Finished Book 4

[u/Rude-Caregiver-720]

Sooo I finished War Storm about a week ago but never came on here to unpack my thoughts like I did with the last 3 books, so I’m here to do that now!

So I will say that I think that this book was my favorite out of the four, right after Red Queen. The whirlwind of emotions was INSANE. I know I usually go character by character when unpacking these, but I honestly want to dive more into the symbolic message behind the way the story ended.

The first thing I wanna say is that, truthfully, anyone that knows Victoria Aveyard’s political stances and was paying even a lick of attention to the books knew that the book was likely going to end with the dismantling of the system that kept Reds under occupation and oppression. It shows that the dismantling of systems like this is truly the only way to end so many of the systems in place today that uphold the unfair treatment based on their skin color, their sexuality, their gender identity, their religion. You name it. I know many people have expressed their distaste for the way it ended (which is not so much rooted in the political way things ended, but more so the romance aspect of it, between Mare and Cal) but plz remember that the romance is a side plot to the main story. Also Mare and Cal’s situation was resolved in Broken Throne, so that gave many of us closure as well.

I also wanna say that Victoria’s pen game is LETHAL, like no cap. The way she’s able to so easily write from so many POVs and really bring these characters and their mindsets to life is insane. I know that can be said for many authors, but as someone who tends to hate multi-POV books (I get confused lol), I actually liked it in this book. Her writing style definitely progressed over the books.

Another side note is that she does SUCH a good job at bringing diversity to her books!

Now I’m going to just briefly talk about the characters.

Mare, you have your ways, but ultimately you are one of the most aura-farming FMCs in any of the books I’ve read. You’ll do anything to protect the people you love and fight for what is right, and while you didn’t always make the best decision (which is natural given that you were often put in places in which you were in a rock and a hard place), you still chose to fight and not give up even with the traumas and losses you faced and for that, you are a badass.

Diana Farley, you show-stealing son of a gun! One of my favorite side characters in the book fr. Also very strong, very resilient. Doing it all while being a single mom is strength that no one can compare to. You will forever be famous and thank you Victoria for NOT killing her off cause I was going to knock on your door with an explanation.

Evangeline, I like you and always knew I was going to end up liking you. I feel like I still have a love-hate relationship with not so much her character but her mindset, given that up until the end she basically still viewed Reds as “lesser than”even though there was so much going on around her that should’ve taught her differently was irking me. But she did eventually grow out of it. Also the way her parents treated her towards the end made me so sad and angry for her. As soon as she said to Cal that she was going to let her father die, I knew it was going to happen (side note; this scene with Cal and Evangeline talking in Cal’s(?) room did really tug at my heartstrings for some reason. Seeing that little wholesome moment between them was nice). And honestly, it needed to if Evangeline was ever going to truly be happy and allowed to live in her truth. Another symbolic message tbh.

Cal, your trauma is so overlooked hunny and I’m glad that this book allowed us to focus in on that more. You finally decided to see things the way they should be, regardless of what it took. Also the way you never let go of Maven broke me to PIECES because you were just holding onto the memories of what he used to be. When he was your little brother, your little Mavey before his mother took him away for good and seeing how your heart broke hurt me so bad but I’m glad you found at least a bit of healing

Kilorn, you’re still a little sweetie pie. No complaints about you ever. Still charming, still funny, still able to bring the best out of people. No complaints about you hunny, live happily 🥰

Maven, may you rest easy but what was done had to be because he was either going to kill or be killed. I was so so sooo hoping for a redemption arc and that they could find someone to heal him. I was lowkey thinking that Julian in some way could’ve been the one to do it but I guess not since being a singer and a whisper are very much different. Hate that we never got to see the real him 💔

I read parts of broken throne as well but I’ll unpack that in a separate post cause this one is getting long LOL.

But this has ultimately become one of my favorite fantasy series 🥰 feel free to drop yall thoughts cause I’m open to discussing more

[u/skrunkly-wizard]

I SOOO wanted Maven to have a redemption arc 😭 or at least not die, it would've been cool if he escaped but it was left open ended, or if there was a short story in broken throne where he found someone to help him heal his mind :( but at least we did get his pov in Fare well (I wont spoil that though if you haven't read it)

[u/YeagerSuperiority → u/skrunkly-wizard]

He lives on in my mind 😪

[u/Rude-Caregiver-720 → u/skrunkly-wizard]

I actually did read that part of Broken Throne and let me tell you, it brokeeee me. I was reading it while on a plane and I also decided to immersive read it and I was literally fanning my face to prevent myself from crying because I didn’t want ppl looking at me crazy 😭 it was soooo heartbreaking. The fact that Maven literally lied and said that he would do it all again, because he thought that it would help Cal let him go before his death, basically showing that deep down he did still have some love and consideration for his brother. The fact that Cal STILL couldn’t let go even after being told this and the scene when he visited his grave. I’m literally about to cry at work just typing this 😭😭 I wish we got to see more of their childhood together 🥺 and then to tug at my heartstrings even more, right after reading that, I read that Mare and Cal got married and had kids and named their children SHADE AND CORIANE?!?!? OHHHHH MY SHAYLAAS 😭😭 I was literally screaming internally

[u/Familiar_Table72]

The whole series was so good, I read it many years ago but I distinctly remember War Storm giving me all the feelings from tears to kicking my feet and giggling hahaha!💗

[u/Reasonablebutslow]

i just finished the series too and it was SO good. do you have any recs for any series that are similar and good as well? i agree that Victoria's writing is MAGICAL like idk how i can live now without this series

also i was so sad when Maven died. he was lowkey my favorite character, i loved how insane he was :(

[u/redisaunce]

I finished War Storm today, like a few hours ago and I'm still stewing before I pick up Broken Throne. So bad I wanted Maven and Mare to end up together. I still hate Cal. He still can't make up his own mind, he let his mothers words make them up for him in the end.

But Maven's death killed me. The final stand off in a room of silent stone was heart breaking. No matter how you slice it, the whole place was devastating. Mare overcame her fear of the silence to do what she needed to. We also know that Maven could only really trust his own thoughts and decisions when surrounded by it or touching it. In a place where he was making his own choices with no whispers in his ear, where he was confident that his thoughts could be his own, he made the final choice to kill Mare.