The Storm Crow

The Storm Crow is one of those books I couldn’t put down. Thia’s battle with her emotions and her enemies is powerful and captivating. The action in this novel is beautifully written and full of fantastical elements. I became so engrossed in the world and characters that there were times I forgot I was in the real world and not in Thia’s world. The elemental crows were unique and fascinating and added a mystical touch to the story. Rhodaire’s crows are essential to their life and without them, the people have to learn how to perform simple tasks, such as growing crops. Life changes drastically for the people, and not just because the crows were lost; loved ones were lost, too, in the battle. To Thia, everything seems hopeless. All she sees is darkness and no light at the end; she doesn’t see how she can move on. One aspect of The Storm Crow I highly enjoyed seeing was how depression was openly discussed. Thia realizes early on that the destruction of her world as she knew it threw her into a deep and potentially dark depression. Throughout the story, Thia’s depression helps shape her character and starts to give her the strength she needs to overcome the past and save her kingdom and people. Thia’s depression battles are detailed to where the reader could feel and/or see Thia openly struggling. Her depression felt real and raw. She becomes a master in hiding her depression behind a fake smile, but those closest to her can see the past is eating her alive. I haven’t read many YA fantasy books that openly mention/discuss depression, so I was surprised that this became a key point in The Storm Crow. There’s so many readers that battle depression, and I know to some it’s important to see depression depicted, especially in fantasy. How Josephson address depression in her book really lays it out for the world to see and for everyone to understand that depression is not something you can easily shake off. Her depiction of depression was, overall, one of the main reasons I loved The Storm Crow. “I might be queen, but you were meant to be so much more. Crow or no crow, one way or another, you will fly. You were always meant to rule the sky.” Thia is a strong and emotional person. She knows she has to go to Illucia, the kingdom that attacked hers, to try to bring peace and save her people. Thia, at first, believes everything is lost; the fight she once had in her is gone, left behind in the rubble of the battle. But that all changes when Thia finds an unhatched storm crow egg. To Thia, this changes everything. Thia has a newfound hope to fight for her kingdom and people, all from within the palace walls of her enemy. But there’s just one slight problem: Thia doesn’t know how to hatch a crow egg. Nevertheless, Thia refuses to give up hope; she refuses to give up. The secondary characters in The Storm Crow were also what made this book a 5 star review for me. Her best friend and bodyguard, Kiva, share not just a best friend bond, but a sisterly bond. They’re relationship reminded me of my relationship with my best friend, and I love seeing those types of friendships depicted in fantasy stories. Kiva helps Thia battle her depression while staying in enemy territory. They’re not just best friends; they’re a team and both will do whatever it takes to see Queen Razel burn for her wrongdoings. Then there’s Caylus. Caylus is a soft yet incredibly smart and reliable friend to Thia; she trusts him so much that she relies on him to help her solve the hatching behind a crow egg. And, of course, there’s Prince Ericen. At first, he’s a terrible, cold-heartless person; he’s basically everything that makes a villain. But he slowly starts to show Thia a side he’s never shown anyone, not even his mother, the ruthless Queen Razel. Ericen wants to build a trusting relationship with Thia but Thia doesn’t quite know how that’s possible when he’s the son of the woman that killed her mother. He’s a well described character with an interesting backstory. “It was only you. Because I, like everyone, knew what you were. A delinquent? A storm. A tempest of lightning and thunder with the kind of heart found only in legends.” Josephson’s writing is captivating and compelling. She weaves words together to bring a magical and powerful story to light. Her description of the kingdoms and the characters is wonderfully well-written and very descriptive. Josephson also knows how to depict feelings and relationships really well. There was phenomenal character growth with Thia and her companions; Thia really starts to come into her own and grow as a person and fighter. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed The Storm Crow. Josephson creates a world the reader can easily get lost in. If you enjoy an adventurous fantasy novel with lovable animals and relationships, then I definitely recommend reading The Storm Crow!

