There was something nostalgic feeling about this book. A 2010s YA fantasy feel. I loved this read. I think of my middle and high school students and could see them raving about it.

There were a lot of dynamics that I enjoyed and I think YA readers could really connect to:
-sibling dynamics (It was great seeing positive sibling relationships)
-complicated family dynamics
-grief/loss (from multiple view points)
-self-discovery/image (who they say you are vs. who are and are meant to be)
-pressure/expectations
-social dynamics (some positive some negative)

One negative thing that made me give it 4 stars was a major character flaw of Blaze. I don’t mind flaws, we all have them. I just wish Blaze had more of an “aha” moment with hers. She spent the whole book hoping people would see past their hatred, fear, or the “names” she has been given to really see her. Yet she treated Fox the same way people treat her. Even when Fox pointed it out I didn’t feel like it clicked with her.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I think YA readers will also. I can see where there could be even more layers to Blaze’s story in the next books. I am excited to see where the rest of this trilogy will lead!

Thank you NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for the eARC for my honest review. #NetGalley #HeirofStorms

That ending.... whew! I haven't enjoyed a YA romance like that in forever. I love all the different tropes that were found throughout the book. And I loveeee the tension between Blaze and Fox. They better be endgame because I'm in love. I can't wait for the sequel. I published a review on my goodreads.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

HEIR OF STORMS by Lauryn Hamilton Murray

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the earc (Jun 3)

What a wild ride.
When Blaze was born, she flooded the world, a Rain Singer, so she's hidden away. Until...she receives an invitation, along with her brother Flint. They're to compete to become rulers of the empire. She's thrown into battle of more than a throne, of her heart.
I devoured this book. It was literally so good and kept me intrigued. Such a great fantasy read.
HEIR OF STORMS has everything...emphasis on everything: a wide range of characters, rivalries, and a love triangle.
This was a whirlwind, action-packed read. From page one there was interesting bit after interesting bit. This reminded me of the competition of Red Queen, which made me love it even more. Not to mention the plot twists. There were so many and each one was more shocking than the rest. And when I thought this couldn't get better, get more shocking, it did.
HEIR OF STORMS is a must read for fans of Red Queen, fantasy, and drama. There is a major cliffhanger that'll lead into the next book, and I cannot wait.

HOLY. CRAP. This book was SO good! From the moment I started, I COULD NOT STOP! This book made me remember why I love YA so much! I enjoyed all the banter from the side characters, especially her brother Flint. The writing style and pacing are chefs kiss!

Blaze is the last rain singer, able to call down rain, born into a family of fire wielders. She has been isolated from society her whole life and has dreamed of traveling the world and exploring when she comes of age, but all of that changes when she and her twin brother are chosen as heirs to kingdoms of elemental magic and are thrown into magical trials to win a crown.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the magic system and that it really delved into training your mind and emotions like you would train your body. I loved all the banter and the well developed side characters. Blaze is a very likeable character and she has a lot of empathy for the people around her while still being formidable herself, she's very well written and I liked that she has a softer side. I'm so excited to read the rest of this series as it comes out

if i had read this in, say, 2011 or so, i probably would’ve eaten it up. it honestly reminded me a lot of the YA boom back then! between the elemental magic, the chosen one, the trials, the love triangle with a ~good~ boy and a ~bad~ boy (half-brothers too bc of course they are)… i felt like i was right back in that timeline.

however, instead of being nostalgic for a time i really cherished as a teenager, everything just felt kind of predictable. whenever some kind of “twist” happened, it was something i felt was very obvious as the next beat in the story. there wasn’t anything fresh in the narrative — even worse, blaze spent so much time confused or blind to the world around her that i found it frustrating! i understand that she’s very sheltered, but good lord. use that supposedly big brain of yours sometimes. one thing i did enjoy was the magic system — it felt well thought-out. if you’re a classic YA fantasy fan, you will probably enjoy this! it just wasn’t for me.

Heir of Storms is a debut YA fantasy with a unique elemental magic system. The MFC is Blaze who is a "Rain Singer" born into a family of fire wielders. The worldbuilding was fantastic! Blaze deals a lot with her internal struggles and the burden of her powers.

There’s a nice balance of court politics, trials, and slow-burning romance! Pacing did slow down a bit in the middle, but the intrigue pulled me back in by the end.

I’m excited to see how Blaze continues to grow into her power—and what the next book in the Storm Weaver series will bring. A solid start to a new YA fantasy series!

When you’re dying for the sequel, but the first book hasn’t even come out yet! What have I done to myself with this ARC!

Heir of Storms follows a girl named Blaze who is the first Rain Singer in ages, born to a family of fire wielders. Upon her birth, Blaze releases a flood that kills many of her town’s people, causing her to grow up as an outcast among her own. On her 17th birthday, she is chosen to join a deadly competition where she will fight for one of four thrones that represent each element.

