Let the Wind Rise by Shannon Messenger

Series: Sky Fall (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance

Subjects: sylphs, weather, elementals, abilities, mythology, supernatural, love

Setting: in the desert of Southern California, and on Mount Washington and in Nebraska and Oklahoma

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, present tense, rotating between Vane and Audra

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 407 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Simon and Schuster: Simon Pulse

Summary/ product description: “Vane Weston is haunted. By the searing pull of his bond to Audra. By the lies he’s told to cover for her disappearance. By the treacherous winds that slip into his mind, trying to trap him in his worst nightmares. And as his enemies grow stronger, Vane doesn't know how much longer he can last on his own.

But Audra’s still running. From her past. From the Gales. Even from Vane, who she doesn't believe she deserves. And the farther she flees, the more danger she finds. She possesses the secret power her enemy craves, and protecting it might be more than she can handle—especially when she discovers Raiden’s newest weapon.

With the Gale Force weakened by recent attacks, and the power of four collapsing, Vane and Audra are forced to make a choice: keep trusting the failing winds, or turn to the people who've betrayed them before. But even if they survive the storms sent to destroy them, will they have anything left to hold on to?”

My Review:  Let the Wind Rise is the 3^rd and final book in the Sky Fall trilogy. I waited so long to finally read this series. I decided to series-binge it. I had copies of the first 2 books autographed and sitting on my shelf for a long time. I bought the 3rd book. I picked the perfect time of year to read this because it's set in summertime, in the desert of Southern California. If you have not read Let The Sky Fall and love paranormal romance and fantasy, then check it out. It’s very unique, since it’s about Sylphs, which are wind elementals. There’s a lot of cool Air-bender stuff, like controlling the winds and making tornadoes.

The series is told from the perspectives of two main characters, Vane and Audra. I really like Vane. He reminds me of Ethan Wate from Beautiful Creatures, or David from Steehert (The Reckoners) by Brandon Sanderson, and Percy Jackson or Magnus Chase from Rick Riordan’s series. He’s a Westerly and wasn’t aware of it for the last ten years until Audra triggered a break though and told him. Audra is pretty awesome too. She’s a tough fighter, a guardian and an Easterly. They fall in love, even though Vane is betrothed to a princess named Solana. There’s this evil sylph named Raiden who killed her parent and took over they’re castle. Vane must help Audra and the Gale Force defeat him. This series has a lot of action and humor and fantasy elements. I especially love Vane’s inner monologue and his dialogue. He is hilarious. I wish I could get a boyfriend like him. I wouldn’t want him to be lazy, but Vane’s defiantly not that lazy anymore. Audra is such a bad-a, and totally got his butt into shape.

If you have not read the series, then stop reading this review now.

In this final book, Audra is now Raiden’s prisoner, as well as Gus, a young member of the Gale Force and Vane’s new guardian. Audra bonded with Vane through a kiss at the end of the first book and through that bond she knows the Westerly language that Raiden desire to learn. Audra decides to break that bond to protect the language and it works. She forgets Westerly completely. She’s also afraid that breaking her bond will affect Vane’s love for her.

Meanwhile, Vane is planning with the Gale Force and now the leader, Os, decides he wants to teach them the power of pain, which means ruining the wind, breaking it. This is because the wind spikes that Vane wove with the power of four didn’t seem to be defeating the living storms, so Os have to break a Northerly within it to make it work. Vane is completely against this evil power of pain stuff. He wants to find a better way, or at least someone who won’t become a crazy power addict using it. So he seeks out Aston, an ex-Gale and ex-captive to Raiden and his awful torcher. Aston has experience with the power of pain and really wants Raiden dead. They also need Arella, Audra’s criminal mother, and Solana to help them. Vane, Solana, Aston, and Arella plan a rescue mission to save Audra and Gus, while Audra and Gus are trying their best to find a way to escape on their own.

