#Review - Stormbreak by Natalie C. Parker #YA #Fantasy

Series: Seafire (#3)
Format: Hardcover, 432 pages
Release Date: February 9, 2021
Publisher: Razorbill
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / Epic

In this epic conclusion to the Seafire trilogy, which Booklist called “Mad Max by way of Davy Jones,” Caledonia Styx will risk everything—her heart, her crew, and even her life—to defeat Lir and take back the Bullet Seas once and for all.

Aric Athair is dead. But the fight for the Bullet Seas is far from over. Caledonia’s nemesis, Lir—the one responsible for destroying her family—has seized control of the warlord’s army.

Caledonia and her crew have fled to Cloudbreak to prepare for an all-out war. And they are not the only ones. Rogue ships and even a few defecting Bullets show up to join their fight. But Lir always seems to be one step ahead of Caledonia, anticipating her every more as he secures the seas for himself.

With the fight growing desperate, Caledonia is forced to make an unlikely and unsteady alliance with a new enemy. It’s a gamble that could cost her everything, but with the fate of the seas in her hands, Caledonia will do whatever it takes to win the war.

 

 

“‘We fight together.’ ‘Or not at all.’”

Stormbreak is the third and final installment in author Natalie C. Parker's Seafire trilogy. Events of this book, pick up shortly after the ending to Steel Tide. The prologue is from Lir’s point of view. It's a clear insight into his character and his ambitions before his first encounter with Caledonia Styk which put them on a path towards a final solution. The same Caledonia who lost her family, including her own brother Donnally, to Aric, Lir and the Bullets and their drug called Silt. While Caledonia, who is the leader of the rebellion, has been trying to put together an alliance on Cloudbreak, Lir makes his move to consolidate his power now that Aric is dead.

When Lir's people launch a surprise attack Cloudbreak, Caledonia once again finds that she's being hunted and needs to find a way to turn the tide to her favor. Caledonia wonders how she can protect her crew and struggles with the idea that taking innocent lives makes her no better than Lir. Under pressure to do something heroic, Caledonia makes an alliance with a surviving Fiveson named Tassos and his people who control the Net which keeps people from leaving the Bullet Sea. Caledonia puts everything on the line to end the Lir and Bullet Fleet.

In the end, Caledonia is forced to take innocent lives, as well as putting her crew in harm’s way in order to get over the hurdle to defeating Lir and his Bullets. Throughout the series, Caledonia’s character slowly progresses from cautious captain to bold fighter. The thing that remains consistent is Caledonia’s close bonds with her crew which includes Amina, Sledge, Pine, Hime, Nettle, Pisces, and Oran. I would have loved to see more of a solid resolution between Caledonia and her brother. Donnally's actions in this book are both shocking and surprising and I won't tell you why. 

Here is my recommendation: If you are able to, read the books back to back. That way you can remember names of key characters, yes even secondary characters and why they are important to Caledonia as well as Pisces. Stormbreak focuses heavily on Caledonia and her battle and struggles to fix the world while not becoming the people who caused the mess in the first place. This is a world that was destroyed by weapons of mass destruction. Weapons that Caledonia considers using on Lir and his people. Caledonia likes to believe that the key to winning is Mercy, but many times that Mercy tends to blow up in her face.

Cala's relationship with Oren is a nice side plot. But Caledonia's own personal health kept putting their relationship in jeopardy by not saying three little words. I think the ending was okay. I seem to be the only one who realizes that everyone seems to get their own happy ending except for Caledonia who likely has a severe case of PTSD. I'm not saying the ending was bad, just wanted more. There's a large number of F/F relationships win minor exceptions. A few characters are bisexual.

There is a darker theme to this series as well. Drug usage.
Everything is tightly controlled by the Bullets, and the Bullets themselves are controlled by Silt, a highly addictive drug. Bullets are fed a steady diet of Silt from childhood and are told, “From Silt comes strength,” but that strength is an illusion for they are actually slaves who often prefer to remain such rather than suffer through the agony of withdrawal in order experience true freedom. One of Caledonia's early goals is to get as many Bullets off Silt as she can while looking for a way to completely destroy the Bale Blosum the drug is made from.

 

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