I forgot to leave a review for this, but I really enjoyed it! It's been out for ages, so I won't say much more than I need to for my star rating. <3

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

DNF

This has been sitting on my currently reading shelf for months. I think it's finally time I admit to myself that it's just not working out.

Unfortunately I can't get into this. It's been sitting on my TBR for ages, and while the concept sounds amazing, (and I'm not saying I won't ever finish it) for now, I have to set it aside. I got about 100 pages in and was enjoying the characters and the world as a whole, but right now my mind cannot process these massive, intricate fantastical worlds with a million threads running through them.
This truly does sound amazing, and I'm definitely interested in finishing it in the future.

I enjoyed reading this book which is about four teens who all try to steal the same sword at the bottom of a tomb. First let me tell you that this book is a giant. I was a little nervous it was going to be very long and might be very slow which I was kind of right about. I didn't mind the book being very long but the book in the beginning was a little slow. It was a little hard to get into but once everything started I was more interested in it and didn't care about the length or anything like that. Even though the pacing was a little slow in the beginning, it did introduce you to the new world in a proper way where it familiarized you with the world. I enjoyed the author's writing for most parts including all of those great action scenes.

This book has four POVs. I have to say that it was very hard to figure out who was speaking because the pov would change in mid chapter and I would be so confused with what was going on. I didn't know if the final copy would have the character's name but it was very difficult to know if I was in the right character's mind. From what I could tell, the characters did have a good development in the book but I didn't feel really connected to them because of the confusion with POVS. There were also some great side characters in this book that I enjoyed so a plus to that. There is also romance in this book where 2 of them have a slow burn and the other have a fake relationship which is my favorite trope.

The ending was well done for this book and doesn't leave with a cliffhanger but I think this book is having a sequel. I only had some minor problems with this book like the characters and the pacing of the book but overall this was a great book. I will be reading the sequel if there is one but I might need to reread this book just to see if I comprehended everything perfectly. I still recommend reading this book which gave me vibes from There Will Come a Darkness and is similar to Six of Crows.

Really enjoyed this!

I will update the review with the link to on our blog as soon as I can.

I'd like to thank the publisher Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, Margaret K. McElderry Books and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I definitely requested this book just because of its cover and let me say, I was not disappointed. I went in completely blind and it was great! I love the world, and I'm obsessed with the characters.

So I am very sorry to say that I didn't really love this book. It was impossible for me to get past a certain point because there is SO much info-dumping and the shifting around of POVs makes that incredibly confusing for me.

I really tried to like this book with all of the hype I had heard about it, but I couldn't even get past the first chapter. Usually, all books I read get a 100 page trial before I give up, but I was just so bored, un-invested with the characters and the story that I couldn't go on; it was torture. It pains me to write bad reviews because I know how hard it is to write a novel and that authors pour their hearts and souls into their books, but, wow.

Anwei and Knox are thieves. Knox is a Devoted soldier for the Warlord and Anwei found him passed out on the ground a year ago. They’ve been companions ever since. Anwei is a dirty witch and she poses as a Goddess in a temple. When people place letters or coins at the statue of the goddess, a temple servant places them in a specific hidden spot for Anwei (the goddess) to gather. She also receives requests in the same way, asking her to steal items for people. Anwei has kept Knox hidden from the warlord’s search for him. In return, Knox helps with her reconnaissance and safety.

Lia has been with the Devoted since they took her at the age of eleven and she’s miserable. She’s supposed to be helping with the search for Knox and she’s sees a bit of his aura and wonders how he’s keeping it hidden. Lia escapes with her sister after Ewan, a fellow Devoted, attacks her. Lia and Ari run to their father’s house to hide. Their father wants to keep his title of power and he’s struggling to find a way to heal his sick wife. This story weaves several characters’ lives together to build a complex plot that all makes sense at the end of this book but the story will continue in a sequel. Lia, Anwei, Knox and Mateo will find themselves entwined in a devious, greedy plan for power. Rich world building and complicated story kept me riveted, 5 stars!

She Who Rides the Storm, by author Caitlin Sangster, is the first part of a two part duology that alternates between four key main characters. Anwei is a healer who is obsessed with tracking down the person who killed her brother and forced her into fleeing her home. She is a thief to both make money and secretly find information to help her achieve this revenge. Knox, Anwei's friend and partner in crime, is a runaway from the Devoted, living in fear of discovery. He hears voices of both his dead sister and the goddess he serves.

