To be one with the air and the furious sound of the wind swirling around you.
Elemental lore that binds you to the magical lure of the sky.
This is what it means to uphold the ethos of the kingdom of Rhodaire.
Until the day that the Kingdom of Illucia reduces Rhodaire in a whirl of smoke and fire.
The Storm Crow by Kalyn Josephson was a solid debut that carried the spirit of contemporary works such as Before She Ignites by Jodi Meadows and Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. Josephson created a magical system that centers around these majestic elemental crows who possess great power such as being able to control the weather. After experiencing the freedom of flying astride these fantastic creatures alongside Princess Anthia, their early destruction carries out a particularly crushing blow. After the kingdom is reduced to a shadow of its former glory, Anthia's sister, Caliza, begrudgingly marries Anthia off to a neighboring kingdom in an effort to carry out her duty as queen and secure stability of Rhodaire.
While some elements of the plot lead to foreseeable outcomes, The Storm Crow has various plot twists that engaged my curiosity through to the end. I particularly loved the representation that Josephson incorporated through Anthia. Because of her harrowing experiences, Anthia undergoes through depression and PTSD and struggles with her mental health throughout the book. Works like The Storm Crow open a positive dialogue about mental health through characters such as Anthia. Her resilience and raw emotion allows readers to connect with her journey and eagerly anticipate the oncoming eye of the storm that will continue in the sequel!
Favorite Quotes
“People are their truest selves at their most desperate.”
"Still, I clung to the rising hope, feeling as if I balanced on a glass precipice, waiting for it to shatter and send me careening into the nothingness like so many times before."
"It's difficult to walk against the wind. It takes strength."
"A storm. A tempest of lightning and thunder with the kind of heart found only in legends. A heart full of kindness and courage and strength."
"Don't let her silence the storm inside you."
About the Book
The Storm Crow (The Storm Crow #1)
by Kalyn Josephson Publisher: SourcebooksFire Release Date: July 9th 2019
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Synopsis:
In the tropical kingdom of Rhodaire, magical, elemental Crows are part of every aspect of life...until the Illucian empire invades, destroying everything.
That terrible night has thrown Princess Anthia into a deep depression. Her sister Caliza is busy running the kingdom after their mother's death, but all Thia can do is think of all she has lost.
But when Caliza is forced to agree to a marriage between Thia and the crown prince of Illucia, Thia is finally spurred into action. And after stumbling upon a hidden Crow egg in the rubble of a rookery, she and her sister devise a dangerous plan to hatch the egg in secret and get back what was taken from them.
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About the Author
Kalyn Josephson is a Technical Writer in Silicon Valley, which leaves room for too many bad puns about technically being a writer. She grew up in San Luis Obispo, CA, but now lives in the Bay Area with four awesome friends (because it’s the Bay and she’d like to be able to retire one day) and two black cats (who are more like a tiny dragon and an even tinier owl). When not writing YA Fantasy, she loves baking, reading, playing sports, and watching too many movies.
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Starts: July 9th 2019
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