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Review: Swift the Storm, Fierce the Flame by Meg Long

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Swift the Storm, Fierce the Flame by Meg Long

Swift the Storm, Fierce the Flame
Meg Long
Wednesday Books
Published January 17, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Swift the Storm, Fierce the Flame

A girl hellbent on finding the friend she lost. A planet on the brink of total destruction. Only one way to find answers amidst the chaos: team up with a traitor to stage a revolution, in Meg Long’s Swift the Storm, Fierce the Flame.

After a mission gone awry two years ago, Remy Castell has been desperately searching across worlds to find the friend she failed to save—the friend who changed her life by helping her overcome the brainwashing she was subjected to as a genetically engineered corporate agent.

Since then, she’s been chasing the only lead she has: fellow genopath Kiran Lore, the same secretive ex-squadmate who left her for dead when she compromised that mission. She nearly caught up to him on Tundar before joining the infamous sled race alongside outcast Sena and her wolf companion Iska. Now, all three of them have tracked Kiran back to Maraas, the jungle planet where Remy lost everything. But nothing on Maraas is how it was two years ago. Syndicates and scavvers alike are now trying to overthrow a megalomaniac corpo director, which Remy wants nothing to do with; fighting against corpos is as useless as trying to stay dry in the middle of the giant hellstorm that encircles the planet. But the storm—and the rebellion—are growing stronger by the minute.

When Remy finds Kiran, he doesn’t run away like she expects. Instead, he offers her a deal: help with the revolution and he’ll reunite her with her friend. But can she really trust the boy who betrayed her once before? With the entire planet on the edge of all-out war, Remy will have to decide just how far she’s willing to go to save one girl before the impending storm drowns them all.

My Review

This one started off a little rough for me. Remy was one of my favorite characters in COLD THE NIGHT, FAST THE WOLVES, so I really looked forward to a story centered on her. I got very different vibes from her character in SWIFT THE STORM, FIERCE THE FLAMES than I did in the other book, though.

I liked that Remy was quick and brought some comedic relief to the first book with her banter. She’s a lot more serious in this book, which took some getting used to.

She also had a really single-minded focus on finding her friend from the past. As she learned new information, she was slow to update her view of what happened when they lost connection with one another. She kind of gets stuck in a loop for a bit in the middle of the book, going back and forth between two ideas and not really responding to the new information around her.

I think what I’m hoping is that this is going to turn out to be one of those trilogies where the middle book ends up being a bridge between the first and last ones? Maybe there wasn’t quite enough story to carry a whole second book but too much to keep the series to a duology? I don’t know.

The end of the book positioned the series well for a final reckoning in a third book. Even though there were some parts of this one that I struggled with, I would still like to read the series through to the end and find out what happens to Sena and Remy and their allies.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Two women are in a romantic relationship.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Attraction between characters. Reference to Sena’s two moms.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril and descriptions of battle violence. References to torture.

Drug Content
Sena and Remy visit a bar looking for someone. Remy pretends to be drunk.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of SWIFT THE STORM, FIERCE THE FLAME in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves by Meg Long

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Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves
Meg Long
Wednesday Books
Published January 11, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves

After angering a local gangster, seventeen-year-old Sena Korhosen must flee with her prize fighting wolf, Iska, in tow. A team of scientists offer to pay her way off her frozen planet on one condition: she gets them to the finish line of the planet’s infamous sled race. Though Sena always swore she’d never race after it claimed both her mothers’ lives, it’s now her only option.

But the tundra is a treacherous place, and as the race unfolds and their lives are threatened at every turn, Sena starts to question her own abilities. She must discover whether she’s strong enough to survive the wild – whether she and Iska together are strong enough to get them all out alive.

A captivating debut about survival, found family, and the bond between a girl and a wolf that delivers a fresh twist on classic survival stories and frontier myths.

My Review

I liked this book from the beginning, and then Remy, one of the minor characters that’s part of a scientific expedition visiting Sena’s planet, entered the scene. She’s spunky and teasing and I loved her so much. She really added a lot of light and balance to Sena’s serious and sometimes moody personality. I felt like the story picked up a lot as soon as Remy walked into it, which was maybe 20% in?

I also loved the relationship between Iska and Sena. I’ve had the experience where an animal chooses you as their family. It was much less dramatic than a fighting wolf, but still, it’s an amazing thing, and I felt like COLD THE NIGHT captured that really well.

The planet where Sena lives is this rough, gritty icy place. Think Wild West meets Arctic tundra. It seemed exactly like the kind of place that Captain Mal and his crew from Firefly would end up at some point. Those gritty elements really worked to create high stakes and desperate characters, which definitely kept me engaged in the story.

All in all, I thought this one would make a great addition to the YA sci-fi shelves. I think readers who enjoy books by Claudia Gray or Hayley Stone will love this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Sena was raised by two mothers.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Some scenes briefly show wolves being forced to fight each other. Animals attack people in several scenes. Goblins attack people in a couple scenes. Some of these scenes show some graphic violence and fatality.

Drug Content
Some characters drink alcohol.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of COLD THE NIGHT, FAST THE WOLVES in exchange for my honest review.