Weave The Lightning

This book turned out to be SO much better than I thought it would. I absolutely loved this book. The world was exquisitely painted. The characters felt so incredibly solid that they just came alive for me. Once I got about 75 pages in, I just could not put in down.

Those first 50 pages were a bit rough. This is not your standard LOTR-esque fantasy setting (thank God). It is completely unique to anything I've ever read, and it took me a bit to understand the world that exists in this book. At no point does the author sit you down and explain the rules of the world to you. It happens organically, which is definitely better, but it initially left me feeling confused and not knowing what was going on. I particularly struggled with the long fight scenes at the beginning. I'm not a fan of long fight scenes in the first place, and I didn't really understand what was going on. I almost abandoned the book entirely, but decided to give it another 50 pages. And I SO very glad I did. Fellow readers, do not hesitate to pick up this book. Give yourself 75 pages to get grounded in this world, and then you won't be able to put this book down.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book I  exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Like some other reviewers, I had a difficult time getting into this novel, due partially to the sporadic use of Russian-esque words, dropped seemingly without context.  While that style of world-building can work, it usually involves context arriving quickly after, as you often see in cyberpunk or dystopian novels.  However, once I began to piece together understanding of the magic system Lee introduced, Weave the Lightning began to flow a little more smoothly.  I still had some struggles remembering what specific words meant; it really shows my inherent English bias that you can through a few "z"s into a word and I get them all jumbled.  Overall I enjoyed Weave the Lightning; if you can get past the difficulty in understanding the magic system, it's a very nice novel.

I found this story to be initially off putting and hard to get into. Some of the language and world building were confusing at the beginning. However, after the story picked up and I'd spent more time in the world, I found myself enjoying the magic system and world that I was getting to experience.

3.5 stars

My review will go live on my blog in early April

I liked the world – it’s a Soviet-type world (as clear from the cover) complete with secret police and a modern, brutalist feel. It’s not the typical Imperialist Russian setting, which helps set this book apart.
However, the use of a quasi-religion around the magic storms and with the only “Russian-esque” words being linked to the magic (no words in italics slipped in for food or as swear words as you often find in obviously inspired worlds) made it feel more distinct, like the story was pulling on ideas from various cultures rather than just one.
The magic was rather confusing. It took a while for the book to explain what the different "categories" of magic were, so they were yelling about category three and category one for a while without me understanding any of it.
The sort of alternative-plane-thingy they went to when doing magic felt explained at first. However, as the book progressed, I found myself more and more confused by the way the planes interacted and how the magicians did stuff in one but not the other. It became harder and harder to keep track of as more information was added without full explanation.
It all needed a bit more time and set up. I feel like I was expected to have some prior knowledge of this sort of magic system in order to follow it.
As for the plot, I enjoyed it. The layers of deception were really fun to unravel alongside the characters and I loved not knowing who I could trust. There was a real sense that anyone could be an informer, and yet Celka and Gerrit needed to trust someone in order to get anything done.
As the action sequences relied a lot on magic, they weren’t the easiest to follow, and so I enjoyed the moments when they were deliberately not using magic more. As such, it meant I found myself drawn to the characters more than usual, because I was most engaged by the moments of quiet interaction. They both have similar pasts with their parents, and both have been warped. It meant they really got each other.

A crackling fantasy with an unusual magic system! I really enjoyed this book- Celka was an engagingly realistic heroine (even if she makes a few very bone-headed decisions, but then again, she's young!) and I found the setting to be a fresh take on the current trend of Slavic inspired fantasy, setting the action in a world inspired by the Communist regime rather than the Imperial era. Although I did find the concept of sousednia rather hard to grasp at first (is it.... an alternate reality? A mind palace?) it's used enough that even if I never really got to grips with it, I understood it enough to follow the action, and it is, at least, something new.

Looking forward to the sequel!

I love this concept: Russian inspired world, travelling circus, underground revolutionaries. All with a very curious magic system. 
I found this book to be a bit hard to get into at first and the reason for that is that the author trusts the readers to be smart enough to figure things out on our own. He doesn't explain it, he just shows. Which can go either way, it only depends on you. For me, it was what set this book to be so unique. I was pleasantly surprised by it, and I'm glad to have read this story.

This is rich and complex, and pretty good. I don't read a lot of fantasy, but enjoy this for the interesting characters, plot complexity, and general imagination of the author. This will probably be a hit with fantasy readers.

