Swoon Thursday (#56): Let the Storm Break by Shannon Messenger

Swoon Thursday is a hot meme hosted by the fabulous ladies at YA Bound!

- From the book you’re currently reading, or one you just finished, tell us what made you SWOON. What got your heart pounding, your skin tingling, and your stomach fluttering

- Try to make the swoon excerpt 140 characters (or less), if you are going to tweet about it. Use the hashtag #YABOUND when tweeting

This week, my swoon is from Let the Storm Break by Shannon Messenger!

I don't know if this is a dream or a delusion - but I know what I want to use it for. I pull his face down to mine and kiss him with every ounce of the love and longing that I've held on to all these weeks.

He tastes sweeter than I remember, and the heat between us is more intense. surging through me like a desert storm as I part his lips and kiss him deeper. His sparks burn on my tongue as I let parts of myself pass to him - sharing everything. Making him mine. 

- eARC, 47%

Author Blog | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Read my review HERE.

This was an okay sequel, but there were more swoons in this book than in book one! That was a plus :D

Review: Let the Storm Break by Shannon Messenger

Let the Storm Break by Shannon Messenger

Book Two oft he Sky Fall series

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication Date: March 4, 2014

Rating: 3 stars

Source: eARC from Edelweiss

Summary (from Goodreads):

Whirlwind romance and breathtaking action continues in the sequel to Let the Sky Fall, which Becca Fitzpatrick called “charged and romantic.” 

Vane Weston is haunted. By the searing pull of his bond to Audra. By the lies he’s told to cover for her disappearance. By the treacherous winds that slip into his mind, trying to trap him in his worst nightmares. And as his enemies grow stronger, Vane doesn’t know how much longer he can last on his own.

But Audra’s still running. From her past. From the Gales. Even from Vane, who she doesn't believe she deserves. And the farther she flees, the more danger she finds. She possesses the secret power her enemy craves, and protecting it might be more than she can handle—especially when she discovers Raiden’s newest weapon.

With the Gale Force weakened by recent attacks, and the power of four collapsing, Vane and Audra are forced to make a choice: keep trusting the failing winds, or turn to the people who've betrayed them before. But even if they survive the storms sent to destroy them, will they have anything left to hold on to?

What I Liked:

***As with all sequel novels I review, expect spoilers from book one, whether there are actually spoilers from book one or not. You are warned.***

I binge-read book one and book two back-to-back, in two days. It's AWESOME, because I wasn't as likely to forget information from book one (which always happens when waiting between books, for the next book). But the flip side is that events from book one and book two kind of run together. It's like reading one long book over two days. I can't imagine what will happen when I go to read book three, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

I don't think this book fell victim to the sequel slump, but it definitely wasn't fulfilling as I had hoped it would be. I'm hoping I pinpoint exactly why I feel that way, by the end of the review, because I'm not entirely sure what more I wanted from this book, I'll get there in the next section though.

Vane and Audra survived the showdown in book one, and they are bonded (much to the remorse of the entire Windwalker kingdom and a certain heir). But there are bigger problems than that. Raiden will be back, and this time, with a terrifying new set of power. With Audra still away, and Vane not sleeping, and the threat of Raiden looming, things are not looking up for the Gales.

As with book one, I really liked the split dual perspectives. And also as with book one, I liked Vane's voice more than Audra's. Vane is just so much more interesting than Audra - and he is NOT full of BS (like I think Audra is). Vane has a very unique personality, and I like it. Audra... she's full of s*** sometimes, which makes me mad. She wallows in excuses. I'll tackle that later.

A step up (and yet, a step back) from book one was the action. At times in this book, there was a TON of action. At other times, there was not. For example, the first part (half?) of this book was sort of slow. Things were happening, like with Arella and Vane's sleeplessness and his duties as king, but then things weren't really happening. Audra left and was trying to piece herself back together (or whatever), and her plot (when she was apart from Vane) was very boring. Boo. 

But then things did happen. There were two sort of climaxes, both involving battle-ish scenes. That was exciting (mostly). I liked that this book became more involved in the grand scheme of things, which is what a second novel in a trilogy should do. Props to Messenger on that one.

