Combine a true Marvelite and one of the best YA writers around and you get the perfect choice to write the origin of one of the founding X-Men - Storm.

Ororo Monroe has searched for her ancestors since the loss of her parents. This search leads the youngster to Nairobi, Egypt and Kenya. Making her money by pickpocketing tourists may not be admirable, but it is necessary. She excels at staying in the shadows, always hiding her trademark white hair from her “brothers”. But she still hears a voice calling her “home”.

Her decision to leave is fast-forwarded due to an attack by the Shadow King, Amahl Farouk. He attacks Cairo, and tries to get in Ororo’s head with his telepathy. Ororo goes on the run through Africa, trying to get rid of her “curse”. She just wants to be normal. But beyond that, she wants her family back. And this is where Jackson excels.

Jackson is a master of detailing the struggles of young women. I have read her other works, starting with the excellent “Monday’s Not Coming”. Her writing makes a young mutant just a young struggling female.

Ororo stifles her grief, her identity, and her other emotions. And then she meets the future king of Wakanda, T’Challa. I knew that they were married in Marvel lore, but to see their bludgeoning romance start was enjoyable. (Even a future king has butterflies!) Not one for romance though, this is my only criticism. I thought the romance was too drawn out and could have been shorter.

The climax of the story was wonderful! It paced just like a sixth issue of a comic mini-series. I could see the art in my head. It was cinematic. The open ending leads exactly where it should - due to an intervention from you-know-who. It shows Storm as the strong, capable leader we all know and love. But having Jackson write this novel shows how that all started from a devastated young girl.

I have mixed feelings about this origin story. I love Storm, but reading this was very similar to watching X-Men: Apocalypse. While I understand origin stories have similarities, I felt like there were several liberties in this version that painted a very different picture and deviated. I wasn’t looking for an exact retelling, but some of our heroine’s demeanor didn’t feel right. Overall, enjoyable and I would recommend for an entertaining read.

Ororo Munroe is a thief on the streets of Cairo, hiding her blue eyes and white hair beneath a scarf. She must be stealthy, as strange things happen whenever she loses control. Sudden rainstorms and mysterious winds form, attracting attention to her. The Shadow King steals people's souls and is coming after her. With nowhere to turn, she listens to the inner voice she ignored and searches for her heritage. As she does, her powers grow stronger and the Shadow King comes closer. Can she outrun the shadows that chase her?

Storm is a powerful mutant, able to control the weather, but long before that, she was an orphan running the streets of Cairo. We see how that happened, and how she survived as a child. The bulk of the story is her life as a teen, long before she joined the X-Men. She tries to escape the Shadow King when he comes to Cairo to find her and hopes to make her way to Kenya based on a memory of her mother's background. Others once had blue eyes and white hair like her, and she hopes these women would be able to teach her how to control her emerging powers. She meets and develops a connection with T'Challa of Wakanda, who is doing a walkabout to learn about other African countries, as well as people of other villages. It's the farthest she'd ever been from Cairo, and the journey itself is fraught with dangers outside the risk of the Shadow King.

Ororo's journey is one of self-discovery. She sees her powers as a problem, an alien thing to get rid of so she can return to help the group of boys she considers her brothers in Cairo. They're problematic and flare in times of strong emotion or when she has nightmares of past trauma. We know it's not a curse or the mark of a goddess, but Ororo is still discovering that. Any talent can help as well as harm, and she has to face her multiple fears before she can even begin to meet the Shadow King head-on. This is a great look into Ororo's origin, and we understand where she's coming from. She's approachable and troubled and learns that doing the right thing is worth the cost.

I liked the X-men and Storm is one of my favorites. This is a really good book telling the character's origins. I have never read the comics, so I don't know if this is accurate or not based on them. Well written coming of age, self-acceptance and the beauty that lies within each and every one of us.

Tiffany D Jackson, Storm, Black Panther, and an African journey?! Take my money! The X-Men are my favorite superhero’s in both movies and comics. I am not an avid reader/watcher, but when I am in the mood that is what I reach for. So I was excited to hear about this book. This book did not let me down. Storm, or Ororo, doesn’t know about her heritage and isn’t quite sure who she is. She has trauma to deal with before her powers manifest and the bad guy shows up. So she has to take a journey to get answers about her powers and keep everyone safe from the bad guy. Along the way, she has to deal with her past and start figuring out her future. I really loved seeing her develop from someone who is just getting by to someone who is empowered make decisions for her life. I love novels like this that give me a new way to look at these characters.