Meanwhile, Knox’s former best friend, Lia, struggles with the weight of her oaths to the Devoted, the heavy sacrifices they have required, and is pushed to the limits when she learns she is supposed to be a womb for the next generation of Devoted. Mateo is an archaeologist student searching for a cure for his fatal wasting sickness, unsure whether to believe legends of curses that follow from interfering with a shapeshifters burial place. I shall that this story was excessively long. One could have edited out several hundred pages and still been a good story.

In the land of Chaol, the world is divided amongst The Commonwealth, The Devoted and a remnant of Basists. The Devoted are those blessed with powers gifted by the Goddess Calsta, goddess of sun and storm, and Basists are natural born healers/witches who are feared for their connection to the hated shapeshifters. Followers of the first, due to fear of the shapeshifter kings of old, who were cruel and bloodthirsty, hunt the ones that follow the latter.

Anwei and Knox wouldn’t hesitate to drop everything if the other person was in trouble, even if it was at the cost of their own life. Anwei helped hide Knox from the Warlord, he will help her with her side business even with conflicting voices chirping in his head. Mateo and Lia encounter began with a near blackmail type marriage arrangement by Mateo's father, but again not the typical arrangements we see. The two spent more time together and better understood each other; they grew from annoyed acquaintances to at least friends.

This book is pitched as having a high-stakes heist that can be compared to Six of Crows. However, the heist element in the story was rather unimportant until a good chunk of the book in and then ends in a spectacular way with a cliffhanger ending. The characters are well written, with enough depth to set them apart from each other as well as make their dynamics interesting, and with enough motivation for each to have good reason to get involved at all.

As a side note, I did not check first before requesting this title. I was was a bit depressed knowing that this wasn't a standalone but part of a duology. One can only hope that the author doesn't write another 600 page monstrosity.

2.5 stars - I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately I just didn't click with the story. It felt like the author created this really cool world (that's mainly what my stars are based from) and then tried to fit *all* the fantasy tropes into one giant plot. A chosen one who escapes, a girl who doesn't know how powerful she is, boy who's besties with said girl and during their escapades realizes he loves her, girl is also on a lifelong vengeance pursuit for the man who killed her brother, looming god wars, tomb quest, kind-of-a heist, villain hiding in plain sight, and probably a few others I've forgotten.

I know there are a lot of fantasy books/series out there who can, and can do it well, have numerous tropes and plot lines and big casts of characters and tie everything together in a cohesive and well-paced way but alas, in my opinion, this isn't one of them.

4.5 Stars

Wow, this book is INCREDIBLE! It’s long as heck but totally worth it. How am I supposed to wait for the sequel?!

She Who Rides the Storm follows four individuals, who have more in common than they could know. Anwei and Knox are partners, thieves in the night with the goal to finally save enough money to leave the country. Knox is a runaway Devoted, yet he still has the power of the goddess Calsta flowing within him. Ever since his sister was murdered, her ghost has haunted his mind, waiting to strike. Anwei has a forbidden kind of magic that comes from the nameless god, and for seven years she has hunted the man who killed her brother. As a Devoted, Knox was tasked with hunting those with Anwei’s kind of magic – the Basists – but Anwei makes him question if Basists are truly bound to evil as the Warlord says.

Lia is a Devoted until she is forced to run away as well, losing Calsta’s power in the process. As she seeks out Knox for help, she encounters Mateo, an aukincer’s son, whose father arranges an ultimatum: Lia will marry Mateo in exchange for her safety. All comes back to the shapeshifter tomb recently discovered in the area, and the ancient sword said to lay at the bottom. As an excavation and a heist ensue, secrets are uncovered, the fabric of their truths unravel, and these four lives weave together in ways they could never have imagined.

I’m going to be entirely honest: I’m not sure that summary made any sense at all, or if it truly captured the essence of this book. This story is so intricately told, all the threads subtly weaving together until they’re suddenly a complex and detailed tapestry of backstories, secrets revealed, and questions answered. As I said before, this book is incredibly long – about six hundred pages – so I’ll admit, it would have been a near-impossible feat for this book to <i>not</i> drag a little. However, it is such a fascinating read even when it’s slow, and the world-building (while confusing at first) quickly becomes easy to understand.