The romance is still relatively uncomplicated. If you read book one, then you know that Vane and Audra are bonded, but that the Windwalkers totally wanted Vane to marry Solana, the daughter of the former king of the Windwalkers. Vane is totally in love with Audra, and Audra loves Vane, so that's that. Solana doesn't love Vane, but you can't help but feel bad for the girl that always knew (and was forced to accept) her fate. 

The ending is pretty... killer, in my opinion (absolutely no pun intended, don't take that phrase the wrong way). It's definitely some sort of cliffhanger, and I don't really like cliffhangers in sequels of trilogies. But it's okay, I'll wait another year... sigh. The author would NEVER do something so extreme - but of course, Veronica Roth did, so why not?

What I Did Not Like:

As I mentioned before, like in the first book, I wasn't Audra's biggest fan. Don't get me wrong, I hope that she and Vane get their happy ending and ride off into the sunset and blah blah blah. Vane loves her, and for that reason, I like the pair of them together. But her as a person? Her personality? Her being? Eh. Not a fan. She wallows in self-pity, in my opinion. She wants to seem tough, but she's not really all that tough.

Also, she seemed to be gone for like, half the book. Maybe not half. But a significant percentage of the book. And all she was doing was having a pity party, and then ran into the wrong crowd, and then things started happening, and so on. But like, I don't cut her any slack. She's a bit wimpy, and she seems to like excuses, and then she gets weird and jealous any time Solana is even remotely related to anything involving Vane. Like STOP.

And I'm a bit confused on the logistics of the Living Storms... but I'm just going to go with it and pretend like I know how they're made. I understand who they were, their purpose, and the power, but I don't really understand how Raiden made them into what they are.

Somehow, this novel just didn't seem as satisfying as I'd hoped. I liked book one, and I wanted to be blown away (hehe, wind pun) by book two. Book two wasn't better than book one by any means, but it wasn't totally worse of anything.

Would I Recommend It:

If you read and enjoyed book one, then it's worth it to read this book. The way I look at it, with this particular series, is that if you read and enjoyed book one, you might as well read book two, because I have a feeling that book three will kick some butt. Hopefully. I could be so wrong though. If you have not read book one, then don't worry too much about reading book two. Read the entire series when it comes out, maybe. Or not at all. 

Rating:

3 stars. I was hoping for more, but didn't get more. However, I am really curious to see how it all ends!

Author Blog | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Was this review helpful? Please let me know in the comments section!

Review: Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

Book One of the Sky Fall series

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication Date: March 5, 2013

Rating: 4 stars

Source: ARC won from a giveaway

Summary (from Goodreads):

Vane Weston should have died in the category-five tornado that killed his parents. Instead, he woke up in a pile of rubble with no memories of his past - except one: a beautiful, dark-haired girl standing in the winds. She swept through his dreams ever since, and he clings to the hope that she's real.

Audra is real, but she isn't human. She's a sylph, an air elemental who can walk on the wind, translate its alluring songs, even twist it into a weapon. She's also a guardian - Vane's guardian - and has sworn an oath to protect him at all costs.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both their families, Audra has just days to help Vane unlock his memories. And as the storm winds gather, Audra and Vane start to realize that the greatest danger might not be the warriors coming to destroy them, but the forbidden romance growing between them.

What I Liked:

I was actually really surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! I'm pleased that I enjoyed it as much as I did, but I'm surprised. I'd read a fair amount of positive reviews for this book, when it initially came out last year, but then I read a few reviews that pretty much picked this book apart. Those few negative reviews from bloggers I actively followed were enough for me to put off reading this book for about a year.

But then I had to go and request this book from Edelweiss, and of course I was approved, so I had to be sure to read the first book (this one) before reading the sequel. Good time to binge-read, right? If only I had the third book, too. Then I could read the entire series and be happy.

Vane survived a category-five tornado, and he remembers one thing: Audra. For years, he sees Audra in his dreams, the one thing from the fatal storm that seems to be consistent in his non-memories. But the Audra comes back. And she reveals everything to him - including the key facts that he is a Westerly, a future king of the Windwalkers, and the future of the Windwalkers.

