Water's Wrath (Air Awakens, #4)

by Elise Kova

Librarian turned sorcerer. Sorcerer turned hero. Hero turned puppet. The Solaris Empire found victory in the North and, at the cost of her heart and her innocence, Vhalla Yarl has earned her freedom.

• ISBN10: 1619844257
• ISBN13: 9781619844254
• Publish Date: 26 April 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Silver Wing Press
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 340
• Language: English

Reviews

[ladygrey]

It's not uncommon, especially when binge reading, to notice a writer's flaws more and more the deeper you get into a series. The things the writer may think “worked” for the first books enough to keep writing actually don't work and get more annoying as they keep coming up. So, in some ways this review sounds a lot like the previous ones. The running theme? Vhalla is stupid.

First of all she knows its a bad idea to use the axe. She's trying desperately to keep is safe and keep it secret. So after telling herself it would be terrible to use the axe in front of her greatest enemies…she uses it in front of her greatest enemies. Remember, she took the axe in the first place because she absolutely must keep it safe even though no one else has figured out where it is in who knows how many hundreds of years. What does she do with it after that? Blithely gives it to her enemies, granted in exchange for someone's life but enemies who are liars and that she's worked this hard to keep the axe away from. 

I had to laugh at the conversation with Victor where she says she's not stupid. Because, yes she us. Very stupid. This is confirmed by her not even stopping to suspect that Aldrik wasn't Aldrik no matter how many times she recognized him behaving oddly. Even when he was cold it didn't occur to her, stupid girl  

And even after all this time with everyone telling her how amazing she is and what a woman she's grown into, she still acts like a petulant child stomping around Victor's office. Really?

I have to confess each book seems less well edited with missing words or broken lines in the ebook. Then there's things like where they untie her and then a few sentences later they decide to untie her.  Or she produces the axe and then two paragraphs later she takes it out of the bag. At some point in one of the earlier books she was watching twilight in the morning. 

I decided at the end of the second book that if Aldrik died, I’d stop reading. I considered it again when Jax seemed dead though I didn't completely believe he was dead. I’m sorely tempted to stop now with Baldair's death. Its senseless and there is no point to the story for such a good character to die. Death may seem capricious in life but we know in a story the author is killing the characters and it should not be so pointless. And I think losing Aldrik’s magic is sadder than losing her own because there was something interesting about his fire not being able to hurt her.  

Also every bad guy is the most horrible creature Vhalla ever met. But you can't have three people that are all the most awful. It doesn't work that way. And everyone is a puppetmaster because they act or speak with intention. It only diminishes Vhalla as unable to make her own choices or take responsibility for her stupidity.  

Clearly, Vhalla is not my favorite character. But the characters around her are interesting and offset her enough to keep reading.

[Vicki]

3.5 stars

Although I totally plowed through this one, I have to admit that this has been my least favorite in the series so far. The first half of the book I was really just waiting for Vhalla and Aldrik to be reunited. I also felt like the story was a bit all over the place. In the beginning, the Knights of Jadar are hunting Vhalla and they've been the secret enemies since the beginning (although we didn't know it at the time). Then they basically just disappear. There was a lot about the Sword of Jadar that ultimately didn't even matter. I was also confused at the end as well about what actually happened. I don't understand what Victor actually did at the end. The magical theory behind how the power of the Crystal Caverns gets unleashed was never made very clear (at least to me). The crystal crown was hardly mentioned during the book and it seemed to play an important role in this. Also, Baldair's death was really sad and unexpected. I'm not sure what the point of his death was, other than maybe being the catalyst for Aldrik and Vhalla to admit their relationship more publicly. That, as well as the grief Aldrik feels is very short-lived since the story immediately jumps to Vhalla getting tricked by Victor into heading toward the Crystal Caverns. It felt a little like the death was for shock value instead of driving the story forward or somehow impacting Vhalla/Aldrik character growth. Maybe I'm just being harsh because I liked Baldair... I still loved seeing Vhalla and Aldrik though and still really enjoyed this. I hope we get some answers in the next book.

[tweetybugshouse]

Librarian turned sorcerer. Sorcerer turned hero. Hero turned puppet.  I went into this review ignoring or forgetting any warnings that may of been posted about the series.  So as a result I am still reeling from the emotions of this book, I honestly have no words, I feel like a fish out of the water opening and closing my mouth. All I want to do is is cry, like WHY did this happen!!!! 

The emotional turmoil from the death in this book had me so turned inside out i had to wait a few days just to finish up the last few chapters which included more heart ache.  So i be reading something else and then come back for the last book.   When i get invested in a book to the point of a 6 book series those characters really come to life.  Elise does an amazing job of this.  

And Prince Aldrik, I won't even try to make you believe that I could ever lose faith in him. I've been shouting from the sidelines I've always been on his side of the court even when he was acting like a fool. Gah! I just can't! The emotional tension between him and vhalla radiates from the pages will they be together will the be torn apart.  It makes for one page turning roller coaster. 

I am eager to read the last book but i do need to grieve a bit for those we lost in this battle. 

[Leigha]

A young woman transforms from a library apprentice to a sorcerer in this awesome new adult romance-fantasy series.

