War Storm

Three point five stars If mare had tried to kill Maven in front of me i woulda been like no girl and saved him lol

I really loved the rest of the series and was excited to see how it ended, but it fell seriously flat. Spoilers Ahead I really struggled to read this throughout the different perspective changes. While it was at times useful to the story and interesting to see some of the internal thoughts of side characters, I found myself putting the book down when certain characters chapters would appear and it made it hard to continue on. The ending also felt so extremely rushed. We read so many pages leading up to this big war, only for it to end in the last few chapters of the book. We don’t even get to see how the war ends or how Cal reacted to finding Mare’s body with Maven dead. There’s so many untolds with this book. Do Cal and Mare find their way back to each other? Does Norta become a free republic? So, so many unanswered questions. It’s just frustrating to get this far into the series and have the last book fall so flat. All it would take is a less rushed ending, and this book would’ve been a million times better. I still love the rest of the series, even the rest of this book, but I just can’t believe this was how it ended.

Let me start by saying that I am still a fan of the series despite this final book. And if you have read the series up to this point, I would still encourage you to read it and finish the series. (But I would also encourage you to stop reading this review if you haven’t read the book yet, because spoilers lie ahead) All that being said, my issue with this book isn’t necessarily the ending itself (what happened to the characters, the war, etc.), but more with the way it was written. For example, we don’t even get to read through the entirety of the final battle because Mare (pretty conveniently, if you ask me) passes out from blood loss after killing Maven. Which, I think I would have been fine with if we had been shown it happen instead of told about it. For example, instead of Mare waking up in a bed and being told she almost died, it would have been better if we got to have the perspective flipped and saw Cal finishing off the war in the Square, only to find Mare’s nearly lifeless body next to his brother’s corpse. I think learning about it from his perspective (not to mention the cliffhanger from just having had mare’s perspective) would have been a million times more interesting. I could give lots of examples like this from the book, but the point is - I feel like this ending was rushed. We just get told a lot of information at the very end, all of which is vaguely hopeful, but not at all the concrete resolution I think we were all hoping for after reading over a thousand pages. I think it’s more disappointing because this is the end of the series. We will never have any true resolution to the characters. We’ll never know if Mare and Cal ended up together, if Norta was able to become a free republic like Montfort after all, or even if the Lakelands and Piedmont surrendered or if it was just a cease fire (This irks me the most - I think after reading A THOUSAND pages of this war story, we should at least end the series knowing for sure if Norta is safe for now or potentially on the brink of another attack! - I assume not because Mare is in Montfort in the ending, but the writing was so vague that who really knows?) All this to say, it was a great series, but it felt like the ending should have given us, the readers, more. Specifically for Mare. Considering the whole story truly revolves around her, I think we should have had a better ending for her (even if that ending was that she somehow had to die for Norta to be free - I really thought that’s what Jon meant all along with his, “you will rise and rise alone” spiel. Speaking of which, that was ALSO NEVER RESOLVED!) I just think this book had a lot of great moments and great potential, but it just fell flat in the end. All in all, I left the series disappointed.

loved this series, felt like this whole book could have been summed up in a few chapters and put in the last book, dragged on

I read all four books anticipating a great ending. How disappointing to read all these books to get a crappy ending. It left me feeling like the book was incomplete. Also, they made Mare look weak with her ability. She had a strong ability but always ended up hurt or in a dying situation. Why couldn’t she expand her ability like the others with electricity? I’m not sure I will read any more book written by Victoria. What a waste of money!

The book was spectacular, as are the the previous ones. I spent months reading through these books and I truly felt like I was alongside Mare herself enduring it all. Especially in King’s Cage, when Mare had been stuck under Maven’s control for months. It truly took a toll on me as well, and I cried when I realized so much time had passed since she last saw everyone she loved. Gosh what a journey we have been on, and I cannot wait to continue with the movies that Victoria Aveyard makes in the future, hopefully. 😉 Wrapping this up, these four books were absolute spectacular, thrilling, and tremendously amazing, I have never ever read something so good, and I have read many books. Thank you Victoria Aveyard for putting me on this magical, unforgettable journey, may it never end. Also: was anyone else confused about how we never saw Maven’s body? We read that Mare killed him, but we never get full proof of it all. Kilorn even remarks to Mare in the last chapter that they don’t know where the body is, and it is never brought up again. Mare also says that she needs proof to know that Maven is actually dead, as she did with Elara’s body in the third book. We never get that proof. Hmmmm, just something to think a about...... -Lily K

The plot kind of gave up in the end and most of the characters went downhill (Mare especially). I still can’t believe this was the last book because the finale was so unclear: There was no concrete resolution to the war or Mare and Cal’s relationship, no closure on certain deaths, and not even an explanation to where Silver powers came from. After 4 books! And to top it off, the author tried to make up for the rushed ending by pairing up every side character with a romantic partner, and it felt forced and unnecessary (like her brother with the park ranger on the last page). I used to love the series, but looking back after reading War Storm, Red Queen is overhyped and ultimately underwhelming (although the covers remain stunning).

I fell in love with this series the moment I read the first book. I absolutely loved each character, I even have a place in my heart for Maven. His story was so tragic I couldn’t help but feel for him. The ending was a little anticlimactic though, but I’m so proud of how the characters grew. I literally love Mare. And I love how she’s not dependent on anyone, not even Cal.

Im very disappointed with the ending :(

Let me begin by saying that I absolutely adore this series. With that being said, I felt that there was so much build-up throughout the story, and the ending was extremely rushed. Wonderful story with a rushed and disappointing ending.