The characters contribute to the complexity of this story, as well. They all have so much depth, and their conflicts (external and internal) are fleshed-out and heart-breaking; I just fell in love with all of them; even the side characters were interesting and had their own storylines influencing the novel’s entirety. There’s an extra element of the goddess Calsta interfering with human affairs, and it’s interesting how she is presented and how your perspective of her changes throughout the book.

“‘To save my sister, I have to keep my oath to love only Calsta. And every day I’m with you, I break it.’”

Last but certainly not least, there’s a little romance! You know I love that 😉. But really, the two relationships unfolding simultaneously were well-developed and sweet, and I loved all the moments they had together, along with the complexities making the relationships difficult. But neither pair gets together – they don’t even kiss! – so when can we see that sequel, Caitlin Sangster?

I one hundred percent recommend this novel, if you don’t mind lengthy and intricate fantasy stories. This book is truly incredible and has all the elements to make this the next young adult fantasy sensation!

There's two notable things about this book - the similarities to Six Of Crows and the fact that it's a good 600 pages long. The latter has had me complaining for a good week, and I'm glad to finish it, because the plot honestly did not need any more than 400 pages and I ended up skim reading the last 5 percent just to finish it.

The plot was quite confusing, you had Gods that can speak to humans, shapeshifters and a bunch of warrior kids in the center of it all trying to find a way to live, trying find a lost brother, trying to find themselves. In a stark contrast however, the world building wasn't practically none existent and the teens never left the town this story was set in.

What did pull me into this story and kept me reading was the four teens - Mateo, Anwei, Knox and Lia. They were so well written, I was invested in their stories and I rooted for them and worried about them throughout the story. It's just a real shame that the rest of the story was so lacking, and I will struggle to decide if I want to continue the series.

Thank you NetGalley for sending this arc for an honest review!

A book about shapeshifting monsters that use blasphemous magic that feed on the souls of their subjects? Yea. Bizarre. This is an epic fantasy read, that empowers the body of change, love, frienship and family. It was such a joy to read this book because it’s been a long time since I read a ya fantasy that brought so much joy and sadness at the same time. It was incredible learning about each individual charcater and watching them become a family in ways they never thought they could be in.

"There was no escape."

Anwei is on a mission to find the one that killed her twin, and along the way, she meets Knox, Lia, and Mateo. Each of them has their own goal and will not stop until they find answers. Political intrigue, magic, love, and revenge are all blended together in She Who Rides the Strom.

The premise of this book sounded so intriguing, and the story did not disappoint! With a great cast of characters and various points of view, the story progresses along nicely. It was great reading about a group of misfits that are like a family.

Thank you to Margaret K. McElderry Books (Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing) and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance reader copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

DNF Unfortunately I could immediately tell that this book was not for me. It felt really generic and predictable. The world-building and magic were just told to the reader without much integration into the story. If I'd pushed myself through it I think it would have been fine, probably a 3 star read. But I do not have the mental energy to force myself to read another YA fantasy that I'm not invested in.

2 STARS

Outside the city of Chaol, an archaeological dig of untold importance has begun.

A healer, a soldier, an archaeologist, a seer. By all means, they should be at odds with one another. After all, they want the same cursed sword from the tomb of a shapeshifter king of old. And if that means waking up a soul-stealing terror from centuries ago, so be it. If it means clashing with the Warlord who rules the region and could seal their fates, it's worth the risk.

But the tombs' traps and the Warlord's wrath aren't the only risks involved. Everyone involved has their own secrets threatening to come to light. Old enemies hunt them, buried pasts haunt them, and over it all, a god watches without intervening, her guidance slim but her presence unmissable.

One way or another, they'll all make their way into the shapeshifter's tomb. What they find there, though, could change their world for good.


On the surface, She Who Rides the Storm has a fascinating concept.

The summary, in truth, had me absolutely enamored. Not only do I love heist stories, I love heist stories with competing characters and only one prize to be had. And more than that, I love an unusual cast. I mean, when's the last time you read a fantasy book that featured an archaeologist as a main character? That's certainly not at all common, so I was more than ready to give it a try, even before capping it off with shapeshifter magic and whatnot.

