Review: Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Book: Storm and Fury
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: The Harbinger #1
Publication: June 11, 2019

Eighteen-year-old Trinity Marrow may be going blind, but she can see and communicate with ghosts and spirits. Her unique gift is part of a secret so dangerous that she’s been in hiding for years in an isolated compound fiercely guarded by Wardens—gargoyle shape-shifters who protect humankind from demons. If the demons discover the truth about Trinity, they’ll devour her, flesh and bone, to enhance their own powers.

When Wardens from another clan arrive with disturbing reports that something out there is killing both demons and Wardens, Trinity’s safe world implodes. Not the least because one of the outsiders is the most annoying and fascinating person she’s ever met. Zayne has secrets of his own that will upend her world yet again—but working together becomes imperative once demons breach the compound and Trinity’s secret comes to light. To save her family and maybe the world, she’ll have to put her trust in Zayne. But all bets are off as a supernatural war is unleashed…

MORE ROTH? :D Well, technically no, but also yes because I reread the entire The Dark Elements series just familiarize myself with the world and characters. Then I plunged right into this book!

This book features out kickbutt heroine, Trinity. I won't go into spoilers, but she lives in a Warden compound and is protected there by them. She also has a friend, Micha, who is assigned directly to protect her. Why? What makes her so very very special? Well, read the book and find out ;) Enter Zayne (Zayne!!! Whose heart got so seriously broken by Layla! YOUR CHANCE TO HEAL IS HERE!!!) and some other familiar faces, who drop by to the compound for a visit, asking for help to deal with a creature killing both demons and Wardens. And then the compound is attacked, and as you would expect...chaos ensues.

I can't say much about the plot itself without spoilers, but I found the pace much more fast-paced and gripping than The Dark Elements series. There was very little sitting-around-doing-mundane-tasks, which made everything more gripping and urgent. However, I will admit that, being a true Jennifer L. Armentrout book, there is quite the romance that builds up throughout the book. Shirtless scenes mixed in with some silliness, and all other sorts of other hot-guy-boyfriend-material. You know, the good (and clean!) stuff I'm a sucker for :)

The best part has to be the reappearance of Roth and Layla. Cayman even makes a reappearance, and Bambi too (I'm still hoping Bambi will find her way back to Layla and Roth). Specifically, the banter between Roth and Zayne was hilarious as always, minus the jealousy factor. It just feels more like a frenemy-bromance, which is just plan fun to read! Though the focus of the book obvious wasn't about them, it was an absolute delight to see that they're all still doing okay and that they too remain to have an important part to play in helping Trinity and Zayne along in their stories.

The ending...I didn't see that coming. Or, rather, there were two twists, but one of them I hadn't seen coming. Looking back, I probably should have at least suspected, but I was so convinced I had pinpointed another twist (which happened, huzzah!) that it completely slipped my mind that a second twist was in store. But it happened all the same, and now the second book is going to have to pick up the pieces of the consequences of Zayne's near-instanteous agreement to something veerrrryyy important. I can't wait for the next book to come out!