Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan

Reviewed by Sam!

What I drank prior: so a friend of ours slash mine got married and we were invited to the bar after so I got hammered. I’m supposed to right?

Goodreads Overview:

In this mesmerizing sequel to the New York Times bestselling Girls of Paper and Fire, Lei and Wren have escaped their oppressive lives in the Hidden Palace, but soon learn that freedom comes with a terrible cost.

Lei, the naive country girl who became a royal courtesan, is now known as the Moonchosen, the commoner who managed to do what no one else could. But slaying the cruel Demon King wasn’t the end of the plan—it’s just the beginning. Now Lei and her warrior love Wren must travel the kingdom to gain support from the far-flung rebel clans. The journey is made even more treacherous thanks to a heavy bounty on Lei’s head, as well as insidious doubts that threaten to tear Lei and Wren apart from within.

Meanwhile, an evil plot to eliminate the rebel uprising is taking shape, fueled by dark magic and vengeance. Will Lei succeed in her quest to overthrow the monarchy and protect her love for Wren, or will she fall victim to the sinister magic that seeks to destroy her?

Spoiler-free Overview: so this is the sequel to book 1, so if you’re worried about spoilers, this ain’t the blog for your babe (Editor’s Note: but there is a drunk review if you’re interested, sorry for Drunk Sam’s snark). You’re gonna get spoilers for book one. Our fave still loves Wren but she doesn’t know how to. She’s also supposed to inspire rebellion which is what this book is about.

Spoiler-free Thoughts: this was better than book 1 but only marginally so. MARGINALLY.

Characters: This is where I’m super disappointed. Our characters have been given so much room to grow and they just don’t. The only one that does is Lei. She’s the only one that questions the life they’ve chosen. On my god Lei is the best. She actually understands the implications of her choices. But the rest of these bastards… they don’t grow at all. ALSO there was this like.. throw away in there that pissed me off and was completely unneccessary.

Plot: this is a bunch of walking essesbtially. Going from one spot to another with similar wishes. There is maybe one moment where I gasped and you know what, it was worth it. That bit of plot made up for everything else. You know what… this reminds me of the second ADSOM book, completely uneccesary to the plot.

World Building: Got nothin new.

What to pair it with: A really dry vodka. Like, it burns going down…

Rating: 1.5/5 Shots

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,
Sam