The Storm Crow has been on my radar for some time now so I'm extremely happy that I was able to snag a review copy from Netgalley (THANK YOU!). This is definitely going to be a title that I add to my classroom library because I know that my 6th and 7th graders will just LOVE this book. I really enjoyed this read having actually read it pretty quick for my normal speed. Being a huge fan of fantasy, I wasn't entirely sure that this would get me super hyped up, but the story sucked me in right from the very beginning. The world building was great and not confusing (which I tend to find in most fantasy novels) and I love how easy to follow the story was. Caliza as a character really resonated with me, and I think that's why the book got as high of a rating as it did with me (remembering that 5-star books are ones that make me sob, laugh, or throw the book across the room), and it is absolutely the depression and anxiety representation that she highlights for the readers. I recently went through one of the worst spouts of anxiety and depression that I have ever had to go through, and it was not a fun time in my life. Having reading this novel during that spout definitely helped me remember that I was not the only one going through a hard time, and made me appreciate that good things I had in my life that I was taking for granted. This personally was the first fantasy novel I'd read that mentioned depression and anxiety in a main character (If you know of any others, let me know please!). It was refreshing to see a unique main character with an ailment that many readers today have in common, this is one of the biggest reasons I am adding it to my classroom library. This story was fascinating and I was actually shocked when I go to the end and discovered THERE WAS ANOTHER BOOK. I was fully expecting the conflict to be resolved in one book, but was very happy to discover there would be more. I loved how each "Crow" had it's own element and that this kingdom used their elements so much every day that they didn't realize how devastating it would be if suddenly the crows were gone. I think I loved this idea so much because growing up, I loved the idea of having elemental dragons in a story, but now the idea of having elemental giant birds sounds much more appealing. Anyway! Definitely would strongly recommend if you are looking for books that feature accurate representation of anxiety and depression, fierce women, political intrigue, giant birds, and a great story line with awesome world building, this one is for you! Just as an update, I did PURCHASE this book as well as receive a review copy. Highly recommend this title!

Ainda não li o livro mas chegou impecável

Hätte am Anfang nicht gedacht das mir das Buch so gut gefallen würde. Spannend bis zum Schluss und kann es nur empfehlen. Freu mich schon auf den zweiten Teil.

Does this book’s plot bring anything new and amazing to the table as far as fantasy concepts go? No. Does this book highlight mental health in the most positive way I’ve seen yet while still giving me a solid fantasy? Yes. I could connect with Anthia so much because of this, it’s a slow-moving story to start in a lot of ways due to its focus on her and handling her depression. The story is beautiful and raw and Josephson normalizes Thia’s depression in a way that doesn’t smooth it over or constantly portrays Thia as a victim. I really enjoyed the storyline and the concept of the crows and their magic. I now want to become a crow rider, though, I don’t see that happening unless I shrink to the size of Thumbelina in our nonmagical world lol. Josephson did a lovely job of worldbuilding and character development because even when Anthia is not in the midst of an episode of depression she still carries it with her, it doesn’t get ‘magicked’ away and I found that to be such an important factor.

Great book, good read

3.5 stars. Going into this book it started off as an 100% 5 star. I loved the banter between Thia and Ericen. I was intrigued by the story line and where it was going. Then it kind of took a turn for me and I started to get frustrated. Let me explain... I hate... and I mean HATE love triangles. I never ever really saw the reason for them. They don’t bring anything to a story but drama and annoyance which when reading an action pack and interesting story shouldn’t be needed. I was hard core loving/hating Ericen during the first part of this book. Then we get to the second part and it’s almost like he’s just forgotten about and tossed away and became a completely different person from what we saw in the first part of the book. I didn’t enjoy the romance between heroin and side character and I was totally disinterested in it, which was probably why many pages were skipped over during their parts together. I know it sounds like I despised this book but this isn’t the case. The romance, while it did grate on my nerves was only a small factor of the story line. I absolutely loved the rest of it. I loved the crows, I loved the side characters and world building. It was overall a great read. I read it in two days. So I would suggest grabbing this book and giving it a go. I will be reading the next book and I hope, prey and wish on my whole being that things go my way (being a little selfish with this one)