Reviews with content warning for Violence - We Unleash the Merciless Storm

The first half of this sequel felt really slow to me. I enjoyed getting Carmen’s perspective, but I felt like it didn’t pick up until halfway through, and then I wanted to speed read to find out how everything worked out.

That being said, I love the strong Girl Power themes of this duology and the interspersing of Latinx culture within the fantasy world. This series is worth reading if only for the f/f relationship and the intriguing discussion of males in political power and how they seem to want to build walls (physical and metaphorical) to keep poor folks disenfranchised.

Teacher Thoughts: probably better for high school rather than middle school. I could see male readers not enjoying this much, but I can also see the need for these types of stories.

Content Warnings

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

“But comfortable doesn’t win battles.”

After a long month I was finally able to finish this book after reading We Set the Dark on Fire. Now be warned, this review will not censor spoilers from the first book but will for this book.

So WUtMS is narrated by Carmen Santos, the rebel spy who had been placed in Medio’s School for Girls five years ago to get into the highest ranking family in Medio. To get information and sneak protestors into the city. To help further the mission of La Voz.

And the girl who left Dani Vargas broken, bruised, and burned on a road next to the dead body of her mother-in-law & guards; unsure if the girl would ever return her love, keep her promise, and not betray the rebellion. But with Dani’s loyalty put into question, and the organization she was raised in seemingly changed overnight, Carmen runs BACK into the city where she is a wanted murderer to save her, and save the group she considers family in the process.

While fighting both sides to prove loyalty, love, and support for the cause, many others' stances come into question and friendships are broken, lost, and shot down. But will Carmen be able to unite and tie together La Voz from the attack coming down on them all from her evil ex-husband?

“It makes you worthy of the title rebel.”

I felt like this was such a good conclusion to the story that began with WStDoF. The growth of the characters and the inner turmoil of Carmen was a great piece to see instead of it being in Dani’s view again. To see both sides of the couple. I loved how passionate Carmen was about both Dani and her loyalty to La Voz, showing that you don’t need to have a one-track mind to be successful, and that sometimes having something else worth fighting for along with the bigger picture can help push you farther than expected.

Of course I love a good book about women falling in love as well, but seeing the fight in the relationship that stemmed from the end of book one through all the issues in book two was nice to see. It’s not always going to be a catwalk to be in love, but it makes life so much brighter. That even when they fought, the love that the other felt for each other was what grounded them to the world. Though personally I don’t know how many declarations of love I’d be giving if I knew someone was coming for me with the sole purpose of ending my existence, but that’s what escapism is for!

“But even through all of that, the sun was shining.”

I gave We Unleash the Merciless Sea 4 stars like the first book. While I wish a certain man was not left alive, I’m okay with how he came out of the final battle. I also liked the twist of the La Voz leadership at the end of the book to see a mantel taken up in a new direction than the thousand of years before. And while I’m sad I won’t be able to see Dani & Carmen live on until their ends as a happy couple, I’m glad that I was able to be there while I could.

I knew from the beginning that Ari was a gov’t spy, just not how he knew Mateo. I was theorizing he was like a illegitimate child of Mateo’s father or something

Why did Cielo have to die? Think of the happy life she could have had with that sweet village on the end of the wall that Carmen met. I dislike meeting someone and having them ripped away so soon.

Of course, RIGHT AS I LIKE SOTA he goes and gets shot….not my foxy boy

Carmen getting poison-induced powers over animals or something to attack Mateo was very cool, the Gods saw the fight and were like “here’s some rain and attack crows, go wild my children”

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