Disclaimer: I received a free digital Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of Storm and Fury from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book’s expected publication date is June 11, 2019. 

Okay, where to start with this book? It was pretty much my perfect YA paranormal fantasy/romance. Truly. I love Jennifer Armentrout but have not read all her paranormal series. In fact, I have not read the series she wrote previously (The Dark Elements) that is set in this same world, and honestly, that didn’t matter at all. She did a great job of setting the world up for new readers, providing needed information but not overwhelming with too much of it. It wasn’t a flawless read, which I will explain below. But it was FANTASTIC and it made me want to a) go back and read the Dark Elements series and b) fast-forward time so the next installment of Trinity’s story is HERE NOW ALREADY. Here’s my spoiler-free review:

Title: Storm and Fury (Harbinger #1) (Amazon, Goodreads)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
My Rating: 4 / 5 stars

First of all, behold the glory that is this COVER. I absolutely love it!!!

This story is about Trinity, 18 years old and a very unique race of being–in fact, she is the only one of her kind left in the world; the rest have been hunted off the earth by demons who hate them. We meet Trinity at a bit of a crossroads as she tries to come to terms with who she is, what her purpose is, and how she can help those she cares about.

What I loved:
+The inner thoughts/monologue of the main character, Trinity. This story is told in the 1st person and it really works for me. I felt like Trinity was my new best friend and I could really relate to what she was going through.
*Amazing treatment of a main character having a somewhat rare degenerative vision condition. Trinity is NOT perfect, but she works to overcome and succeed despite the physical challenges that she has been given. I love that. So much! And then I read the Author’s Note and found out that Armentrout has the same degenerative condition, and my heart actually cracked in two. I love that she wrote a character with it, and it explains why her treatment of it is SO GOOD.
*Zayne. I loved his character. Snarky and beautiful and kind and a little bit alpha. Respectful of Trinity and who she is, and actually refreshingly honest/mature. There were some misunderstandings between them, but Armentrout didn’t let it get out of control in an way that was unbelievable or made Zayne into a jerkface, if that makes sense.
*Hilarious ghost side character named Peanut. He is ridiculous and stuck in the 80s (though I do think the author sometimes confuses 80s things and 90s things, but only an old lady like me would care about that).
*Good “mystery” at center of plot that had me wondering what was going on the whole time, but not so confused that I lost interest. After about the 40% mark, I was really really sucked into the plot and couldn’t put the book down. That is always a good sign!
*Did I mention hot love interest Zayne?
*These characters are young and the way Armentrout treats sex in this book matches that. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t say more, but I would like to applaud the level of physical interaction (to match emotional readiness) that she writes. It’s great. And super hot, too. 🙂

What didn’t work so well:
*There were a few things included in the storyline that weren’t wrapped up at the end, and maybe they are coming back in future books, but it still made me scratch my head. The most glaring example of this is a spirit that visits the compound where Trinity lives (she can see spirits and ghosts) and she vaguely recognizes him but we don’t find out who he really is, and he says some ominous/vague things about how it was good that he was coming back to visit right at the moment. But who was he? Why don’t we learn by the end of the book? It is a small enough scene that I don’t think people would remember it in book two, so it really should have been wrapped up in book one. But maybe Armentrout just forgot about it so left it hanging? I’m not sure. Also, I felt like maybe there were some characters included that didn’t need to be in there? Again, this may be for the purposes of future books, but I thought some stuff could maybe be cut out.
*This book needs better copy-editing. I know it’s an ARC, and i sincerely hope that means that all the errors are caught for the final product. But I have concerns. There were just a LOT of typos and errors and it was hard for me to ignore. Like I said though, there’s a good chance this will be fixed by the final round, so it’s probably a minor point.

Overall bottom line:
This is a really great YA paranormal fantasy/romance. If you like this genre, and you like independent-minded and imperfect main characters, heart-wrenching chemistry, and a plot that will keep you invested, then make sure you pick this one up when it releases in June.