Storm Siren by Mary Weber

"My hair slips down my back and shoulders and around my face like fresh snow falling on the forest floor. Pure white. I raise my chin as the buyers stare. Yes. Look. You don't want me. Because, eventually, accidentally, I will destroy you. It's what I do. Seventeen-year-old slave girl, Nym, should not exist. In a world where Elementals are only born male, and always killed at birth, she is an anomaly at best. At worst, people around her die. When a court emissary identifies her weather-manipulating ability as a weapon, Nym is purchased and put to work honing her skills. With time running out for the kingdom of Faelen, Nym might be all that stands between it and the technologically-advanced horror racing down upon them--not to mention the rumored reemergence of the monstrous shapeshifter, Draewulf. But some elements even she can't control. Nym must decide whom to trust as she's unleashed into a world of assassins and political betrayal surrounding a young king fighting for his throne, a tired nation that has forgotten its calling, and her handsome tutor whose dark secrets could destroy both her people and her heart"--

As a slave in the war-weary kingdom of Faelen, seventeen-year-old Nym isn't merely devoid of rights, her Elemental kind are only born male and always killed at birth, which means she shouldn't even exist. Book #1

Why?? That ending!!!!

I loved this book! The premise was interesting and was similar enough to other ya fantasy books that is wasn't off putting but took the idea of the slave girl who wants to protect the people in the country in a different direction. The ending almost made me throw the book across the room in my frustration and demand my friend give me the next one as soon as possible.

Wow. I cannot gush enough good things about this book. The world building! The characters! The development, the well though out plot. I was taken by it all from the beginning!

Consider my choice to read this book a massive case of cover lust. In fact, it was the second book in this series, Siren's Fury that caught my eye. These books are honestly gorgeous. When I found out that these stories dealt with elementals, my heart soared. I love Fantasy, and elemental magic is one of my favorite concepts. I couldn't wait to dive straight in.

Things start with a bang, quite literally, as Nym and her powers are introduced. I was drawn in by Nym's uniqueness. As an elemental, she should have been killed at birth. As a woman, she shouldn't even be an elemental. I loved this idea. To be caught up in a world where you don't really belong, and constantly wondering who will try to use you next. Or worse yet, who you might be forced to kill.

Anyone who follows my reviews know that I'm big on both characters and world-building. Those are the two cornerstones of Fantasy. In this case, the characters were spot on. I didn't always agree with Nym's choices, but I liked her well enough. Colin and Breck were actually my favorite characters, despite their more supporting roles. Eogan, well, I could have done without him. The problem with love triangles is, they need three people. For some reason, one always has to be a bad boy. Eogan fills that space, but it doesn't mean I enjoyed his character.

Now here's where the book started to lose me. First of all, I'm not a love triangle fan. Never have been, likely never will be. This is also the point in the book where I found out that Nym didn't want to step up to her powers. She doesn't want to kill. Anyone. Not even the people who want to kill her. The fact that she had the ability to save so many people, and chose not to? I wasn't a fan. As I reached the second half of this book, I also realized that a lot of my burning questions wouldn't be answered. No world-building was really done. I had no idea why elementals existed, nor did I learn a lot about any of the other magical races. It seemed that all of the focus was on the romance aspect.

So, did I love this book? Not quite. I did enjoy a fair bit of it though, and definitely liked it enough to continue on to the second in the series. My only hope is that I'll finally have some of my questions answered. That, and perhaps Nym will finally become the courageous character I know she has the ability to be. A bibliophile can hope.