The Wind Weaver

Set in a war-torn kingdom this romantasy takes you into a world where magic is feared and persecuted. Personal conflict, destiny, trust and political intrigue are the main themes in this first installment, which blends mystery, action, friendship and romance into a captivating story. I loved Rhyas development from an outsider to a woman who learns to trust and accept who she is. Julie Johnson has a very unique way to tell a story and captivates the reader right from the start - I loved the first two books and can't wait for the release of the third and final novel.

Tropes: enemies to lovers, slow-burn, romantasy, found family, big cliffhanger, grumpy MMC, faes/half faes/humans, unique magic system, prophecies, dying kingdom, possible love triangle---------------------- Ok, I’m SO CONFLICTED about this book. First of all, I started this book right after the biggest romantasy disappointment of the century. Like, THE CENTURY. My faith still has not been fully restored and I’m still traumatized BUT this book was a breath of fresh air and literally blew me away (and I promise that has nothing to do with the fact that obviously everything would be a banger after my last read). But before I get to the part where I yap about my traumas and theories let me tell you right from the beginning that the lush world building and the magic system is SO WELL DONE. It reminded me of Avatar but with Faes. Basically everything my lost soul needed after what it had to endure. Anyways. Let’s talk about how our beloved MMC, who’s name alone is a big reason to piss off (I don’t know about you, but Pendefyre sounds like an insult to me), ruins the whole tension and slow burn that was built up again and again and again (big applause for another exhausted FMC who’s running after the chronically toxic and emotionally unavailable MMC) and manages to destroy it gracefully a hundred times by being an ahole for literally no reason. Like there was no reason to pull her around by her hair and throw the girl you NEEDED and were looking for for years around like a sack of potatoes when she was literally dying (I can sense yet another desperate attempt to make the FMC and MMC enemies). The tension when Rhya and Penn met for the first time was SO GOOD. I fell in love with the tension immediately (I’m good at repeating my mistakes, don't judge me) but I have mixed feelings about him and something felt off all along. He is controlling and excessively rude (but not in a hot way) and I don’t trust him and he gives BIG TAMLIN VIBES which gave me anxiety first and hope next (Alexa play exile by Taylor Swift). Even tho she should be running for her precious life, she obviously falls in love with HIM and not with the guy who is actually nice to her. And yes, I think I’ve seen this film before and no I totally liked the ending so keep going girl. Whenever I started to like them, I just immediately had the feeling that she belongs to someone else. My first theory is Soren of course (he reminds me of Lucian SO MUCH with his bf vibes) and my second theory is the fourth element person whose identity is still unknown at this point even tho the fourth person could be a female character as well to balance the group out which makes also sense. Ugh Anyways, I don’t know what is going on and I need answers RIGHT NOW.