Review: Storm Fall
My rating: [rating=2]
Blurb:
Aris Haan gave up everything to join the Atalantan Military: her family, her boyfriend, even her identity. In the end, though, it didn’t matter that she was a war hero. When the all-male Military discovered that she was actually a woman, she was sent home and erased from history.
Now she has a chance to go back to the battlefield—as herself. But as hard as it was to be a soldier in disguise, it’s even more difficult now. The men in her unit undermine her at every turn. The Safaran army has spies everywhere, perhaps even on Aris’s stationpoint. And she’s falling for her mysterious superior officer, Milek. But their relationship is forbidden, just stolen moments between training sessions and missions. There’s no room for love in war.
Then Aris discovers that Safara’s leaders have set their sights on her, Atalanta’s hero. And she must find them before they find her . . .
Review:
[I received a copy of this novel through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]
Sequel to “Rebel Wing” (which I read back when its title was “Shattered Veil”), this novel sheds light on Aris Haan’s life after she escaped Elom and helped free the Ward of Ruslana: on her fears at first (her love of flying tainted by her harsh experience), on her decision to go back to the Military, on the daily fight to be accepted in a sector where women are just newly accepted—even though quite a few, disguised as men, already proved that girls can do it just as well as boys.
Like its predecessor, “Storm Fall” deals with this issue of acceptance, in a different way since the whole “women in the army” is now in the open, but still as something worth fighting for, and difficult to accept for some. Aris and others are faced with insubordination, snide remarks, sexual harassment, and it’s painfully obvious that even proving their worth as flyers and fighters isn’t enough for some. And it’s not only the men being reluctant: other women outside of the Military aren’t so keen about this new opening. Aris still has to fight, still has to assert herself, and she does it with conviction and with open eyes: she knows she has to fend for herself if she doesn’t want to be seen as a damsel in distress—and yes, it’s something she definitely doesn’t want. She counts on other people’s help in circumstances where anyone would expect and need help, but not because she’s a woman in need of males to save her: because she’s a soldier in trouble, who needs the help of her fellow soldiers, period.
This was definitely a part of the story I enjoyed, because it was portrayed in quite a believable (if depressing) way. However, I wish it had been more a focus: I found it more interesting than the romance—but then, anyone who’s read my reviews must know by now that I’m not a huge fan of romantic subplots for the sake of romantic subplots only. No surprise here.
Calix here turned out to be a pretty decent guy, who did the right thing(s) and showed he had learnt to respect other people’s choices. He genuinely likes Aris, and I think that having him as a friend rather than a potential remaining love interest is a good move here. Also, very loyal guy, to the point of risking demotion or worse in order to help the ones he cares about: not only Aris, but her family as well. While at first, I wondered if this didn’t send the wrong kind of message (“women are men’s downfall”), it still seems to lean much more towards themes of friendship and loyalty, all the more because Calix cares about Aris’s parents and their grief—it’s not just about the girl, so to speak.
In general, there were good plot point and ideas, that would have deserved more spotlight: Elom’s role, the women’s struggles in the military (maybe seeing more of them “in action”, to find out the various range of possible reactions there)… The three romantic arcs were too heavy handed, and detracted from the really interesting parts.
Also, the relationship between Dysis and Daakon wasn’t always handled well. In the first book, the tension was understandable because Daakon thought she was a guy, and he was interested in guys, and Dysis actually being a woman made things complicated. But here, they ran around in odd circles. I’m thinking of one specific turning point here (spoilerish, so I don’t want to explain it too much), where something happened that doesn’t make much sense if Daakon’s not interested in women at all… but reaching that point, seeing it through the end, and then still being torn about loving a woman was kind of… illogical. Whether he was torn about finding himself bi, having to reconsider where it stood (hey, it happens), or torn about liking Dysis in a platonic way but not in a physical one, both were handled poorly.
Ultimately, I still liked this story, and may check the third book in this series, all the more because 1) the last chapter opens up on an even more dangerous situation, and 2) I keep expecting a twist when it comes to Elom, and would like to know whether I’m right or not. But I would welcome less romance, especially the thorny part about Milek and Aris, since it could very well undermine the latter’s efforts as a woman in the military.
2.5 stars (because of the romance), 3.5 or 4 otherwise.