This is a book Marvel/X-Men fans will love! It was great to learn the origin story of Storm. It was great to see an unexpected addition of a character (I don't want to give away any spoilers), though I was a bit disappointed at how the author felt the need to rush a relationship between this character and Storm. Characters are well developed and the storyline quickly pulls readers in. The active pace keeps readers engaged. If this book is a great way to introduce possible new fans to X-Men.


Key themes: family (including that which isn't blood relation), loss/grief, learning to be who you are meant to be

Possible trigger warnings: violence, parental death, poverty, grief

First and foremost, thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for providing me an eARC for an honest review! I am a bit late with that review, but I will give it one nonetheless!

On the whole, I think that this novel was a good Storm story, though at times it fell into some very common tropes. First, I think that allowing Ororo's character to breathe through the pages of a novel was a good decision, because I have always felt that she deserves more time in the spotlight than she tends to get. She is also a character that we often don't get as much of a background on, so having her teenage years being more fleshed out was lovely. The romantic dynamic in the book was fun, and I think that playing with Storm's claustrophobia and tendency to doubt herself at low times worked well for the character. I do think that this book sometimes fell in terms of pacing, as it felt that some of it stretched further than it needed, and the plot towards the end felt a bit rushed. It also utilized a fair number of common tropes, which both played to the strength of the writing and the detriment. At its core, though, I think this book is well-written and genuinely exciting, fitting of the character of Storm.

Storm: Dawn of a Goddess is amazing! It’s an X-Men prequel/origin story for Ororo Munroe, so even though it is part of a greater existing world, you can go in not knowing anything and enjoy a superhero story.

This book is fast paced and pulled me out of a small reading slump. The characters are all very well-written. One of the other things I loved is the world building. With X-Men, I often get overwhelmed because it’s such a big world and the mutants exist within a larger magical/sci-fi structure. However, Tiffany D. Jackson gave this book just enough magic to make sense within the context of the story without going too into the workings of the world.

Thank you Netgalley, Publishers, and Marvel for this ARC. Despite being a quick read. I could not publish my review fast enough and I apologize for that.

As a semi-regular comic reader, I am someone who is familiar with Storm's origin, so this book felt like something that I kind of knew the bones of already while simultaneously being unfamiliar with the meat of it. The supporting characters and locations is something that comics tend to skim over to soley focus on the titular character the comic or storyline is about and that's what I appreciated in this book.

I like that the author named locations, and described things and made it feel like they researched the locale and possible conflict in these different countries. I was suprised that even though the character of Storm expressed feeling othered b/c of her gender and her being foreign born, she never felt othered b/c of her race which seemed like an obvious aspect she would be dealing with since black Africans do face racism in North Africa from Middle Easterns, she would also have been at risk of slavery disguised as indentured servitude especially as an orphan. Now I'm not saying that needed to be in this book, but if we're gonna dabble in children being forced to be child soldiers as a result of deals with villages and militia (or kidnappings) then we could have also dabbled in other obvious and known aspects that Storm would have to deal with as a black child in an North African country.

As stated this was a quick read for me, and for half of it I thought Storm was 13 before I had to recheck again and correct myself, so I could be misremembering things, but if we're gonna pull real life aspects for the book, cherrypicking the obvious ones like feeling othered b/c of her race should have been one of them.

Now in half the book Storm is with T'Challa, and as someone who dislikes the pairing I was hoping he wouldn't be in it since there was a time T'Challa wasn't apart of Storm early life, but I do have to say that after getting over it, I did not mind the character's presence and his dynamic with Storm was fun to read, although his demeanor and how he handled situations kind of emphasized Storm's childish and stubborn characteristics to the point of slight frustrations for me.

Despite the stubbornness of Storm and her essentially not believing her mom when it comes to her heritage and how it manifests physically, I was glad at the growth Storm did display and I was happy with how the story ended with Ororo taking on the name of Storm.

When I found out that Tiffany D Jackson was writing a book about Storm I’m not going to lie, I geeked! I just knew it was going to be so good. And yep, I was right. This origin story is one that made me wish for more!

