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Book Review: We Unleash The Merciful Storm by Tehlor Kay Mejia

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Book: We Unleash The Merciful Storm by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Published February 2020 by Katherine Tegen Books|320 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: We Set The Dark On Fire #2

Genre: YA Fantasy

In this nail-biting sequel to Tehlor Kay Mejia’s critically acclaimed fantasy novel We Set the Dark on Fire, La Voz operative Carmen is forced to choose between the girl she loves and the success of the rebellion she’s devoted her life to.

Being a part of the resistance group La Voz is an act of devotion and desperation. On the other side of Medio’s border wall, the oppressed class fights for freedom and liberty, sacrificing what little they have to become defenders of the cause.

Carmen Santos is one of La Voz’s best soldiers, taken in when she was an orphaned child and trained to be a cunning spy. She spent years undercover at the Medio School for Girls, but now, with her identity exposed and the island on the brink of civil war, Carmen returns to the only real home she’s ever known: La Voz’s headquarters. There she must reckon with her beloved leader, who is under the influence of an aggressive new recruit, and with the devastating news that her true love might be the target of an assassination plot. Will Carmen break with her community and save the girl who stole her heart—or fully embrace the ruthless rebel she was always meant to be? 

I liked We Unleash The Merciful Storm but not as much as I wanted to.  I had a really hard time getting into it, and I definitely didn’t like it as much as the first book.

I initially started reading it, but had to put it down until I could re-read the first book.  I had no recollection of who was who and what had happened, and there was no way I was going to get through this book without a re-read.  Once that I done, I jumped back into this book, but I just didn’t find this book as engaging as the first one.

This book focuses more on Carmen, and her time with La Voz.  And away from it too.  We don’t know what’s going on with Dani for most of this book.  Which is fine, but I just didn’t really care.  It’s more about the resistance to the government, and I wasn’t expecting resistance to be so…boring and uninspiring.  I really hate saying that, because their reasons for protesting are completely valid.  But…I felt like it took a backseat to Carmen trying to prove that her faith and trust in Dani as a La Voz operative was a good thing.

They’re definitely resisting, and I appreciate that, especially with all of the protests going on right now.

I did like the quotes at the beginning of each chapter!  They’re all from La Voz, and it was really nice to see what they believed in.  It’s like the quotes from the Primera handbook we see in the first book.

I just wish we saw more of what was going on with Dani.  Carmen’s story is definitely important, and I’m glad we got to see her story, but I feel like a dual-POV would have worked really well here.  We could have see what was going on both Carmen and Dani, and I feel like some chapters from Dani’s POV would have given some insight into some of the things mentioned in this book.

The ending felt a little off to me too- it both rushed and unfinished, like there’s going to be more.  If there is going to be another book, I’d be curious to see where it goes.  Things are wrapped up enough, but I’d like to see how things work out for Dani and Carmen.

I wish we had more resolution with Dani’s family.  It comes up in the first book, but was completely forgotten in this one.  I just wish that had gone somewhere.  It felt like such a big deal, and then nothing came of it.  Something would have been nice but I guess we’ll never know.

Still, it was nice to see how everything worked out.  And it was nice to know how things worked out for Dani and Carmen.

3 stars.  I liked We Unleash The Merciful Storm but not as much as the first book.

Audio Book Review: We Set The Dark On Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia, Narrated by Kyla Garcia

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Book: We Set The Dark On Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia, Narrated by Kyla Garcia

Published February 2019 by HarperAudio|Length: 9 hours, 54 minutes

Where I Got It: I borrowed the audio book from the library

Series: We Set The Dark On Fire #1

Genre: YA Fantasy

At the Medio School for Girls, distinguished young women are trained for one of two roles in their polarized society. Depending on her specialization, a graduate will one day run a husband’s household or raise his children, but both are promised a life of comfort and luxury, far from the frequent political uprisings of the lower class. Daniela Vargas is the school’s top student, but her bright future depends upon no one discovering her darkest secret—that her pedigree is a lie. Her parents sacrificed everything to obtain forged identification papers so Dani could rise above her station. Now that her marriage to an important politico’s son is fast approaching, she must keep the truth hidden or be sent back to the fringes of society, where famine and poverty rule supreme.

On her graduation night, Dani seems to be in the clear, despite the surprises that unfold. But nothing prepares her for all the difficult choices she must make, especially when she is asked to spy for a resistance group desperately fighting to bring equality to Medio. Will Dani cling to the privilege her parents fought to win for her, or to give up everything she’s strived for in pursuit of a free Medio—and a chance at a forbidden love?

I liked We Set The Dark On Fire!  I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next, but I definitely have some mixed feelings.

I’d say it’s The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Belles meets Girls Of Paper And Fire.  I’d say it’s more Handmaid’s Tale than any of the other two books I mentioned, but I think it reminded me of The Belles and Girls Of Paper And Fire because of girls chosen to do be something, and getting trained to it.  Plus the whole forbidden romance you see in Girls Of Paper And Fire.

I really felt for Dani, and what she was trying to protect.  She has to make a lot of hard choices, but I did find myself wishing that we had more with her parents.  I know she wanted to protect her secret, that her parents gave up everything so she could do better, but I never really felt like that was in danger of being revealed.  I felt like her joining the Resistance, and her falling in love with Carmen was more at stake than sacrificing what her parents did.

I really wanted to know more about the school she went to, and how it was decided who was Primero and who was Segundo.  I really wanted to know that.  It was easy enough with Handmaid’s Tale- Handmaidens were the ones who could still bear children, while wives sometimes could not.  But I wasn’t sure how it decided- if it was explained, I clearly missed it.

So, I did listen to the audio book, which I think didn’t help with the world building.  The narrator, Kyla Garcia was really great, and she did an awesome job narrating.  I loved her narration of Joyride by Anna Banks, but having finished this one, I don’t think it completely worked on audio.  At least for me.  There were details, like who was Primero and who was Segundo that were either left out, or completely forgettable.  There were quotes from the guide that the Medio School For Girls had, and they were completely forgettable as well.  I didn’t mind them, but for audio, it didn’t work.

And there was this story at the beginning of the book that explained how the world came to be.  I liked it, but by the end of the book, I had completely forgotten what it was about.  I think that’s what made me think of The Belles.

The idea was interesting, and I liked a Handmaid’s Tale-type story in a fantasy setting.  It’s not at all a Handmaid’s Tale re-telling but it was the only thing I could think of the entire time I was reading this book.  That is partly why I picked this book up, and I did like it.  The world and characters are interesting, and I do want to know where the story is headed.  I think this is the one time that a comparison to another book is dead-on.

I didn’t really care about Carmen, but I did like Dani.  I can’t say I’m surprised by some of the things that happened between them, but I did want to keep listening to see if any of my guesses were right.  It was fairly predictable, but I didn’t mind.  I liked the overall story enough that I didn’t mind the predictability.

3 stars.  If you love the Handmaid’s Tale, you really like this book.  It reminded me way too much of the Handmaid’s Tale for me to love this book, and it’s similarity to it made it hard to see it as a separate book.  Still, I liked the world and the story enough that I want to know what happens next.