And the escape is only part of the book. The rest of the book is an action-packed finally that will keep your heart racing till the very end. Will Vane be able to kill Raiden? Will Audra ever forgive her mother? Will Vane and Audra restore their bond? So many questions. Trust mean, the ending will leave you breathless. Will Vane and Audra get what they deserve? I will say I am pleased with the ending.

Cover Art Review: The cover is kind of cool, but the type choice seems to conflict with the image. It almost feels like a cover from a fantasy book from a decade or more ago. Or even more like a middle grade book.

Let the Storm Break by Shannon Messenger

Series: Sky Fall (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance

Subjects: sylphs, weather, elementals, abilities, mythology, supernatural, love

Setting: in the desert of Southern California

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, present tense, rotating between Vane and Audra

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 381 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover originally, now in Paperback

List Price: $17.99/$9.99

Publisher: Simon and Schuster: Simon Pulse

Summary/ product description: “Vane Weston is haunted. By the searing pull of his bond to Audra. By the lies he’s told to cover for her disappearance. By the treacherous winds that slip into his mind, trying to trap him in his worst nightmares. And as his enemies grow stronger, Vane doesn't know how much longer he can last on his own.

But Audra’s still running. From her past. From the Gales. Even from Vane, who she doesn't believe she deserves. And the farther she flees, the more danger she finds. She possesses the secret power her enemy craves, and protecting it might be more than she can handle—especially when she discovers Raiden’s newest weapon.

With the Gale Force weakened by recent attacks, and the power of four collapsing, Vane and Audra are forced to make a choice: keep trusting the failing winds, or turn to the people who've betrayed them before. But even if they survive the storms sent to destroy them, will they have anything left to hold on to?”

My Review:  I waited so long to finally read this series. I decided to series-binge it. I had copies of the first 2 books autographed and sitting on my shelf for a long time. I bought the 3rd book. I picked the perfect time of year to read this because it's set in summertime, in the desert of Southern California. I read the first book, but decided to just do a full review of the second book.

If you have not read Let The Sky Fall and love paranormal romance and fantasy, then check it out. It’s very unique, since it’s about Sylphs, which are wind elementals. There’s a lot of cool Air-bender stuff, like controlling the winds and making tornadoes. I’m not a fan of tornadoes, but I would definitely like it if I could control them. I definitely recommend it if you like books about people who can control the elements or do magic.

I love the characters. There are not many of them, so they are very easy to keep track of. The series is told from the perspectives of two main characters, Vane and Audra. I really like Vane. He reminds me of Ethan Wate from Beautiful Creatures and Percy Jackson. He’s a Westerly and wasn’t aware of it for the last ten years until Audra triggered a break though and told him. Audra is pretty awesome too. She’s a tough fighter, a guardian and an Easterly. I like the romance between them. It’s sweet, although it’s forbidden.

Audra can now understand Westerlies though her bond and seems to suddenly have the same aversion to violence that Vane has because of his Westerly nature. Audra is searching for something. She flew off somewhere and has been gone almost a month. Vane’s worried. He keeps having nightmare caused by Raiden (the evil Northerly who wants to capture him and torture the Westerly language out of him) and because of this he’s forcing himself to stay awake.

He’s got two Gale’s guarding him Feng and Gus. Gus is closer to his age and much more laid back and has a sense of humor. Feng trains Vane in fighting with Northerlies. I really like Gus too. He reminds me of Jace from the Mortal Instruments kind of. Vane’s adoptive parents now know about the Sylph, and are very supportive but also worried. Vane’s mother especially. Os, the leader of the Gales offers to take Vane to someplace where he can sleep without Raiden invading his dream, but it turn out to be a not-so-great place. Not dangerous for him, but it also holds a prison cell for a murderer.

