Stormrise

I don't know about Twelfth Night vibes, but Stormrise definitely channels its inner Mulan. In fact, it's fair to say that this is pretty much a retelling of that story, with dragon lore involved. If that seems like your cup of tea, then let me tell you right now that you're going to love this book. I had a ton of fun with it!

Rain is my favorite kind of character. Brave, loyal, and kind to a fault. She's the type of girl who is more than willing to throw herself in harms way, if it means protecting the people that she loves. More than that though, is the fact that she's willing to sacrifice everything for what she believes in. It's tough not to love a character like that, and I promise that you'll willingly follow her into every fray. She's that charismatic.

The dragon lore in this book is also wonderful. I thought that Boehme did an excellent job of laying out why Rain's link to these great beasts was so important. I would have loved a little more background, but we'll get to that in a minute. For now, I'll just say that the majesty and terror of dragon kind definitely comes through on these pages. Like I said above, this is basically Mulan with epic dragons involved.

Now to the part that made me rate this book lower than I expected. This is a very flimsy story overall. Sure, Rain is a fabulous character. Yes, her training is exciting and the addition of dragons is fantastic. However there's really no depth to this book. It lacked world building, and actually a lot of character building as well. The story ran on the rails of a very thinly described world, and I missed that connection. I wanted to sink deeper, but there was nowhere to go.

So why did I still give this four stars? Truth be told, it was a lot of fun to read. I've been needing an escape and, for better of for worse, this was there for me when I needed it most. If you're looking for a book that is an easy read, with plenty of nostalgia vibes to see you through, this is what you're looking for. Trust me.