I read The Brilliant Death earlier this year and loved it. I thought it was so creative and unique and I couldn't wait for the next book. So, you can imagine my delight when I was approved for an ARC of The Storm of Life. I started it immediately, but somehow I wasn't connecting with the characters and the story as much as I did with the first book.I read The Brilliant Death in one sitting. I stayed up all night eager to see what would become of Teodora and Cielo. This time I read in starts and

this was a mixed bag, but I think despite how much it dragged and the problems I had with it, I'm happy with it and I'm glad I read it so that I could get to their happy ending 💕

I LOVED this duology! Perfect amount of everything that makes a GREAT story. There was no extra or unnecessary anything in either books. Once & Future is calling my name, but I still need to get book 2 because I love binging series/duologies.

Okay can someone please explain to me WHY this is... not listed as a sequel to The Brilliant Death on goodreads, despite the blurb making it very clear that it is??? Because I totally though The Brilliant Death was a standalone...I'm all of a sudden a whole lot more satisfied with how The Brilliant Death ended...Anyways I NEED THIS ASAP. I need to see how my darling Cielo and Teo are doing! And ahhhhhh how am I supposed to wait?!?!?! I NEED IT. NOW PLEASE.

4 starsI really enjoyed this conclusion to the Brilliant Death duology. I absolutely loved reading about nonbinary people falling in love and saving their kingdom and I thought this was a really solid installment in this series. It wasn't my favorite, as I thought there were definitely some things plotwise that hadn't been tied up as neatly as they could have been and I found myself still harboring some unanswered questions at the end of the story. That said, I did really enjoy all the developme...

I enjoyed seeing Teo and Ceilo's relationship develop and the world building expanded. However, the plotline of this felt messier than book one making it a bit difficult to tell what is going on and I don't think this was the best ending we could've given to Teo and Cielo.Overall, it's a good sequel and I would recommend this duology.Also that was really some SJM weird smut huh. Didn't expect that.

Felt like this was a little bit more anti-climactic than it should have been but it was still a decent read and definitely better than the second book in this author's King Arthur series so at least I know now that they are capable of writing a *decent* sequel. Really liked the two main characters and how their gender-fluidity was written but felt like the actual plot could have used a little bit of work. Still an interesting series although I definitely liked the first one better, I felt like i...

This is kind of a review of both The Brilliant Death and The Storm of Life... I guess.I absolutely love the magic in this duology; not just how the magic element works but the way it's entwined with the writing itself. Capetta's prose is rich with vivid, tangible metaphors, connecting emotions and experiences with not just images but with the shapes and sensations of objects or natural phenomena, paralleling the relationship Teo's magic weaves with the physical world.The different kinds of magic...

So 3.5/5 stars. Allow me to explain. This was a lovely little fantasy book with plenty of fantasy politics. It’s about love, family, and new beginnings. Teo and Cielo explore their relationship as well as the path they plan to take after The Brilliant Death. I really did fall in love with their love. It was a nice book, though it did take me a bit to get through. The first seventy pages or so of the book felt very scattered and a little confusing, like having to play mental catchup. Maybe it was...

2020 Popsugar Reading Challenege Read a book by an author with flora or fauna in their namePretty forgettable but still enjoyable. I still love Teo and Cielo. I just wish we got more of those two. I feel like they were separated a lot. But when they were on page together 🥰🥰🥰

3.5 starsI have around the same feelings about this book that I had about the first in the series, The Brilliant Death. This series is fun, it's queer, it's bloody, and it's romantic. While I remember The Brilliant Death was marketed as a kind of mafia-inspired fantasy, having finished the duology, it seems more like it's based on the Italian unification (going off of my limited knowledge of the Risorgimento), which made the concept way more interesting. I did feel like the execution felt a bit...

I'm rating it even though it's a DNF at page 260 because of unacceptable content. This book unconvinced me of Teodora and Cielo's love.

4.5 stars rounding to 5. I loved The Brilliant Death and the many original ways the story is told. Book 2 is no different; the author tells this gender fluid story in a beautiful, interesting and creative way, I can’t help but fall in love more with Teodora and Cielo. The magic is new and the romance and twists worth a slow read. I loved this book and is a great follow up and completion to the story.

TW: physical abuse, attempted kidnap & murder of an infant3.6It's always so hard writing reviews for sequels- especially when the first book takes up space in your mind. I really liked The Brilliant Death, and I was excited to read this book when I realized there was going to be a sequel. Unfortunately, it didn't hit quite how I wanted it to, but it was the same characters I loved, and I'll pretty much read anything Capetta writes, so I didn't dislike it either.I think the main problem I had

When did it get a cover???? 👀👀👀_______________________Nothing makes me happier about the rapid linear passage of time than release date saying 2020 and my calendar saying 2019 __________________________ insta | twitter | blog | booksirens | duolingo

5/5 starsRecommended for people who like: fantasy, court intrigue, magic, genderfluid characters, pansexual characters, LGBTQ rep, fantasy, fantasy ItalyTeo and Cielo are back with even more action, and trouble, than before. After the ending of the last book, this one opens with the two of them traveling to warn other streghe of the Capo's plans to kill them to acquire power. There's definitely some romantic and magic shenanigans on the way, but true to form they rather quickly end up in an eve

All of the stars This duology is EVERYTHING. the magic system and the way it works in this series is so cool, and the romance is just so beautiful I could cry

I was not in the right mood for this, to be honest. I would have given this a higher rating had i been in the mood for such a story...But I really didn’t feel Cielo and Teo’s connection, though I was told repeatedly how and how much they felt, and some of the writing was flowery and grand when I would have appreciated simpler more direct writing. Just the mood I guess

3.5/4 starsI loved this series, though my attention span during the book did waver a lot I feel that's more on me since I've been going through a reading slump.The Storm of Life explores more about a person's gender identity. There is a difference between being gender fluid and being non-binary, which I remember people's reviews of the first book seemed to miss understand.The magic in the book is expanded upon and so is the world. One of the things that I felt that could have been expanded upon

I liked the first book okay enough for what it was even though I was very apathetic about everything besides Teo realizing she's genderfluid and just...Cielo in general. But this sequel is kind of a mess and I dislike it the more I think about it.((Before I get into this review, I want to note that both Teo and Cielo's pronouns switch between she/her and he/him according to which form (referred to as "girl form" and "boy form" in the text) they take at the time. For the sake of clarity, however,...