Series: Mark of the Thief trilogy
Author: Jennifer A. Nielsen
Age group: 9 - 12 years
Page count: 352 pages
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Summary from Amazon:
Trouble has a way of seeking out Nicolas Calva, and it's not likely to leave him alone any time soon. With Caesar's magic bulla, the Malice of Mars, and the possibility of a Jupiter Stone in play, all the powers of Rome are circling Nic. He'll have to maneuver his way through scheming government officials and reawakened magical beasts to save the Empire. Can he manage to keep his friends and family safe, claim his own freedom once and for all, and rescue the Empire -- before the magic gets the better of him?
With twists and turns on every page, critically acclaimed author Jennifer Nielsen weaves an epic, action-packed conclusion to her extraordinary Mark of the Thief trilogy.
Since this was the last book in the series, it is where there is the most action. The story begins with action, then it calms down, action again, calms down, and this sequence repeats itself over and over again. There is a lot of action in this book. The reason I felt there was a lot of it because the protagonist, Nic, is on the run. He uses magic to defend himself. Often, because of the "scheming government officials", he creates a lot of destruction with the magic. The action was really strong and it was a big factor in the book. It was fantastic.
Nic often survives because of pure luck, and that felt a little off to me.
The government officials definitely were a nuisance to Nic, and to me too. It seemed they were everywhere. They were constantly foiling the protagonist's plans. I wondered how many times it would take before something good would happen to the protagonist. There was a sacrifice involved in every decision. I like how the author made it so that there was always a conflict. This kept the plot moving. However, at some points, I felt a little confused.
The romance was so strong. It was very important in this book. They deeply cared about each other. They were a lot of moments where there was a lack of communication about how they felt about each other, and that added a lot of suspense. They both knew that they couldn't have each other, which made it even more romantic.
It provided some good insights about love. The author showed that love wasn't wishy-washy. There was a great comparison in the book between Diana and Venus. Diana was angry because she felt that nobody cared about her, and because Venus was getting more attention. The protagonist said that she took things away and caused harm as goddess of the hunt, while the goddess of love strengthened bonds.
The friendship between the characters was really powerful. There is a great line in the book that shows this. "...not only had they forgiven me, they had continued standing at my side." (pg. 286)
Even though the characters argue, they sacrifice so many things in their lives to help their friends. Nic risks his life multiple times to save his friends. Wrath of the Storm is a great book that shows the power of friendship.
The setting in Ancient Rome was important in the book, but the first book in the series communicated it a bit more. The author assumed we had read the previous books, so she didn't go into much detail about the settings. This is because they were almost always settings we had seen before. However, I love them. I like them because the settings were very elaborate. My favorite settings are when there are beautiful mosaics.
Wrath of the Storm teaches the reader a lot about Roman mythology. Information about gods and goddesses are important in the story, so it didn't feel like the author was trying to lecture me.
Wrath of the Storm by Jennifer A. Nielsen gets a seven out of ten! It is action-packed and teaches us about Ancient Rome. It has good romance and strong friendships.
Author bio:
Taken from her website. Click the button below to access it.
I hope you have a week full of lots of love!
Bye,
Vi