Review 'War of Mist' by Helen Scheuerer
"It's always the people we know best who can hurt us the most."
"It seems we have much to learn of each other. That is the gift of life, no? A friendship that endures is never short of surprises."
"I'm going to go to war. I'll carry on. As you have done. We stand to face the storm, no matter what it throws at us."
"For the longest time, I've wanted to say something, to do something about what is happening to women in this world. To try and make sense of it, to try and acknowledge it. But every time I try, something stops me. A deep instinct grabs me and tells me, "No. Not now. Not yet. If ever." It hurts too much. It's not one memory, or two. It's a lifetime. Lifetimes. It's not one woman. It's all of us. The ugliness of the world taints us all. For an age, the walls have been closing in. We've been raped. We've been abducted. We've been hit. We've been intimidated. Harassed. Belittled. Silenced. For far too long."
War is here. The time has come at last to follow our favorite warriors and rebels into battle. We've watched them rise and fall, heal and bleed, Win and lose. But this final battle is the one that will decide it all. The one to decide their future.
War of Mist is the third and final installment of the Oremere Chronicles, an epic fantasy series by Helen Scheuerer that will sweep you off your feet and take you to faraway places. A story that will grip you by the throat with action packed and heartfelt scenes. It is simply unputdownable.
Thank you so much Helen for sending me an ARC for this book!
This book. THIS BOOK!! Once again, Helen's beautiful prose writing pulled me in from the very first page. I fell into this story like Alice fell down the rabbit hole. These characters latched on to me and did not let go until days after I finished the book. It doesn't happen often that I can say this but I loved every single moment of this story and am so sad to see it come to an end. I'm not going to lie, I dreaded finishing this book because I did not want this story to ever end and now that I have, I still can't fully grasp that it's really over. This series is unique in so many ways; the magic, the world, the characters. I don't even know where to begin to explain why you need to read these books other than that they are absolutely fantastic and will leave you breathless, feeling more alive than ever!
Let's talk about this magical world. The Upper Realm holds all kinds of different kingdoms from scorching hot deserts that will make you sweat one moment, to freezing snow lands that will make you shiver the next. You'll feel it all as if you're standing right in that place alongside these characters. It's an eerie, yet refreshing feeling to have a book make you feel so many things.
And don't even get me started on these characters. I could gush for hours about every character but I'll start with this. Never have I read a story with characters that feel so real. So human. Each and every character in Helen's story is flawed. They make mistakes, let fear rule them sometimes. They get angry and sad. They fall in love and get betrayed. But they never stop feeling real. Helen has a unique talent when it comes to creating characters. She takes care of them and she lets them grow and evolve in such a way it reminds me of taking care of growing flowers. Although some of these flowers definitely have a few thorns. We've already gotten some beautiful character developments in the previous books but even in this finale, we watch our favorite characters grow and change. They've reached their peak and they're ready to fight for what they believe in.
Where Heart of Mist introduced us to these flawed characters and this magical world. Reign of Mist not only opened our eyes and expanded that world, but also pushed these characters into a raging river and forced them to claw their way out of it stronger than ever and true to their heart. Now War of Mist is here and everyone is ready. The world is expanded, the characters have grown strong. Allies are united and enemies are formed. Still, you can't help but feel betrayal is lurking around the corner. Because you can feel it. It's right there, following behind you like a heavy shadow. You constantly find yourself thinking 'please don't betray them, don't let it be you'. You start doubting who to trust and can't help but read on to see who will betray who in the end. But once you do, you wish you could undo it because there's no coming back from that pain.
Every fantasy lover loved a good bloody battle that will have your heart racing out of your chest. War of Mist has one. This great, epic battle will leave you reeling and breathless, with a tear stricken face and a wide open chest. If you think you're ready, think again because you're most likely not.Don your best armor because you will need it for this wild ride. Warning: beware of wild arrows aiming at your heart.
Still not entirely sure whether these books are for you? Let me give you a last little overview of all the amazing things you can expect in this story:
- Warrior queens
- Tyrannical kings
- Magical worlds in all varieties
- Unique magic
- Beautiful prose writing that will make this story come to life in the most vivid way possible
- Unbreakable friendships
- Heartbreaking betrayals
- Crazy plot twists
- Epic battle scenes
- Lgbtq+ characters
- Character with addiction problems
- Blind character
- Panthers (because they're awesome)
- Death (because it is war after all)
I laughed, I gasped, I screamed, and I cried. This book made me feel every emotion wrapped into a hurricane. I've been hit, I've been shot, and I've been sliced wide open. War of Mist is one of the most epic conclusions I've read so far and it'll be a while before I'm fully over this story, if ever.
War of Mist comes out July 25th. That's still plenty of time to read Heart of Mist and Reign of Mist. I can't recommend this series enough! A must read for every fantasy lover!