I really appreciate the ARC for review!!

It's not one of those books that keeps you hooked since the first pages but it's a fascinating and well told story, entertaining and engrossing.
I liked the Russian setting and the world building. The characters are well developed and interesting.
I'd like to read other books by this author.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This book got off to a rocky start, I'll be honest - but it's an easy explanation as to why. Now, you know I love a hard magic system, and this book has one. There are 'clear' ideas as to how one uses the strange storm magic and what it does and what the risks are. All those things I definitely appreciated - can't abide magic for no reason with no consequences. However, with a complex magic system that uses a lot of specific words (I genuinely don't know if they were Russian words or fantasy words so perhaps if you have a smattering of Russian it would be less odd) this book expected the reader to pick up how things worked through the narrative - rather than choosing to do it through exposition as happens in similar books. That's not a problem in less complicated systems but in this case, I just couldn't work out the specifics of the magic and why things were so difficult for the two 'perspective' characters. I would maybe have excused it had the whole book been from Celka's perspective as she doesn't actually know much about her own magic - but Gerrit had the training - I don't think it would have felt too odd to have had him do more of a straight explanation. Others may disagree with me, but it did hinder how easily I could get into this story. 

That being said, once I was in I had a really good time reading this book. I think the circus setting really worked to this book's favour - allowing the characters access to settings and people in a believable way, but it didn't have the kitschiness that some other circus books have. This felt grittier somehow, and also made it feel as though the circus was part of a world, as opposed to the circus being a world. I appreciated the setting and the worldbuilding, creating the network of revolution and the various challenges the terrain and the government presented to that revolution. 

In a lot of ways the story is a familiar one, the son of the commander and the circus girl/revolutionary - but, as I've said before, a familiar story allows a new world to shine through, and the storm magic in this worldbuilding is hugely creative. I appreciated that the story explored how such magic would be used/abused in a military environment, that it wasn't just revolutionaries who had magic - it was being exploited by both sides. I just immersed myself in this book and it was odd coming to when all was done. 

Things did get a little love triangle adjacent at times - fair warning for those for whom that is a major no - but I think it was handled reasonably well. My other critique would be that sometimes Celka falls too far into the 'doe-eyed naive girl' camp - though only when it comes to romance, she's great when it comes to theft and heists. I'm nitpicking but she would have been so amazing a character otherwise!

I really recommend this book if you're looking for a familiar fantasy story with a bit of a twist. I think it would make a great palette cleanser book while still leaving you with some food for thought. If you can pick up a copy I'd suggest you do!

My rating: 4/5 stars

I received a free digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own. 

Weave the Lightning is out April 7th!

While it did take me a while to get into this one, I did end up enjoying it. Although it does feel quite familiar in many ways, Lee still manages to add a few twists. I loved the concept of storm magic and thought Lee did a great job with the magic system. One issue I did have was the love triangle - it wasn't the worst I've come across but I'm never a fan of them. Overall this book was good and I would recommend it if the synopsis sounds good to you.

This is not a page-turner. Rather, it's intelligent, at part overwritten (if that's possible) speculative fiction novel. It's not typical high fantasy, nor is it completely unapproachable. I've seen comparisons to Erin Morgenstern, and I have to say that Night Circus flows much better in matters of prose. 

Side note: I'd love to read a short-story collection from this author.

It took me some time to get the hang of the world, but once I did the book was hard to put down. It offers a thrilling story, cool magic, and relatable characters. A worthwhile read.

Weave The Lighting has been one of my more anticipated releases. I admit the cover was what made me want to add this book. I mean, let's be real, how gorgeous is that cover?? Ignore the fact that it took me forever days to read it; I was slumping on and off. Anyway, I really enjoyed this book!

It's tiring hearing about the same types of magic system again and again where giant fire balls, ice-swords or air shields are just conjured up on demand, no restrictions, all-inclusive with a fancy magical amulet, free of charge. That's why I liked Weave The Lightning, the magic system was really well explained and it was different.

This story encompasses powerful and dangerous magic, military intrigue, well built friendships, and circus shenanigans. I loved the representations of friendship, love and family we see in this story, for there are many forms present - each one driving the characters toward a precipice of discovery that cannot be unlearned. I highly recommend this book if you’re looking for something that is both traditional fantasy but also something new entirely! I absolutely loved it and was sucked in the moment I started it.

I love when a fantasy lover and an author come together to twist tropes that we know and love!