly/1QDYEF3
Guys. guys. GUYS. I’ve discovered that I’m more than just a contemporary girl. After reading Through Fire & Sea and Amid Wind & Stone by Nicole Luiken, I now consider myself a fantasy reader, too (as long as it has some romance in it because a leopard can’t completely change its spots)! I honestly didn’t know what to expect with this series. I requested Amid Wind & Stone on Netgalley before I even read the first book, so that made me a wee bit nervous. What if I didn’t like Through Fire & Sea? I already committed to review Amid Wind & Stone so that would be really unfortunate. But lucky for me, I loved both!
Amid Wind & Stone is just as well-written as Through Fire & Sea. The world building continues to be stellar, and the rules continue to be followed. The Wind and Stone worlds really came to life for me–even more so than the Fire and Water worlds. I felt more strongly for Dorotea and Audrey than I did for Leah and Holly in the first book because the stakes are much higher in Amid Wind & Stone. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the stakes are high for Leah and Holly, too–they still haven’t defeated Qeturah, and they can’t let her win. They vow to help their Stone and Wind otherselves protect their soulmates and get rid of Qeturah for good.
Anyways, during the opening scene, I felt every single emotion that Dorotea was feeling because the situation she found herself in (trapped in a cave in the dark–a cave that is only big enough to crawl through) was described in such great detail. I honestly almost had a panic attack because I felt Dorotea’s claustrophobia and fear–the writing was that good. Also, I thoroughly enjoyed my introduction to Audrey and her family–her family was probably my favorite out of the bunch. Audrey and Dorotea were much more hands on–the flying, the walking through stone, it was all very exciting. Their soulmates were more up my alley in terms of personality that Gideon and Ryan were–they were more rough around the edges and Piers was a seriously cute flirt.
I will admit that I started to form an extreme dislike of Leah in the middle of the book–when she took over Dorotea’s body. I could understand why she did that to Holly in the first book. I could understand that in her grief, she confused Ryan to be the same as Gideon, but I could not understand why she let the same thing happen again with Dorotea. She was letting Jasper fall in love with her when she knew that Jasper was Dorotea’s soulmate–not her. I didn’t want that. It felt wrong some how. I mean, luckily Leah came to her senses and Dorotea and Jasper reconciled their differences and let go of their prejudices. Once that happened, they became my favorite couple.
Also, I feel it’s important to point out that Qeturah doesn’t appear in this book as much as one would expect after reading the first one. She’s still the enemy, but the chaos she creates is behind the scenes if that makes sense. What I mean is that, bad things are happening, and it’s known that Qeturah is the reason, but Qeturah’s physical whereabouts are not known for quite some time. And I found the ending of Qeturah quite shocking. It was a good shock, but also a bit anti-climatic. I expected an epic fight to go down between Leah and Qeturah, but that’s not what happened. Although, I suppose that the epic fight is yet to come. After all, Qeturah was just a puppet. Malachi is the true evil in this fight for freedom. And that surprise tease at the end of book one? Not really addressed yet. I suspect–or at least I seriously hope–that we will take a visit to the True world next, and I suspect that it will be truly epic.
Overall, Through Fire & Sea and Amid Wind & Stone are truly thrilling and magical reads. The complexity of the characters and the world building is fantastic. The adventure is exciting, and I would really love to visit these fascinating worlds again. Definitely recommend for YA Fantasy readers.
Review originally posted @ Bridget's Book Bungalow: http://bit.ly/1QDYEF3