Okay, so with this one I had to keep reminding myself that is an origin story. I wanted more fighting and more like action. In this one Storm is mostly joined by T’Challa. They meet, fall for each other, and run from different groups along the way. And while that’s good, I don’t think that was enough for me. I wanted more fighting. And like I get that this was more so about how she came to be (it was an origin story) but I didn’t understand why they couldn’t have run into more weird things lol

The writing was classic TDJ. She was able to suck me into the book and I couldn’t stop listening. And idk how to explain it, but even with her limitations since this is Marvel, I thought she still made it her own. I had a such a fun time reading this and seeing what she did with all the rest of the characters. And each time another Marvel person showed up, I got so excited. It was just an all around good time.

I did feel like the ending was a bit abrupt. We spent the rest of the book on a journey to find her people and we don’t ever find them until the ending. And then when they finally did find them, it was almost the ending. And then things started happening she found out she wasn’t what she thought, and then it was the end. It was so abrupt. If the ending of the book had been a little longer and the beginning had been shorter this would have been a five star read.

This book was so much fun. My little cousin is a huge fan of Marvel so I offered it to her. I can see her loving this as much as I did!

As a Marvel lover, a comic lover, an X-Men lover, a Storm lover, and a Tiffany D. Jackson lover I cannot begin to express how much I absolutely loved this book. It felt perfect. That is the only way I know how to describe it. It was everything I could have hoped for from a Storm novel and more. Tiffany D. Jackson I love you!!

I have always liked the X-men and always loved Storm. This is a really good book telling the character's origins. I will admit, I love pretty much all things Marvel, but I have never read the comics, so I don't know if this is accurate or not based on them. I liked the sweet romance in it even if it did kind of feel like it was thrown in just to say there was a romantic vibe to the book. Overall, I think it was worth the read, especially if you are a Marvel fan.
I did get this as an ARC from Netgalley, but these opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley & Random House Childrens for this ARC! As a Marvel & Tiffany D Jackson fan, I enjoyed this book tremendously! I felt a part of the origin story and her journey at every turn.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children’s for the advance reader copy of “Storm: Dawn of a Goddess”! I had a great time with this book. This was much more than just a rehash of Ororo’s origin story, it’s a true character journey. A journey that heals her inner child and sets her on the path to becoming the goddesses that she was always meant to be. The majority of the book is her journey through Africa with young Prince T’Challa. It was exciting, and a little romantic, hehe. The chemistry between them was… ahhhh, amazing. I also really enjoyed the section where Ororo meets the wise woman Ainet. She gives her emotional and spiritual guidance at her lowest point in the story, and helps her to heal and connect with the divine feminine, ie: Mother Nature. The finale did feel a little rushed, but I was satisfied with the book’s hopeful ending. An uplifting and exciting read, I’ll definitely be recommending it at my library to teens who enjoy superhero stories, and strong female characters.

Ororo has been living on the streets of Cairo for years. Ever since she survived the plane crash that killed her parents, she has been keeping her white hair covered and her blue eyes down. Fortunately, she is good at what she does … taking things from tourists. Her skill as a pickpocket isn’t her only feature, though. Sometimes, if she is upset, sudden storms appear around her. Her life may not be perfect, but it is hers until the Shadow King locates her and she must run and discover where her powers come from. Will Ororo learn to control her powers? What truths will she discover about her people?

Storm: Dawn of a Goddess is a stand-alone fantasy adventure story for fans of the Marvel Universe and even those who know nothing about it. This origin story has many cameo appearances from beloved Marvel characters and the adventure that Ororo is subject to was exhilarating. I found myself finding time to get back to the book quickly so that I could see how it would unfold. Jackson hit the book out of the ballpark with this story and this updated world has more stories available if she wants to continue.

Who is she? Where did she come from? How did she learn about, learn to use, and learn to control her powers? Storm…we have heard about her, read about, and maybe have seen her on the screen a time or two, but do we really know the answers to the questions I first asked. This short but still interesting fantasy book gives us a glimpse of Storm’s story and how her experiences molded her into the hero we know.
I was never a huge comic book reader as a kid but have come to really enjoy Marvel and its various heroes and having a storyline about the origin of Storm was a very interesting idea. The author does a good job in the pacing of this book, creating diverse and interesting characters, and still keeping the reader interested and wanting more. After finishing this book I want the next installment in Storm’s story.