And it delivered, in some senses! The archaeology part I'm especially soft on, especially with a mix of preservation versus traps. It really has an adventurous thrill to it while also exploring how fantasy archaeology could even work, and I loved that angle. Maybe it's a little over-specific, a little niche, but let me have my fun.

She Who Rides the Storm also gave me Anwei, a healer who just wants revenge for the death of her twin brother. And being the soft-hearted oldest sibling that I am, I latched onto her, craved her success, worried for her safety. Plus, I love healer characters who aren't afraid to roll up their sleeves and get dirty. Gentle, soft, timid healers are out, and clever, sharp healers are in. I don't make the rules, folks, I just share them.


However, this book suffers from an unbearable slowness.

Keep in mind I'm a fast reader. Nevertheless, She Who Rides the Storm took me nearly seven hours to finish reading. In that time, there was a painful amount of fresh terminology dropped with very delayed explanation (I still don't know why soldiers under the Warlord are called Roosters if they don't possess magic), as well as some jagged POV swapping. I was bounced around through so much without time to really grasp what was going on, and it took time to find my footing, which can be frustrating when the plot is already apparently underway.

Then again, I say "apparently" because the plot did take ages. In setting up four different POVs, She Who Rides the Storm manages to drag the overall plot out. More than once, I felt like some scenes could have been condensed or combined or omitted or something without sacrificing too much value, and instead of asking myself "ooh, what happens next?" I asked more "when will this part be over and we get to something interesting?"

And it certainly didn't help that so much of the plot ultimately hinges on "I can't tell you, and I can't tell you why I can't tell you." That's far and away one of my least favorite excuses for characters to keep secrets, and it also manage to underwhelm some of the late reveals. If I'd know a little more, seen hints of a little more, maybe those reveals would have punched harder, been more satisfying.

Really, though, I'm just confused as to why I spent so long on this book. If I was the kind of person who DNFs books, I think this would have been a DNF for sure.


This is a book for readers with patience.

Since She Who Rides the Storm ends in a way that promises at least one more book, it's a long ride for only partial payoff. If you have the patience to sift through it all, absorb it all, then wait for another title, kudos to you! You might really like this one!

For me, though, it was a swing and a miss. A perfect example of great concept, iffy execution. I don't see myself coming back for the second book even though I do want to know some of the character resolutions, because reading this book feels, ultimately, like a waste of my time. There are better books I could have been reading in the seven hours I was reading this, and that's a bummer.


CW: violence, loss of a loved one, gore, sexual assault, graphic injury, child death, implied suicide

[This review will go live on Hail & Well Read at 6:00pm EST on 9/26/21.]

As much as the synopsis of this book pulled me in, the reality is it is too long and filled with irrelevant information. If the story could be condensed into to faster paced book it would make a world of difference.

In this 600-page tome, we are promised a haunted and malevolent sword, tomb raider vibes with some strong heist energy, and partnership based on deep trust despite the multitude of secrets that try to stand in the way.

I was a bit overwhelmed by the world-building at first, not because of a complex system but because of presentation. It's an ultimately simplistic system with two groups of magic users serving different gods. One group, The Devoted, works for the government and is bound by oaths to receive powers from their patron goddess, Calsta. They trade for magical abilities by abstaining from specific joys and experiences. On the other hand, the Basists don't give up anything for the power they receive from the nameless god. Too much power corrupts them, and they become soul-sucking shapeshifters.

Sadly, this didn't deliver on its promise for me. The magic of a heist story relies on nailing its crucial elements. Our pair of thieves don't genuinely start pulling together a crew until the second half of the book, and there's no snarky banter or emotional attachment to convince me to pledge my loyalty to the group. The meandering pace is at odds with the kind of fun, over-the-top, sneaky action plots I seek out in a heist. The book also attempts romantic tropes for two pairs of characters that should have drawn me in: forbidden love, fake engagement/courtship, opposites attract, yet the delivery was so dry that it didn't spark any excitement in me to see it on the page.

My opinion of this one is that there wasn't enough content to fill a book of this size, meaning that there was a lot of filler and dawdling storytelling to take up the extra space. I love a long book if the emotions, characters, and world make me want to stay for the duration. This one was a miss for me because I did not want to stay so long; it was more a trap than an escape.