Something is wrong with the king. His five daughters rush home from various parts of the world to try to figure out what is going on. No one likes a power vacuum.

Meanwhile, there’s problems in the marriage of one of the sisters, whose alliance with the kingdom next door helps keep war to a minimum. Also, there’s raiders who have a mysterious crow-shaped tattoo accosting people on the roads. So, there’s a lot going on.

And that doesn’t even take into account everything that is happening to the twins, the sister whose magic is awakening and the eldest, who stands to inherit the throne if her father dies.

“Bluebell wasn’t a child. She knew one day her father would die and she would take his place. She had prepared her whole life for the moment, but it had always been abstract, like a story.” pgs 17-18 ebook

The number of characters in this book may seem daunting at first, but Kim Wilkins introduces them slowly. It makes it easy to keep track of who is who.

“Her father was dying — and her father was the king of Almissia, the largest and most powerful kingdom in Thyrsland. And when he was dead… Well, what would they say? They could not caution her if she was grieving. A counselor’s first law was that compassion comes before all else.” pg 34, ebook.

That being said, the characters are rather flat. As for the sisters, we have the violent one, amorous one, magical one, religious one and promiscuous one. The “bad guys” feel rather the same too — fixated on achieving their goals at any cost, killing indiscriminately. There is very little gray area or layered meaning in this tale. (With one notable exception, but no spoilers!)

“Now everything had been twisted out of shape, the threads of his destiny balled in a hopeless knot. It would be a measure of the kind of man he was if he could smooth things out, take charge of his future, shape the world to his will.” pg 191

Despite the simplistic characters, I would not classify this read as young adult. There’s some violent and sexual situations that younger readers may find confusing. Also, one of the characters, when she can’t think of anything else to say, just uses the f-word, which was disappointing. There are so many different ways to express frustration…

Honestly, I wanted more action in this story and better dialogue. I wanted more magic and less brooding angst. I wanted the sisters to band together and rage across the land like avenging Valkyries. I guess we don’t always get what we want.

“Rose was silent, sulking. Bluebell responded by pretending she didn’t notice. Ash lost herself in thoughts about her power, her Becoming, and how she was to try to make a future for herself.” pg 203

The description of Daughters of the Storm says this book is “Norse-like” but I felt like it was more generic fantasy. I think the author was leaning towards a tale of warriors and gods, but we never quite got there. It was more of a promise unfulfilled.

For what it is though, it is engaging. Readers who like fantasy, large casts of characters and broad story lines may enjoy this book. As an added bonus, the second entry in the series, Sisters of the Fire came out this month, so you don’t have to wait to read what happens next.

Thanks for reading!

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