⭐⭐.5
Genre(s): YA, Fantasy
Format: Ebook
Girls of Storm and Shadow is the second book in a trilogy directly following the events of the first book, Girls of Paper and Fire. After the events of the prior book and the attempted assassination of the king, Lei and Wren flee the palace to Wren’s home to recover. However, once news breaks out that the king is still alive and dangerous, Lei, Wren, and their allies embark on a new journey to seek revenge against the king for his many crimes towards them and many others. They travel across many lands to seek aid from other regions to overtake the kingdom, but secrets revealed on the way makes Lei question everything – from the motivations of her allies to the conflicts she is about to enter.
I was originally intrigued by this trilogy because of its’ dealings with more mature topics – namely, the depictions of sexual assault and the resulting trauma. The book remained on my mind for a long time as it depicted these themes in YA in such a way that I have never read before. That being said, when Girls of Storm and Shadow came out just a week ago, I knew I wanted to pick it up and continue the trilogy. Sadly, it was not what I expected.
The first book in this trilogy actually could have worked as a standalone. It could have worked as a duology as well. But when a book like this expands into a trilogy or further, there is a lot of story to be drawn out, and it’s very difficult to do. Unfortunately, I didn’t find this story to be the one to draw into a trilogy. A very large portion of this story felt either repetitive or contained filler, and the other portion could have made it into what will be the third book. Most of the scenes in this book entail either connecting with leaders in different regions, facing an attack, or traveling. The whole book is not skippable as there is some important information revealed about some of the characters, but a good portion of this book felt lacking in terms of content.
My main expectations for this book that was not met was the tone that was set in Girls of Paper and Fire, and the elaboration on the post-traumatic experiences of Lei and Wren. Girls of Paper and Fire had a very distinct atmosphere, and that added to the overall intensity of the book and the character’s experiences. That being said, I expected at least similar in Girls of Storm and Shadow. In fact, I almost felt as if I was reading a book from a different series. What differed the most here was the excessive use of comedic relief and banter between some of the characters on their journey. I understand the purposes of comedic relief, especially in books that tackle dark topics, but I found much of this dialogue to not be appropriate for the settings they were in. Additionally, it caused this odd tone shift where the book felt more like it was about a bunch of friends traveling and having fun, rather than the very large issue(s) at hand.
Because of the above issues, I wished that more time would have been spent on the trauma that Lei and Wren were going through after escaping the palace. We do get some scenes for this, and the author did mention that one of her goals was to emphasize long-term trauma after sexual assault (while the first book focuses on short-term trauma). I felt that there could have been more for this, or at least what we have should have been drawn out more. What Lei and Wren felt got much less attention in the book than it should have, given that it is a big focal point in the trilogy. However, we do get many scenes between Lei and Wren, and the troubles they face with communication and getting to know each other in ways that they never have before.
Overall, most of the book’s faults can be attributed to it being the second in the series, making me wish that it was a duology instead. However, I do anticipate the third and final book to be more cohesive in terms of its storyline. One chapter in this book features the girls that were left behind at the palace, so we’ll likely see more of them in the third book. Additionally, the third book ends in such a way that will point to a lot needing to happen in order to wrap up the trilogy. So I will be continuing with this series, and despite the above, do anticipate a solid ending.
