G430 Book Review of Storm Siren by Mary Weber
Author: Mary Weber
ISBN: 978-1-4016-9034-2
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Type of book: Fantasy, young adult, self versus society, acceptance, friendship, romance, hidden motives and powers
Year it was published: 2014
Summary:
“I raise my chin as the buyers stare. Yes. Look. You don’t want me. Because, eventually, accidentally, I will destroy you.”
In a world at war, a slave girl’s lethal curse could become one kingdom’s weapon of salvation. If the curse—and the girl—can be controlled.
As a slave in the war-weary kingdom of Faelen, seventeen-year-old Nym isn’t merely devoid of rights, her Elemental kind are only born male and always killed at birth — meaning, she shouldn’t even exist.
Standing on the auction block beneath smoke-drenched mountains, Nym faces her fifteenth sell. But when her hood is removed and her storm-summoning killing curse revealed, Nym is snatched up by a court advisor and given a choice: be trained as the weapon Faelen needs to win the war, or be killed.
Choosing the former, Nym is unleashed into a world of politics, bizarre parties, and rumors of an evil more sinister than she’s being prepared to fight . . . not to mention the handsome trainer whose dark secrets lie behind a mysterious ability to calm every lightning strike she summons.
But what if she doesn’t want to be the weapon they’ve all been waiting for?
Set in a beautifully eclectic world of suspicion, super abilities, and monsters, Storm Siren is a story of power. And whoever controls that power will win.
Characters:
The characters are fleshed out and one doesn't really know what to make of them. I have to say that the author is good at presenting the twists to the story and I wasn't able to find out what were their motivations. The main character is Nym, a young woman of seventeen years of age who is the only female elemental. Due to the fact that in her world the elementals are destroyed and to her life, she is very sarcastic, bitter, mournful, and is afraid of having people close to her. The other character includes her trainer who has a mysterious past of his own and isn't afraid of Nym's power. There is also another male student who is jovial, kind of a playboy and proves to be a good friend to Nym. He has the power of earthquakes. There is the mysterious noblewoman who dresses very extravagantly and sponsors Nym and the other student and Nym's servant and the male student's twin sister.
Theme:
Be proud of who you are
Plot:
The story is in the first person narrative from Nym's point of view. I appreciated that the author is good at filtering the details of necessary versus unnecessary when it comes to Nym's world which made it pretty easy to understand the dynamics and conflict. I really enjoyed getting to know Nym and her friends who happen to be well rounded characters and are likable. While I liked a lot of plots in the story, I really feel that the author should either not have had romance element to it, or maybe try to make the romance element more seamless. Other than that, a wonderful story.
Author Information:
(From goodreads.com)
url
https://www.goodreads.com/maryweber
gender
female
website
twitter username
genre
influences
member since
January 2011
Aside from here, I hang out on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, and my BLOG. Come say hi!
Officially though: Mary Weber is a ridiculously uncoordinated girl plotting to take over make-believe worlds through books, handstands, and imaginary throwing knives. In her spare time, she feeds unicorns, sings 80’s hairband songs to her three muggle children, and ogles her husband who looks strikingly like Wolverine. They live in California, which is perfect for stalking L.A. bands, Joss Whedon, and the ocean. Her debut YA fantasy novel, STORM SIREN, is available now in bookstores and online, and SIREN'S FURY (book 2 in the trilogy) will be out June, 2015 from TN HarperCollins.
Opinion:
I seriously regret that I took a long time to get around to this book, for it was an unexpected gift and something I tremendously enjoyed. Back then I think I was still kind of struggling with finding a balance between time and my voracious appetite, and at one point I read one chapter per week with books that I hadn't gotten around to reading it. However, I decided to start over and thoroughly enjoyed the story and the book. What tends to be a bit awkward for me is when fantasy or science fiction world is created, I am left in the dark as to how the world works and how it doesn't work. I often feel that for most science fiction and fantasy books, I need a lot of books to read to truly appreciate the story. This was not a case with Storm Siren, a simple, powerful and beautiful story of a young woman struggling between expectations and her inner nature. The author simplified the world and didn't add unnecessary details that would have gotten people lost, thus anyone can enjoy the story and discuss personality versus societal expectations.
This was sent from Wunderkind for review
4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
Comments
Post a Comment