Something that I love about this book is the cast of characters. Recent YA novels have seen side characters thrown to the wayside in order to give space for a romance that leaves me anything but swooning. However, Murray does a fantastic job juggling the internal struggle and pain from the main character, a diverse cast of side characters, and a love triangle with two completely different male leads. We don’t see the plot of this book take a step back for cringe banter, but rather have Blaze interacting with people both friend and foe.

I love the juxtaposition of love interests Hal and Fox. You have the duty driven prince with Hal, and the loose cannon family failure with Fox. I wish we had more dynamic with the two of them together, because did I mention they were half-brothers?!

Some short comings that I had with this book was the exposition that we are given to explain the happenings in this world. Because Blaze knows most of the history of this world, we are given this background through an exposition dumb via the narration, rather than organically coming across this information through the plot. In some instances, I found myself rereading certain scenes because we are given so much all at once.

The characters of Marina and Ember also seemed a bit much for me. They are caricatures of the mean-girl-in-a-fantasy troupe, and often came off so mean and catty, that it was silly. I’m all for a villain to the MFC, and I don’t need every villain to have a tragic backstory, but I do feel that they were a little too one-dimensional for me.

I wish we saw more of the trials as well. I loved reading the scenes where the elemental use was described, as it was done very well with vivid imagery that it made me want to see more.
That ending had me clutching my phone with white knuckles with such an action packed ending. I feel like BookTok is going to love this book, because it was suspenseful, rich in world, with great characters.

Thank you NetGalley, MacMillian, and Lauryn Hamilton Murray for giving me the chance to read this eARC! My opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillian for gifting this ARC.

Major Spoiler Alert -
I loved this book but I just have some gripes with it. I love a good elemental magic system and I loved most of the characters in this excerpt Ember, and pretty much the Aquatori team besides Kai. I thought it would be interesting to pair up Water/Earth because it's not usually done. Neither is Water/Light. Kinda wished another element besides light was picked to be the ruler of all the courts. IMO light is pretty over used element but its cool. Hal and Fox were giving almost Stelena/Delena/ love triangle vibes. I kind of like the plot twist of Hal and Elva being in love but I think Blaze reacted very weirdly. I thought she should have just told both them to piss off but she's mad for like maybe a few pages and everything is handy dandy. Considering that they are teenagers and that Hal is supposed to be her first real sort of friend its pretty scummy what he did. The ending of the book was pretty shocking but I knew not to trust King Balen, he was always so suspicious. I can't wait to read the second book and see more of history of the Magi and what happens to Fox. I wonder if the next story will be on the Aquatori not accepting Blaze as their Queen. But overall good book. 5/5.

Blaze is born to a long line of fire wielders. It’s expected she too will be a powerful fire wielder but upon her birth she summons a storm that drowns the lands and kills thousands of people. After the storm stops, her powers are seemingly gone for good. Cue seventeen years later when she’s selected to compete for the throne of the water gifted Etheri, the Aquatori.

The book had good pacing and an interesting magic system. I liked the ideas and the set up but some of the execution felt a little lacking. Some of the plot points I wished had been explored more were glossed over while more time was spent on things that didn’t feel as necessary. Blaze spends most of the book believing herself not worthy of ruling and unwanted as a ruler. The actual mystery and plot of the book don’t come out until over halfway through. The trials were a bit lackluster overall.

The ending also felt a bit rushed and left off on a cliffhanger. We didn’t get to see really any of the aftermath and it left things feeling unfinished.

Overall the book has a lot of promise but also a lot of growing to do. I’m interested enough I’ll definitely check the second book out whenever it comes out.

(DNF - 32%) (Will not be posting on Goodreads)

This book has a lot of potential and for a YA book. It drew me in right away and the four elemental royalty houses was working for me. Though as we continued along, the fast pace of the book often times felt jerky. There was no smooth transitions and sometimes the time line wasn't all that clear in some places.

Since everything is in Blaze's point of view, the way characters come across one sided and Blaze seems to lack much depth in herself? I don't understand why her family would keep her locked up and contained for 17 years? Were they also punishing her under the guise of protecting her? I'm not sure but I struggled connecting to Blaze's life and to any of the side characters. Her brother basically ignores her most of the time once they leave the family home...

Anyway...
All in all, I found that the rocky transitioning, the lack of depth and interesting plot had me giving up on this read. I think if I was younger, I may enjoy this a bit more? I suppose 3 stars is generous but there is enough time for things to be smoothed out! What's not for me though may be someone else bread and butter and I'm glad reading is subjective.

*Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this e-ARC and by doing so has no way impacted my review on this book.*

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Roaring Brook Press, Lauryn Hamilton Murray and NetGalley for access to the digital arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book has been called a mix of Red Queen and Shadow and Bone but I actually was getting vibes of Hunger Games, Twilight, Divergent and OG Mythology and I ate it up.

Blaze is the FMC and she comes into the world wreaking havoc as a baby just by being born. As a storm weaver she drowns a good portion of the citizens of her world but grows up to have none of that power remaining. Her Twin is the chosen one who can wield flames and will likely be the next King of their realm. But as we know in Romantasy tropes, the young heroine is destined to come into her own and this novel follows Blaze as she does just that.

