Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff

Stormdancer (Lotus War, #1)

by Jay Kristoff

Griffins are supposed to be extinct. So when Yukiko and her warrior father are sent to capture one for the Shogun, they fear that their lives are over. Everyone knows what happens to those who fail him. But the mission proves less impossible and more deadly than anyone expects. Soon Yukiko finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in her country's last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled griffin for company. Alhough she can hear his thoughts, and saved his life, all she knows for certain is he'd rather see her dead than help her. Yet trapped together in the forest, Yukiko and Buruu form a surprising and powerful bond. Meanwhile, the country verges on collapse. A toxic fuel is choking the land, the machine-powered Lotus Guild is publicly burning those they deem Impure, and the Shogun cares for nothing but his own dominion. Authority has always made Yukiko uneasy, but her world changes when she meets Kin, a young man with secrets, and the rebel Kage cabal. She learns the horrifying extent of the Shogun's crimes, both against her country and her family.
Returning to the city, Yukiko and Buruu are determined to make the Shogun pay -- but what can one girl and a flightless griffin do against the might of an empire?

Reviewed by Amber on

4 of 5 stars

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This review was originally posted on Books of Amber

There has been a lot of hype surrounding this book since it first came out. I had been trying to hold off on starting the trilogy until nearer to the final book’s release, because I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be able to wait a year for the third book. Now that Endsinger is coming out in a month, I figured that now was the time.


Stormdancer took a little while to hook me, mostly because of all the terminology that was used in the beginning. Kristoff doesn’t take the time to slowly dip the reader into this world, he just throws them into it with full force and doesn’t take any prisoners. This was a little bit of an issue for me when I first started reading because I had no clue what any of the characters were saying. After about fifty pages, though, I did get used to it and I felt fully immersed in this world.

Stormdancer masters the perfect blend of description and action. It kept me on my toes the entire time, and instead of plodding along it felt as though I was sailing through it. The world is beautifully described and the characters are all intriguing. The action scenes gave me ALL THE FEELS because they played with my emotions and still managed to stay fast paced and thrilling. Fantasy lovers will ADORE this book once they get into it.

Obviously, I can’t review this book without mentioning the relationship between Yukiko and Buruu. I wasn’t expecting something as epic as that to come out of this book, but it happened and now I’m getting teary-eyed because they are beautiful. They are soulmates and very few of my fictional pairings can top them because they embody everything that I adore. I don’t really want to explain what those things are because I want everyone who is reading this review to go into the book with a fresh mind, but basically: Yukiko x Buruu = OTP.

I think everybody should read this book just so I have more people to fangirl with. From the Japanese-inspired fantasy to the FREAKIN’ THUNDER TIGERS, everything about this book is epic. I’m dying to know where this series goes because the ending of Stormdancer wrapped things up well without a cliffhanger, but at the same time left things very, VERY open for more. And the ending was very Spartacus, which leads me to believe that Kristoff (I’m still chuckling over this) is a) a fan of my favourite show ever, and b) up to things. UP TO THINGS. So I’m going to read Kinslayer this week (hopefully) so that I am ready for Endsinger’s release in November. EEP.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 10 August, 2014: Finished reading
  • 10 August, 2014: Reviewed