Everything has a price.In the kingdom of Axaria, a darkness has fallen. After defeating the evil mother who summoned an immortal demon to kill her, newly coronated Queen Asterin Faelenhart should have every reason to celebrate. Her kingdom is safe, forbidden magic eradicated, and her friends are alive. Except Asterin’s triumph has come at a devastating cost—forced to choose between a lifelong … friend and true love, she’s lost both. But the shadows in Axaria have begun to stir once again, and no one is more starved for vengeance than Asterin …Yet it soon becomes clear that the shadows plaguing her kingdom are just the beginning. Another realm coexists with the mortal world—the beautiful, nightmarish Immortal Realm ruled by the wicked God of Shadow, King Eoin. When their paths entwine, Asterin realizes that Eoin possesses exactly what—and who—she seeks most. And the fates of all those that she holds dear—Orion, her missing Guardian; Luna, the friend she could not save; Harry, the demon who saved them all; and Quinlan, her beloved broken prince—ultimately rest in the god’s hands.But in a world of magic, not everyone is always as they seem. When shocking discoveries threaten everything and everyone that Asterin has sworn her life to protect, she won’t be the only person forced to make a choice … a choice that will change the mortal world forever.And maybe even destroy it.
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The first book was excellent, but this one is phenomenal. I was so enthralled from the start to the end. I went through a lot of emotions while reading this amazing sequel; I cried, screamed, got frustrated, and at some point had to put the book down to take a breath because it was too much for me to handle.
In this book, the storyline and the plot focus more on shadow magic which is the forbidden tenth element in elemental magic. The first book mentioned about it and I’ve seen the magic being used by two people, Priscilla and Harry. I liked how this book explored the forbidden tenth element a lot more than the first book did. The first book was the introduction to shadow magic but this sequel will be its main focus.
Also, this book finally take its readers to the Immortal Realm and Eradore. These two places was mentioned plenty of time in the previous book. The Immortal Realm is a realm where the God of Shadow and his shadowlings lived. It was a bleak and barren world, and I pictured it as hell where there are so many fires everywhere and the temperature is too hot to bear.
As for Eradore, it was massive and lavish. One of the most peaceful kingdom in the mortal realm due to its tight security, even tighter than Axaria. The palace was beautiful. There is nothing much I want to say about it, I’m basically at a lost of words when it comes to Eradore.
There was a lot of things happened in this book, a lot of chaos just like in the previous book, but this one topped it. One thing after another, there wasn’t even a break to slow things down a bit and the chaos was endless. I was like, “how can things go wrong so quickly?” Trying to keep with everything in this book is like trying to learn a very fast rap. I don’t even know how my mind can take everything and absorbed all informations without missing a single thing.
I also want to say that the amount of actions in this book was really great. I liked the fight between Asterin and Killian, and the final fight when she used her full power to bring down her enemies. That was really epic, especially when she blasted Luna using her power. I really disliked Luna in this one and I was happy to see her fell to the ground, served her right for thinking she was strong enough to take on Asterin. Nobody can mess with the true Queen of Axaria, Her Majesty Queen Asterin Faelenhart, not even shadow demons can mess with her.
There are some new faces in this book like Killian, Eoin, and Taeron. These people played an important role in the story, only they are more to side characters than main which I wouldn’t mind at all.
Eoin is the God of Shadow, the God that was mentioned plenty of time before but only now he finally made an appearance. Previously, he was described as this terrifying God who ruled the shadow world. From what I’ve seen here, he can do so many dangerous things like erasing the shadow magic from his shadowlings if they disobey him or worse give his shadowlings a death penalty for breaking their promise to him.
He surely doesn’t mess around, but he wasn’t as terrifying as I thought he would be. He was hilarious on a few occasions, but what he said to Asterin in this one, is he really a man of his words? I knew he proved to be trustworthy since he didn’t break his promise, but I still fear that he wasn’t fully honest either. All the ‘what ifs’ in my head is too strong to ignore.
The main characters went through a lot of changes from what happened in the first book. Some stayed on the good path and some went the evil way. All the main ones will be tested ruthlessly here, but I know for sure whatever tragedy they’re going to face will only make them stronger, especially Asterin since she was the one who had to go through so many hardships here.
Asterin has proven again and again that she is a great leader, the queen her kingdom deserve. She has been fierce, protective, and become a lot stronger and much more powerful than any beings. What I liked the most about her is how she wasn’t afraid of anyone or anything, and how she never backs down from a challenge. Most people would run away from danger but she would run straight to it to fight just so others can live a peaceful life. She was so selfless and so caring. She was never selfish and to me that made her even more likable than she already is.
Asterin might be way too young to be a queen, especially a queen of a kingdom as big as Axaria, but she definitely has all the traits of a queen and has the best leadership skills. The next book would be a tough challenge for her after what happened at the end of this book, but knowing Asterin, she’ll fight so hard to win again. I’m really excited to see what she will do next after what happened at the end of this book.
