Praying for Rain by Jay Kristoff
Series: The Lotus War #0.5
Genre: Dystopian, High Fantasy, Young Adult
Published by Self Published (2.6.2013)
eBook, 19 pages
Source: I own it
Praying For Rain is a free-to-read pdf short story, a prequel to Jay Kristoff’s The Lotus War series, which tells the tale of Miho and the city of Kigen.
MY REVIEW
My god I missed this world so much!! I loved jumping back into it, even for such a brief time. I had forgotten how beautiful and compelling Jay’s writing was!
This is a very short story, so there’s not much to it. But Jay still found a way to pull on my heartstrings. Even though I pretty much knew how it was going to end, I still enjoyed it and it still sucked to see it end!
The subject of the Kenning is a very fascinating subject of this series for me. I think it’s awesome, and it totally sucks that the society sees it as ‘impure’ rather than a gift.
FAVORITE QUOTES
I cannot change a thing. I am just one girl, as lonely as they, and this boy is the only moment of joy in my days.
I find myself praying for rain. For a storm so dark and fierce it flushes all of us away. The lotus and the Guild. The Shōgun and his armies and this reeking hole at the heart of this rotten nation. We are stupid. We are eyeless.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT
Plot: 4/5
Premise: 4.5/5
Writing style: 5/5
Originality: 5/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Pace: 4.5/5
Feels: 4/5
Cover: 5/5
Overall rating: 4/5
The Last Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff
Series: The Lotus War #0.6
Genre: Dystopian, High Fantasy, Young Adult
Published by Thomas Dunne Books (9.27.2013)
eBook, 125 pages
Source: I own it
Your blood-red skies are filled with smoke. Your bleach-white histories with lies. You walk sleeping. Wake senseless. Breathing deep of toxic blooms and forgetting all that has gone before.
But I remember.
I remember when two brothers waged bloody war over the right to sit in their father’s empty chair. I remember when orphaned twins faced each other across a field of crimson and steel, the fate of the Shima Shōgunate hanging in the poisoned sky between them.
I remember when a blind boy stood before a court of storms and talons, armed only with a thin sword and a muttered prophecy and a desperate dream of saving the world.
I remember when the skies above Shima were not red, but blue. Filled with thunder tigers.
I remember when they left you.
And I remember why.
Let me tell you, monkey-child.
MY REVIEW
OH MY GOD JAY WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO BREAK MY HEART?!
I should have known this would end in tears. IT ALWAYS DOES. *sigh*
I’m not usually a fan of novellas because most of the time they only tell a more detailed story of what you already know. But I loooved this one! I freaking love the arashitoras, and reading in the POV of one of them again was like having a little piece of Buruu back. (I MISS BURUU. *cries*)
I absolutely loved Koh! She wasn’t sarcastic like Buruu was, but I loved her just the same. I loved seeing their world again, and seeing a stormdancer in action. I loved the interactions between Jun and Koh, and how she sees him with disdain in the beginning and slowly softens toward him, eventually coming to care about him. It was interesting to see the birth of the world as it is in the series.
The ending KILLED me. I mean, pretty much knew it was going to end something like that, but it sucked! View Spoiler »
OVERALL ASSESSMENT
Premise: 5/5
Writing style: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Pace: 5/5
Feels: 5/5
Overall rating: 5/5
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