Girls of Storm and Shadow

“Girls of Storm and Shadow” by Natasha Ngan follows Lei and Wren after their escape from the palace following the assasination of the bull king. Their mission, to secure allies to help take the throne and the kingdom, breaking it back into territories overseen by each clan. The problem...the bull king, he isn’t dead. 

Oh my god!!!! This novel is 10000% better than the first one in the series, and that one was incredible. I love watching Lei’s character become more rounded. Lei doesn’t take everything at face value, she asks questions no matter how tough. She is supportive and encouraging and loyal as hell to Wren. But, she doesn’t stop asking questions, she doesn’t stop determining right and wrong for herself. 

There was so much adventure in this book, it was constant and it was intense and I loved every minute of it. Some books THAT intense can be really stressful and you need an entire day afterward to recover before you can even consider reading again. This is not one of those books, I did not get the dreaded book hangover. No, I grabbed my phone intent on instantly ordering the third novel in the series, only to find out that it has not been written yet...I mean considering it’s release date I’m sure Ngan has written a few drafts of it so far, but it has not been published yet. It’s not set to be published until close to the end of the year...did I scream? Yes..Did I throw a tantrum for the rest of the day? It’s highly possible. 

I consoled myself by ordering this novel for my sister as she started reading the first (completely coincidentally) right after I finished it. I mean we’re sisters who both like fantasy and have both been trying to consciously diversify our reading, I’m not in the least surprised that we ended up with the exact same novel without thinking about it. 

I cannot wait to find out more about Lei, Wren honestly after this second novel is kind of on my shit list. I understand family loyalty...to a point but at some point you have to choose, and if you choose wrong, well...I lose respect for you as a character and I’m ready for you to disappear so I can focus on Lei. Lei is a beautiful character, she tries so hard to be a good person, to do the right thing. To fight for her family and those she cares about. 

I wouldn’t mind some of the other characters introduced in this novel, coming back in the third….though some of my favorites died and it broke my freaking heart. I won’t say who because that would spoil things and I don’t want to make anyone prematurely sad. 

Ngan’s fantasy world is incredible, if you read fantasy, you NEED to read this series.