Luna has changed a lot. From a sweet innocent girl to someone who craved power. It was great to see her character growth in this book, and how she rose to become the strongest version of herself. Only, her jealousy blinded her and her overconfidence led her nowhere but to become a failure. She was selfish and despite how I admired her for controlling her own fate, I disliked how she acted. She was so immature and unlike Asterin who is far more mature than her.
Luna can be so childish sometimes, and one wrong move from someone is like a big betrayal in her eyes. She just can’t learn that not everyone will manage to save other people’s lives or in her case, her life. From what I’ve noticed, ever since she learned who she truly is and that she actually have magic, she started to shift into a different person. I knew she would go down the dark path but what I didn’t expect was how deep she would go. That really shocked me to see how far gone she was, not sure if she can be redeem but I’m just going to hold on to the hope that she would come back to the good side and learn a thing or two about forgiveness.
Quinlan on the other hand is still amazing as he was before. I was actually sad to know the fate that befalls him previously. Waiting any news from Eradore about him made me nervous but glad to know he survived. There was a slight changes in his character later on due to what happened to the dark magic that was trapped in his body for long and how much it affected his health. The changes started off when Asterin and her companions tried to save his life. The new change could become a problem in the next book or it could not, but I do feel like things will shift on a bigger scale considering what was being done to him in order to keep him alive.
I really loved Quinlan’s character and I hope his good heart will always stay with him and all the good memories will remind him that he is not a bad person in case someone try to get him into doing something without his consent or make him do things that are so out of character for him. I’m excited to see what will he do in the next book using his new abilities.
Harry and Orion, well these two had a lot of things to settle apparently. Harry was miserable but seeing what happened to him here made me sad. I hope he can at least learn how to fight after what Eoin did to his magic. Honestly, I didn’t expect to see that. He better know how to fight, if not with a weapon than at least with his fists. Also, Orion…poor thing had to go through a massive obstacles and ended up feeling a lot more guilty after what he did. I would like to see him and Harry join the others in a battle in the next book since something huge will come, just like Valeria told Asterin at the end that there will be a war to end all wars. Asterin will need her most loyal friends to stand beside her
Rose is the same ol’ Rose, the one who is so far still consistent. I liked that she was so clever and managed to found many answers in a short period of time. She was amazing and despite doesn’t have a lot of part in this book, she still appeared to be so elegant. I loved seeing her friendship with Asterin become a lot stronger, they were really tight. Lastly, Eadric. This amazing and loyal captain is still the same as he was before. He is still the same hilarious guy and also a good friend to Asterin. There is nothing much I can say about his character other than his part is the fun part in this book. There was a lot of chaos and stressful things happening in this book, but to see him bringing in a bit of fun in the story was great. At least he lighten up the tone of the story a bit. He does have great skills in both magic and swords-fight, and he was also a fast thinker. I need to see more of him in action in the next book.
Quinlan and Asterin never fail to make my heart melt. Their love for each other has become stronger the more time they were together. I loved how much their relationship evolved in this one. They truly deserve one another. There was a slight miscommunication between them due to Quinlan’s health issue but I was glad the author doesn’t drag it. Their romance was exquisite, and I would give anything to see these two have their happy ending with each other. I just want to see my favorite OTP be happy, that’s all I ask.
The story ended on a big scale and the situation was intense and out-of-control. It doesn’t play around just like in the first one. So many bloody things happened and it made the whole thing even more complicated to handle, but I have to say the epic battle between two demons and a powerful heroine at the end was something I didn’t know I need. It was really amazing but it was cut short when a fire tried to annihilate a whole kingdom. Things took a darker turn so fast that I can’t even blink. The epilogue promised the next thing to come will be even greater than what was shown in the first book and here.
I can’t get enough of how good this book was. The storyline was on point, the plot had some good surprises, and the situation in this book was intense, but it was a good kind of intense. I’m looking forward to the next book, so excited to see what’s coming especially the big war that had me curious.
Thank you Favourite Pages and Blackstone for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
REVIEW
God Storm by Coco Ma is second in the Shadow Frost series. Although the story is technically a young adult fantasy, it’s perfect for adults, too. One of my favorite aspects of this story is the heroine’s crisis of conflict. She must make a choice between two impossible choices. How would you decide? Weighing the pros and cons is one method. Acting on instinct is another. Either way, she must make peace with her choice. Too often, characters are mindless and flat. God Storm has complex dynamic characters with ample characterization so readers get to know them well. Connection makes any story so much better and more meaningful.
The God Storm journey is one of magic, secrets, revelations and hope. It is unpredictable and exciting, like any good adventure should be anyway. A range of emotions are involved because you will care about the outcomes of the characters. Reading God Storm was a great experience, and I definitely recommend this book!