Storm from the East

Wonderfully complex and real characters amidst a simmering story of betrayal, loss, conflicted loyalties, the brutality of war, and the politics all of that brings. This installment does not disappoint, I loved it as much as the first. I want more people to read this series!

This book is heartbreakingly beautiful. The story is beautifully written. These are stories of love, loss, betrayal, politics and bravery in a realistic yet dazzling way.

This was a great sequel to Dark of the west. The characters develop more and are learning that not everything is as it seems. This book really focuses on the war aspect of the plot with hints of romance. Over all I liked it.

Disclaimer: I received an arc of this from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own. Book: Storm of the East Author: Joanna Hathaway Book Series: Glass Alliance Book 2 Rating: 4/5 Publication Date: February 11, 2020 Publisher: TorTeen Recommended Age: 16+ (violence, some gore, politics, and some love) Synopsis: Battles, revolution, and romance collide in Joanna Hathaway's stunning, World Wars-inspired sequel to Dark of the West Part war drama, part romance, Storm from the East is the second novel in Joanna Hathaway’s immersive, upmarket YA fantasy series that will appeal to readers of Sabaa Tahir, Marie Rutkoski, and Evelyn Skye. War has begun, and the days of Athan’s and Aurelia’s secret, summer romance feel a world away. Led by Athan’s father, the revolutionary Safire have launched a secret assault upon the last royal kingdom in the South, hoping to depose the king and seize a powerful foothold on the continent. Athan proves a star pilot among their ranks, struggling to justify the violence his family has unleashed as he fights his way to the capital—where, unbeknownst to him, Aurelia has lived since the war’s onset. Determined to save the kingdom Athan has been ordered to destroy, she partners with a local journalist to inflame anti-Safire sentiment, all while learning this conflict might be far darker and more complex than she ever imagined. When the two reunite at last, Athan longing to shake the nightmare of combat and Aurelia reeling from the discovery of a long-buried family truth come to light, they’ll find the shadow of war stretches well beyond the battlefield. Each of them longs to rekindle the love they once shared . . . but each has a secret they’re desperate to hide. Review: This was a great sequel to the first book! The book has a lot of political intrique and romance still. Still has some WW2 and Romeo and Juliet vibes as well. The characters are much more developed in this one and the plot was very well continued from the previous book to.this one. This book is very politically centered though so if you don't like that then it might not be your type of book. The book is also still slow paced. Verdict: I love the politics!

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Fantastic Flying Book Club, Netgalley, and Tor Teen for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication. Okay why was I feeling all sorts of things while I was reading this novel? Yes, disclaimer: this is the second book so make sure you read the first one before reading this one. Thank you also to Tor Teen for providing me a free copy of the first novel to get me prepared for this one. Absolutely loved it. And I have to say that I think I loved this one even better than the first? Don’t you love when sequels are better than their originals? It’s so thrilling and you just feel like you’re in the middle of this high speed chase and it’s hitting the climax right before a car explosion or something. Can’t you hear the speed music going on? I know I was when I was reading this one. I can’t even begin to think about how amazing the third novel will be. I’m usually not a war drama person, especially when the synopsis says that it’s a “world wars-inspired” novel. Both of the World Wars that we had were devastating, and honestly I can’t even really begin to think about it by choice. From the groups of people that were killed and not recognized, to the kinds of violence that each side dished out and endured, it was just terrible. I mean terrible enough that pretty much the world was involved, right? But this book really made me invested in everything that was going on, and this was something that will stay near and dear to my heart. I couldn’t help but feel a certain type of way for Aurelia, for Athan, for the Safire and want the revolutionaries to just finally get what they have been fighting for this whole time. Which may not even make sense be in this one, it seems like Aurelia and Athan are on opposite sides of the line. But I just wanted both of them to get what they wanted, and I just wanted the war between their two sides to come to a somewhat happy conclusion. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t all for the drama and heartbreak in between these pages. It’s really what got me going. I just really felt pulled in to this story, and wow. Talk about complex characters that you can relate to on different sides, not knowing what you would do if you were in either of their shoes, but understanding that the decisions that they made were made because they had to. It was just that kind of book that will really stick with you after a couple of days, maybe even more.

I'm not sure how I feel about this series so far. At times the spy storyline is great but the story as a whole just isn't exciting to me. We shall see with the third book.

This is one of the best sequels I’ve ever read and honestly I cannot think of a thing that I would have liked to see done differently or anything that didn’t work for me. It is clear how much care and meticulous thought Joanna Hathaway has put into these characters and this story and I am thrilled to see the culmination of Athan and Ali’s story in the final book. I NEED to see what happens after the prologue from the first book! Truly though, Hathaway’s writing is beautiful and the way she’s interwoven such personal stories of love and courage and struggle in with the greater and darker backdrop of war, while still propelling the story forward and not getting lost, makes this one of those rare stories I’ll forever treasure. Highly recommend these for any type of reader.