Sea of Storms, Ruined Lands #2 (ebook)

I just finished this book. Now, I read City of Ruin first. You do not have to, this is a standalone book - but reading City of Ruin first gives more color and background in my opinion. This is a NO SPOILER review.

The characters are well-developed and the 2 main characters are definitely 3 dimensional. What is brilliant about this book is that some of the secondary characters also reach that 3 dimension status - which is a rarity lately. The animosity and struggles the characters face (both primary and secondary) is not frivolous, they all have a resolution, and there are no way out of left field "no that character would never do that" moments.

The setting is beautifully developed. You can envision exactly what the terrain is like, the feel of the air on your own face, and the smells that surround the characters are aptly fleshed out and definitely allow for immersion in the book. The setting is also not overly common, so readers are not going to say, oh this is like the setting in X book I just read. Sea of Storms has a fresh feel to it in this regard.

The plot! We know going in this is a Norse mythology retelling. But the plot twists are fantastic. One or two you may see coming as it is logical for how the story is progressing, but there are a few that caught me by surprise and enriched the plot line tremendously. The romance is slowly building and not in your face. The tension of the romance is also not contrived either, which helps a great deal (see the above comment about characters having believable reactions). As I stated above, having read the City of Ruin, some of the plot makes you think back upon the first book and recall pieces and see how the stories, though standalone, complement each other.

By having the two books, City of Ruin and Sea of Storms, complement each other it is very clear the author is world-building. Each book is vivid in its setting description and is sufficient on its own. But when you consider the arch of the two books together, it is clear there is an entire dystopian world that awaits us, readers, that the author is creating and spinning like a web.

My only minor, very minor, negative I could add is that the book, though complete, definitely leaves enough wiggle room for further development and storylines of the characters. No cliffhanger, but it definitely makes you want to have more of their stories.

Enjoy your read - you won't regret it.