Georgia Kostopoulou

“War Storm” is the fourth and final instalment in the “Red Queen” series and I’m not exactly sure how I feel about it. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed going through the story, however, sometimes it just felt a little dull. Series endings should be spectacular to me and this one did not live up to my expectations. Let me get you through my line of thinking.

“Ignorance is a burden I do not intend to carry.”
― Victoria Aveyard, War Storm

The book starts really well off, picking up from where “King’s Cage” left the story. Maven must be overthrown and his kingdom must be no more. At least that is what Mare Barrow and the Reds and Newbloods are all about. Freedom must be secured for everyone, all those people that lived under the Silvers’ thrall. However, unexpected alliances were forged in the previous instalment and they are not all in favor of that plan. But in order for Mare to achieve her plans, she need to side with the boy that broke her heart to stop the boy that almost broke her. But in the end, she is destined

“To rise. And rise alone.”
― Victoria Aveyard, War Storm

Or at least that is what the author has planned. She actually named the series “Red Queen” but hey, here’s what we find in front of us while reading it:

“I will not be a red queen”
― Victoria Aveyard, War Storm

as Mare states that she doesn’t want another Kingdom of Norta. That she wants a democracy as in The Free Republic of Montfort, the one the Premier Davidson leads, the one she had a chance to get a closer look and understand how different that is from a Kingdom and how closer it is to what she and the Scarlet Guard are fighting for. It’s a place they dream of, where Reds, Newbloods and Solvers coexist. Where everyone is free to chose how they want to live and with whom, that pretty much looks like something of our era. But how could she possibly achieve that with only the Scarlet Guard? So she sides with everyone that is against Maven, their common enemy, expecting it to go south at some point.

“Change can be quick, or it can be slow. But the movement should always be forward”
― Victoria Aveyard, War Storm

To say that I don’t like Mare is an understatement. I don’t know if it is my age or hers, my way of thinking in contrast to hers, but I find her really annoying. She is supposed to be fighting for her people, all those Reds that suffered under the Silvers reign, but it feels that she only cares about herself and maybe her family. Thankfully, hers was not the only POV we had in this book. There were also Evangeline’s, Iris’s, Cal’s and Maven’s which gave a more holistic view of the story. We get to see what everyone else thinks and how they feel about all that takes place. In the very first book I liked Mare and didn’t like Evangeline. Now, in the fourth book, I find myself to make a 180 degree turn and like Evangeline instead. She looks so much more vulnerable but determine to do all she can for those she loves. Her love for her brother is admirable.

“Love can be exploited, I guess, used to manipulate. It’s leverage. But I would never call loving someone else a weakness. I think living without love at all, any kind of love, is weakness. And the worst kind of darkness.”
― Victoria Aveyard, War Storm

What made up for all the annoying things in this book was the ending. It is as if some sense was talked into their minds at the very end.