I LOVE this author and I LOVE Storm. So I was super excited to see Tiffany D Jackson write a Storm novel. And it was great. I love getting backstories on my favorite characters and Ms. Jackson did not disappoint.

4.25 stars. I have always loved superheroes and origin stories so when I saw this book come across my page, I knew I had to read it. I admit that before starting this, I didn't know much about Storm outside what is mentioned during the X-Men movies so all of this was new to me. That being said.. SO MUCH FUN. Tiffany Jackson's writing brought me right into the story and had me hooked from the first chapter. The way she took Storm's pre-written storyline and brought it to life in this book was beautiful. Once I started reading Storm: Dawn of a Goddess, I didn't want to pick up anything else until I finished it.

For me, this book was all about the journey and less the destination. Ororo and T'Challa's journey to Kenya was the majority of the story and I actually didn't mind so much. I feel like every obstacle, every stop, everyone they met added to the story instead of dragging it on like I would expect from any other novel. The growth between the two along the way was incredibly well written as well. Again, I went in blind about Storm's story so seeing her blossoming relationship with T'Challa was fun and lighthearted in an otherwise heavy story.

I would highly recommend for other fans of superheroes and those who love a coming of age story.

4.5 stars

“But now . . . no one will take me after what I’ve done. I don’t belong anywhere now.”
I glance back at the sea and smile. “You know what’s amazing?” She frowns. “What?” I scoop up a handful of sand and wiggle my fingers, whipping the wind into a mini tornado. “We actually can belong anywhere we want.”

This is my first novel by Tiffany and it did not disappoint. I’ve been meaning to get through some of her more popular books but I immediately had to pick up this one because I absolutely love Storm and I knew I needed it in my hands ASAP.

This novel is the perfect way to learn about Storm and how she came to be. This story takes place in Cairo, Ororo (storm) hates feeling like an outsider and only ever wants to feel like she belongs. That makes it pretty hard for her since she was born with white hair. With her hair being white and being an American, little Ororo had a hard time finding friends. Things only got worse when she suddenly became an orphan and had to grow up on the streets of Cairo. Years later, she becomes a skilled thief and finds a family of bandits who she’s found comfort in. Then suddenly weird things started happening to her and she has powers that she would do anything to get rid of. So she sets on a journey to her mother’s homeland in Kenya to find answers. Along the way, she meets a very charming young man named T’challa who believes Ororo could be something more and tries to show how her powers are a gift and not a curse.

I never, not once felt bored! The pacing is amazing, so much stuff happened but I never felt like it was too much. I did love how much Ororo is scared of herself and how her insecurities get the best of her which is the opposite of the Storm we know comes to be. Seeing how different she was then shows that sometimes all it takes is a little change of environment and surrounding yourself with people who show you love unconditionally. Those were the seeds Ororo needed to be the confident woman that she became.

“No one can change a storm’s path. Only the storm can do that for itself”

I truly hope that this isn’t just a standalone. I could read 5 more books about Storm. Especially if it’s written by Tiffany.

Tiffany D. Jackson has taken the world of Marvel Comics by Storm. That statement may be a bit of hyperbole, but "Storm: Dawn of a Goddess" is a fantastic new take on Storm's origin story. Jackson has included the key elements that every "X-Men" fan knows and woven in her own fictional plot line to breathe life into Ororo's story. I came into superhero fandom late in the game, but I have learned that canon doesn't mean a lot when it comes to X-Men. Between the comics, the animated series the sony movies and the Marvelverse, there are countless variations and continuities of the stories. Key elements remain the same, but the rest of the story is up for grabs. The author is a true fan and made sure that Ororo's life as a young thief and meeting Charles Xavier is in the story. But the rest of the book is a great original coming of age adventure. It reflects the feeling that a lot of young people experience: a feeling of being less, of not fitting in, of not belonging. Jackson explores that theme as she spins the tale of Ororo searching for a way to control her burgeoning powers. Jackson has made an interesting choice to include a young T'Challa in the story. Whereas this adds a sweet romance thread to the story, I found it distracting, Fans know how that os going to turn out, so I could have done with out the plot line all together. Tis is a fun quick read. Although it as labeled as young adult because of the main character's age, The romance is sweet and closed door and the book can be enjoyed by anyone over 12. It is a fun quick read tha tany marvel fan will enjoy.