When he gets back, he finally meets Solana. The Gale Force (the sylph military and guardian) seems to expect him to bond with Solana, the last descendent of the royal line and a Southerly. Vane and Audra already bonded though a kiss in the last book, and Vane is madly in love, so when he meets Solana, he kind of throw a fit. Vane’s stubborn and doesn’t want the Gale’s telling him what to do and who to love.

When Audra returns, everyone must prepare for battle against Raiden. Raiden now has an even darker power up his sleeve. One that turns Gales into weapons for his own use. When the battle begins, there’s no telling who will be left standing. This action-packed sequel will knock the wind out of you leaving you breathless and your head swirling for more.

Cover Art Review: I do like the old cover. It reminds me too much of the Hush, Hush series though. The newer cover is kind of cool, but the type choice seems to conflict with the image. It almost feels like a cover from a fantasy book from a decade or more ago. Or even more like a middle grade book.

Blood Passage by Heather Demetrios

Series: Dark Caravan Cycle (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance/Fantasy

Subjects: jinn, supernatural, magic, alternate worlds, mythology

Setting: Morocco, Africa and the Sahara Desert

POV/Tense: 3rd person past tense: Nalia, Raif, Malek, Zanari

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 481 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Balzer & Bray

Summary/ product description: “A jinni who's lost everything.

A master with nothing to lose.

A revolutionary with everything to gain.

When Nalia arrives in Morocco to fulfil Malek's third and final wish she's not expecting it to be easy. Though Nalia is free from the shackles that once bound her to Malek as his slave, she's in more danger than ever before.

Meanwhile, Malek's past returns with a vengeance as he confronts the darkness within himself, and Raif must decide what's more important: his love for Nalia, or his devotion to the cause of Arjinnan freedom.

Set upon by powerful forces that threaten to break her, Nalia encounters unexpected allies and discovers that her survival depends on the very things she thought made her weak. From the souks of Marrakech to the dunes of the Sahara, The Arabian Nights come to life in this dazzling second installment of the Dark Passage Cycle.”

My Review: Somehow I did not enjoy this sequel nearly as much as the first book. Possibly because I was so busy that I had a hard time finding time to read it and it took me five days to get through half of it and then I rushed the second half in one day. It is a very long book and the 3^rd person POV doesn’t help. Exquisite Captive was exciting and new and mixed contemporary paranormal romance with fantasy.

Blood Passage takes place mostly in Morocco, which is a very different place from LA. It’s where the portal to Arjinna is located. It’s also where Nalia, Raif, Malek, and Zanari starts their search for Soloman’s ring. I’ve never read a book set in Morocco, so I found this part pretty cool. Then they must travel through the Sahara to find it. Nalia is required to take Malek to its location because it was his 3^rd wish and she’s bound by wish magic. On their journey some people die, they meet Dhorma jinni, make allies and sacrifices. There are some heart-wrenching twists and sad parts.

I may have had a hard time getting into this sequel, but I still enjoy the world-building and characters in it. The different castes of Jinn are interesting. Most jinn can only use one element: water, fire, earth or air. Nalia can use all four. Her purple eye and powers make her a Ghan Assouri, and she’s the last her kind and the rightful empress, although she’d rather not rule. Raif is a Djan, as is Zanari. They have earth abilities and green eyes. Zanari can also remote view. Malek is par-djinn, or part-jinn. He’s half Ifrit, the fire users. I like Raif as a love interest, but I found Malek more interesting. He kind of reminded me of the bad-boy characters in other series, like Warner in Shatter Me. He’s not all bad. He’s definitely done bad, but in the end he’ll do the right thing to save Nalia.

I recommend this series to people who enjoy stories that have mythology. If you are interested in non-western myths especially. If you enjoyed City of a Thousand Dolls by Mirium Foster. If you enjoyed other book with Jinn/Genies. If you liked fantasy books like Snow Like Ashes, or Red Queen or The Young Elite. It you like book about elemental abilities like the House of Night series or Vampire Academy.

Cover Art Review: Simple, but not too exciting. The symbol on the cover makes sense though.