While parts of this story do feel overly familiar and may be seen in many other stories, the way that Murray has written Blaze's story is unique. She is wielding water in a family that wields fire. She has seemingly lost her powers while those around her are so powerful they will be in the running for heirs to powerful positions. The "houses" of water, wind, earth and fire are very well described and reminded me of factions in Divergent, houses in HP and colleges in Fourth Wing.

Blaze has resigned herself to living as a despised person and hoping to one day travel far away from her home when she is unwittingly flung into a tournament where she very well could become an heir herself. The palace where she is housed with other contestants gives ACOTAR esp with Prince Hal and the other romantic interest gives Damon of the Vampire Diaries with a final love triangle nod to Twilight.

This book gave me the five star feeling I've been looking for and I really enjoyed the ride. The unique combination of familiar ideas and tropes with features particular to this story alone had me turning the pages and I'm so down for the next installment.

A new YA romantasy trilogy about dangerous magic, forbidden love, and a cut-throat competition for the throne in an empire where crowns are not inherited --they're won? Sign me up.

This book sucked me in from the very first chapter. After reading in the book the characters would have to go through trials, I got a little worried. The last several novels have included some sort of trial and the storyline was starting to get a tad redundant. However, I really enjoyed the way this was set up throughout the story. The way it was done made it stand out from the others. I can’t wait to see where the next story takes us.

Thank you for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

THIS WAS SOOOO GOOD!!! omg this might just be my new favorite series!!! I loved everything about this. I loved Blaze growing into her own, I loved the side characters, I loved the growing relationships that Blaze made. Everything about this was a perfect start to a series I’m anticipating now. The plot was strong, the writing was strong, the stakes were high, I loved the characters. Truly what else can I ask for in a book?

This cast of characters felt like a family to me. I was worried since we didn’t really get to see a big scary villain, but the last 10% of this book answered that question pretty quickly. I was very shocked by the reveals and I fully wasn’t expecting any of them. I like how we were eased into the lore and world building. It wasn’t too overwhelming, and we got more bits and pieces when it was pertinent. It didn’t feel plot dumpy at all. I thought it was handled very well. I absolutely cannot wait for the next installment, you have a new fan in me. Thank you so much to NetGalley and MacMillan for the e-arc!

I loved this! I had no idea what to expect but I’m surprised this is a debut!? Trials between heirs, magic, bullies to make life even harder. Princes and queens and balls galore!

I feel like this is going to be one of those series where the next book is even better. This book was a great setup for what's to come. The way she wrote it, it could go a million different ways. Characters lost, exiled, hurt and betrayed. Lore with so many unknowns and answers still to come.

I loved the banter and cleverness of the main character that we see very early on. She made me laugh and was surprisingly relatable.

My feelings are conflicted on how to feel with the romance aspects, which ultimately makes me like it even more. Nothing was predictable. I want more of that!! I hope book two puts her with who she’s supposed to be with and we get more of that firey banter.

And lastly there are kittens. Kittens for everyone except Flint! I loled at his one liners! A brother and sister dynamic that one could only hope for!

I can’t wait to watch this play out and see what others think of this book as it comes out, it’s gonna do big numbers in the fantasy world!

3.5 stars
This was a fun read, but definitely a YA book. The story was predictable in parts but still fun and addictive and made me want to keep going. I will definitely be continuing the series when the next book comes out.

Beautifully written. The world was so thought out and easy to get submerged in. What a great fantasy book!

I was given a free copy in exchange for my honest review from Netgalley.

Let me start off by saying I was absolutely hooked to Heir of Storms. It definitely is Red Queen meets Shadows and Bone. Rain's story had me addicted from beginning to end, and I am looking forward to the next book in the series! Rain had spent seventeen years, being hidden away, until she's chosen to participate in the Choosing Rite. The Choosing Rite is a deadly competition between the most gifted of Etheri in an attempt to gain control of one of the four thrones. The story is well crafted and reminds me of early 2010's YA novels. Which is entirely nostalgic for me as I grew up with those books and series.

This book is a thrilling YA romantasy based on a high-stakes competition. Magic is a weapon, not a gift. Blaze is grappling with her family, keeping her hidden because of assassination attempts, and failing to learn her magic. She believes she is not worthy of any magic even though she was born able to summon storms despite her fire-wielding lineage. A royal competition forces her back into the world that once feared her. She must now learn to use her powers or suffer defeat.

The characters are well-developed and engaging, each with their motivations and secrets. Fox, in particular, stood out as a favorite. He added depth and unexpected layers to the story. And just when you think you have it all figured out, the book throws in a shocking twist ending that leaves you desperate for the sequel.

Thank you, NetGalley and MacMillan Children's Publishing Group, Roaring Brook Press, for an opportunity to review the ebook.

Lauryn does it again. The queen of fantasy is back. This book did not disappoint, you need to pick it up!