I devoured the Air Awakens series over a week. Five books in one week! I’ve owned the first one for ages, finally sitting down to read it this past July. While the beginning is BEYOND slow, the rest of the series more than makes up for the start. Vhalla and Aldrick are – how should we put it? – not terribly interesting in the start of the series. Vhalla is your typical “good girl” and Aldrick your typical “bad boy” archetypes. It’s not until they begin growing, both as individuals and as a couple, I found myself invested in their story. Their transformation during the series is dramatic and earned.

Secondary characters are well-developed, particularly those characters involved in multiple novels. I’d be cautious at giving my heart to any of the characters. All of them – including our leads – are placed in perilous situations throughout the series. Sometimes characters survive with emotional and physical scars, while others meet a grisly fate. *tears* Creating a series with life or death stakes requires, well, life and death stakes. I appreciate the authenticity Ms. Kova cultivates by creating a series where beloved character can, and do, die.

The world building is top notch. The magic system is comprised of elemental magic – air, water, fire, and earth (very similar to The Last Airbender anime). Each region of the continent maintains its own nuances as do the people from those regions. Events in the books build until the dramatic conclusion. While I bought each book separately, I highly recommend purchasing the complete series on Amazon. Trust me – you will want to read them all!

tl;dr Fantastic world building, epic romance, and earned character development makes this life-and-death series a must read.

[Chelsea]

What I Loved

In my other reviews of this series I mentioned that the author was fond of ripping my heart out and setting it on fire. After this book I don’t even think I have a heart left because she has destroyed it. I thought the emotions I felt from the previous books was intense but it was nothing compared to how heart breaking this book was. I hate and love the author at the same time, if that’s even possible. I hate her for doing this to me but love her for writing this series. SO MANY EMOTIONS GUYS! I physically hurt after finishing this book. The author starts off by repairing the broken pieces of your heart that she broke in the last book and then like 75% through she destroys it again! Seriously, after that 75% mark I was an emotional wreck. I don’t want to read the next book just because I’m terrified of what it’s going to do to me.

I’m not even sure what else to say about this book because even though it’s been about a week since I read it, I still haven’t fully healed. I can only imagine what’s coming for us in the next book. I can tell you that the characters are just as fantastic as the previous books and they’re starting to really work together as a team. They’re starting to pool their strengths together and they really are trying to do what’s best for the kingdom even though the emperor is screwing it up. I’m also going to warn you not to trust ANYONE because they will stab you in the back!

I think this book actually had the best plot so far. It even beats out the first book. There was a lot happening but it didn’t feel rushed or jump around a lot. Everything that happened made sense (even though I wish some parts didn’t ) and everything flowed really smoothly. The author is also really great at ending her books with intense cliff hangers so make sure you have all the books before jumping into one because the wait is horrible.

What I Didn't Like

I have no complaints about this book! Well except that she’s killing off all my favourite characters! I could do without that honestly. Also I kind of hated how there was no Aldrik for the first chunk of this book. I love him too and wished we could have seen more of him at the beginning!

Who I'd Recommend To

This is a fantastic book for YA fantasy lovers. If you love magic, romance, and feeling all your emotions at once, then this is the book for you! I know a lot of people hesitate to read lesser know books but I honestly feel this book is worth the read.

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
I keep thinking to myself "there is no way that Elise can outdo herself again, right?" and then... she does. This book blew me away, and I am going to try to explain why and how without spoiling it or the previous three books, so I will likely have to keep this short.

First, Vhalla is as amazing as ever. And she's going through some stuff. Some big stuff. Like, life in upheaval sort of stuff. And since she is kind of the best character ever, she deals with it like we would: trying to be graceful, but only partly succeeding. The true draw to Vhalla has been and still is how relatable she is no matter how powerful she becomes or how low she falls. Some characters morph completely; Vhalla grows but never replaces her true self- just builds upon it. But she definitely evolves, no question, as she faces difficulties that would be insurmountable to most of us. This book is my favorite of the series so far, without a doubt. Emotionally, I was all over the place, which to me is the best way for a book to be. I had no idea what the fate of characters or plotlines would be, because with the Air Awakens series, nothing and no one is ever safe. There were enough lighter moments to make me not drown in my emotions (but it was close ;) ). So many relationships are explored in this book too- not only romantic ones, there was a ton of emphasis on friends and family as well, which I adored.

Goodness, I want to gush about this book endlessly, but even telling you some of the things I want to gush about would be spoilery! Okay, if you have read Earth's End, I guess you can read this: The Vhalla/Aldrik feels are just.... oh my goodness. My emotions ran the gamut- my heart broke, it longed for them to see each other, and I felt the swoons just thinking of them being in the same vicinity! This is absolutely one of my favorite ships of all time, even though it guts me on the regular.

Bottom Line: My heart has been destroyed and uplifted over and over, and I have fallen in absolute love with this series and these amazingly realistic characters. I am simultaneously excited and devastated for Crystal Crowned. I can't wait to read every last word of this series, but I also can't handle leaving these beloved characters and world behind.


*Copy provided by author for review