This book is split into Audra and Vane's perspective. We get Vane's perspective first, so I immediately bonded with him first. Usually, the first character introduced is the one I like more. I wasn't always a fan of Audra (especially with what she did - she seemed to be the reason for all of the "bad"), but I didn't mind Audra. 

In Audra's mind, Vane seems to be a bit obnoxious and cocky and irritating. In Vane's mind, Audra is perfect and broken. In MY opinion, Vane is a bit cocky and sometimes obnoxious, but I think he is also scared yet determined. He is confident, but he also recognizes the fact that he has no idea what he is doing. Audra is NOT perfect. She is definitely broken up over what happened years ago, and she shoulders the blame, the burden, and the responsibility of basically EVERYTHING. 

All of that said, I definitely preferred Vane's perspective to Audra's perspective. I found Vane more interesting than Audra, and more authentic. Not that Audra wasn't authentic, but I didn't like her voice as much as I liked Vane's. But I DID like the dual-perspective dynamic - Messenger definitely did a great job in making the voices unique and interesting, and it worked in this book.

The romance was pretty sweet, nice even. I thought it was a bit insta-lovey, but I liked seeing Vane and Audra together. The whole book seemed like torture for the two of them, but the end of this book proved to be pretty great for the two of them. We'll see though, as the series goes on. There will be some serious consequences for the two of them.

The majority of this novel is focused on Vane and Audra training and preparing for the Stormers (I think they are called Stormers?) and Raiden to come. This didn't bother me too much, but it was a little bit slow. A lot of discoveries and plot twists happened during this time, but actually events, meh.

Otherwise, the plot of this book was pretty good - straightforward, with several plot twisters (hehe, wind pun!). I enjoyed the book from start to finish, and wanted to keep reading. I read this book from cover to cover in one sitting, which was nice. I can't wait to read the second book! Which is hilarious, because I'm reading it tomorrow.

What I Did Not Like:

As I said before, I think the romance was a bit insta-lovey. Like, immediately upon seeing Audra, Vane sees to become obsessed with her. I know he's been seeing her in his dreams for years and all, but he just becomes ENAMORED. Audra falls in love more gradually, which was nice (and interesting) to see.

I'm also kind of mad at Audra, for basically causing everything (she didn't REALLY, but that's how it seems). Like, a bird is not that important. But then I'm also mad at another people, like Audra's mother, for being a jerk, and Raiden, for being power hungry in general. I guess I don't like these events and characters, but I see their purpose. Sort of.

And I mentioned that the plot was a bit simplistic - meaning, the majority of the book was spent following Vane's training with Audra. Cool, but at the same time, can other things happen? Also, I'm a bit confused about how everything went down in the end, but I'm just going to roll with it and read the second book. Sounds like a plan, right? Right.

Also, I think the majority of the Windwalkers are full of BS. They want to pin the future of their race on one boy, on one person. They have all these rules and terms and conditions laid out for him, his entire life planned for him. It's like he's going to magically adjust to being a Windwalker (after seventeen years of NOT using his wind-related abilities), and he's definitely going to leave his old life behind and agree to everything they want to do (including that bit with Solana... um, NO). Full of BS, I say.

Would I Recommend It:

I would definitely recommend this book to fans of a good forbidden romance! And the paranormal aspect is pretty cool. And Messenger does a really great job of creating a contemporary world with a paranormal aspect (or a paranormal world with a contemporary feel? Whatever). 

Rating:

3.5 stars -> rounded up to 4 stars. This book was pretty great! I can't wait to read the sequel. Check out my review, coming tomorrow (February 17th) on my blog!

Author Blog | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Was this review helpful? Please let me know in the comments section!

Waiting on Wednesday (#1): Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. 


This week I'm featuring:

Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

Book One of the Let the Sky Fall series
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: March 5, 2013

Summary from Goodreads:

A broken past and a divided future can’t stop the electric connection of two teens in this “charged and romantic” (Becca Fitzpatrick), lush novel.

Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.

Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She’s also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between them.

Author Blog | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

I AM SO READY TO READ THIS BOOK!!!! March 5th could not come fast enough!