I'm extremely excited to partner with The Fantastic Flying Book Club and TorTeen as a stop on the Storm from the East blog tour! I'm happy I get to support my friend, Joanna Hathaway, author of Dark of the West and Storm from the East in such a fun way! Check out the FFBC's blog to see all of the blogs on the tour and their posts HERE! There is also an IG Giveaway so make sure you go enter on all the tour host's pictures for a chance to win one of three copies of Storm from the East! ReviewIn my review of Dark of the West, I had mentioned a little comment about painting five glorious stars on a spitfire aeroplane and making Athan Dakar do loop-di-loops around Joanna Hathaway for such a beautiful debut. I'm going to go ahead and paint an extra five stars to the other side of the spitfire for her spectacular sequel in the Glass Alliance series, Storm from the East! Battles, revolution, and romance collide in Joanna Hathaway's stunning, World Wars-inspired sequel to Dark of the West! Part war drama, part steamy romance, Storm from the East is an immersive, upmarket YA fantasy series that will appeal to readers of Sabaa Tahir, Marie Rutkoski, and Evelyn Skye. About 75% of Storm from the East is filled with war and the long days of Athan’s and Aurelia’s secret, summer romance in Dark of the West feel a world away. Led by Athan’s father, General Dakar, the revolutionary Safire have launched a secret assault upon the last royal kingdom in the South, hoping to depose the king and seize a powerful foothold on the continent. Athan proves a star pilot among their ranks, struggling to justify the violence his family has unleashed as he fights his way to the capital—where, unbeknownst to him, Aurelia has lived since the war’s onset. Determined to save the kingdom Athan has been ordered to destroy, Aurelia partners with a local journalist to inflame anti-Safire sentiment, all while learning this conflict might be far darker and more complex than she ever imagined. Along the way, Aurelia spends her time discovering truth after horrible truth about unimaginable war crimes committed by Arran Dakar's soldiers, revelations about her mother's family and ultimately herself, that she has to come to terms with and it is an emotional experience and comes as a total shock to readers. Especially readers like me that have no chill and will bombard the author at 2:30 in the morning with messages screaming at her about what is currently happening in the novel (I love you, Jo!! Thanks for putting up with my crazy.) When the two reunite at last, Athan longing to shake the nightmare of combat and Aurelia reeling from the discovery of a long-buried family truth come to light, they’ll find the shadow of war stretches well beyond the battlefield. Each of them longs to rekindle the love they once shared . . . but each has a secret they’re desperate to hide.... After getting to know Joanna closely and reading her novels like I'm holding onto dear life, I've come to love the way she words everything with emotion and also with the beauty of a great poet. For example, Aurelia gets caught in the middle of a war zone in Resya and describes it as "Death from high above my head, an unseen creature that doesn't know my name doesn't even have me on its list yet it falls whistling prepared to consume my flesh in a furnace of flame (272)." HOW. BEAUTIFUL. AND. HAUNTING. IS. THAT. DESCRIPTION? And there is A LOT of that in Joanna's novels. Readers will treasure her lyrical sentences. I love the way Joanna plays with the tone through her prose and writing style. In the beginning, it's a steady pace of tension as Athan gets spun up into a war his father starts without permission or probable cause other than his agenda for power and she shows this through short urgent sentences. Then there is this moment when you're about 75% done with the book that it gets calm, almost like the eye of a hurricane before all hell breaks loose. It felt like time stopped and Athan and Aurelia's observations are described gently and serenely--lovingly. I love that I can hear my darling friend's voice through these characters I've come to love with my whole heart. It's safe to conclude that I was on an emotional roller coaster while reading Storm from the East. The best way to describe that emotion is to compare it to the emotions you have when you read or watch the movie Atonement and then getting surprised by a huge bucket of ice water being dumped on you all at once. The last 150 pages of Storm from the East is where everything is complete madness and I will tell you the cliffhanger is treacherous so guard your heart. I promise you it will be okay and we will get through this together. *Rocks back and forth.* Storm from the East is a marvelous adventure written by one of the greatest storytellers I've met so far and I have the distinct honor of calling her my friend! Many thanks to The Fantastic Flying Book Club for letting me be a part of this blog tour and letting me shout about how much I adore Joanna Hathaway and her Glass Alliance series! Read an ExcerptLinks to PurchaseAbout the AuthorJOANNA HATHAWAY was born in Montréal and is an avid storyteller who was inspired to write after reading her great-grandfather’s memoirs of the First World War. A lifelong history buff, she now has shelves filled with biographies and historical accounts, and perhaps one too many books about pilots. She can often be found reading, traveling, or riding horses. Her debut novel DARK OF THE WEST is the first in a World Wars-infused fantasy series of forbidden love and deadly revenge. STORM FROM THE EAST will hit shelves on February 11, 2020. Follow Joanna on Social Media Visit her website: http://www.joannachathaway.com/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16071792.Joanna_Hathaway Twitter: @hathawayjojo Instagram: @spitfirewriter Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.es/pequenotigre/dark-of-the-west/
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