Review : Siren's Fury by Mary Weber

Summary (from Goodreads)  

Title : Siren's Fury (Storm Siren #2)
Author : Mary Weber
Publication Date : June 2nd 2015
Publisher : Thomas Nelson
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

"I thrust my hand toward the sky as my voice begs the Elemental inside me to waken and rise. But it's no use. The curse I've spent my entire life abhorring—the thing I trained so hard to control—no longer exists."

Nym has saved Faelen only to discover that Draewulf stole everything she valued. Now he’s destroyed her Elemental storm-summoning ability as well.

When Nym sneaks off with a host of delegates to Bron, Lord Myles offers her the chance for a new kind of power and the whispered hope that it may do more than simply defeat the monster she loathes. But the secrets the Bron people have kept concealed, along with the horrors Draewulf has developed, may require more than simply harnessing a darker ability.

They may require who she is.

Set against the stark metallic backdrop of the Bron kingdom, Nym is faced with the chance to change the future.

Or was that Draewulf’s plan for her all along?

Personal Thoughts

Mary Weber's Storm Siren last year was one of my favorite debuts. It was one of those books that was a hidden gem for me and I was completely in love with it. However, it ended in one of the most brutal cliffhangers I have ever come across. With Siren's Fury, Mary Weber continues to amaze me with just how talented she is. Siren's Fury is not a book that suffers from any kind of middle-book syndrome and it's a book that has slotted Mary as one of my favorite authors.

I was unsure of how the plot would develop in Siren's Fury with the brutal way that Storm Siren ended. I'm actually still not over multiple events from that book that basically slaughtered all my feels. Mary Weber is not afraid to kill off characters, so I was a little nervous about what would happen in Siren's Fury. She handled everything so brilliantly though. The world building was a lot stronger and I got a better field of it in this book. I loved all the power dynamics that the book explored and Mary Weber is an author that digs into the complexities of her world and her characters. Let me tell you, this book was not easy to read because there were some twists that shocked me. The near ending scenes particularly were nerve-wracking and nearly gave me multiple heart attacks. Despite how terrified I was during those last few scenes, I have to say the ending scenes were my favorite because of how emotionally invested I was in the story. I had a hard time putting down the book towards the end because I needed to know what was going to happen, but I was also secretly worried that we would have yet another soul-crushing cliffhanger. Thankfully, that doesn't happen. What made Siren's Fury an even better novel was Mary Weber's beautiful writing. She is honestly talented and words can't describe just how gorgeous her writing is. It's the sort of writing style that you need to experience yourself to fully grasp because I don't think I can do it any justice with my descriptions. It was hard for me to believe that this was only Mary Weber's second published novel.

As far as the characters went, they were spectacular, as I expected them to be. Nym is a protagonist I  have gotten very close to over the two books. I just loved how much stronger she had become in this installment. She was braver and much more confident in Siren's Fury. She's come so far throughout the series and I admired her perseverance to fight for her loved ones even more. I also loved how comfortable she was now in her skin compared to in Storm Siren's. Nym has to be one of my favorite YA fantasy characters of all time. Nym also had to make some complicated decisions in Siren's Fury, diving into dark magic which I'm sure will be explored more in the next book. We also got to see Nym interact quite a bit with Rasha and Myles. She had interesting and complicated relationships with both, but I liked how the author really dug deep and fleshed them out. Even her relationship with Draewolf had an interesting dynamic to it. Draewolf, the villain in this series, was truly despicable, the kind that you love to hate and can't wait to see die a slow miserable death. He was horrific in Siren's Fury, yet I couldn't help but be fascinated by how power-hungry he was. I'm looking forward to seeing what he has up his sleeves in the next book. A short note on the romance, the only thing I can say is that it took a back-burner because of situations that I can't delve more into because of spoilers. I was initially worried that the lack of romance would be a disappointment for me, but I was just so invested in other parts of the story, I didn't really mind its absence.

Siren's Fury will go down as one of my favorite sequels of all-time. It was so beautifully written. This is a series that is underrated and I want more people to pick up because behind these gorgeous book covers lies a story that is even more beautiful with a strong protagonist you will love to root for and complex dynamics between good and evil. All I have to say is, don't wait, just pick it up and join me in fangirling over it.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 5/5
Characters : 5/5
Writing : 5/5

Thank you to Thomas Nelson for the ARC of Siren's Fury.