Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan is a young adult fantasy novel set in the fantastical world of Ikhara, featuring the main characters — Lei and Wren Hanno, Lei’s girlfriend. It is the sequel to Girls of Paper and Fire, the first book of a trilogy with the same name.
After Lei and Wren carry out an assassination of the King of Ikhara, they are forced to flee the palace into the remote hideouts of the Hannos clan to escape from the royal soldiers hunting them all over the kingdom. But, they cannot continue to hide and do nothing. With the Hannos’ treason revealed and Ikhara teetering on the edge of war, it is essential for the Hannos to recruit allies to fight against the royal army when war comes. This responsibility is given to Lei, Wren, and other trusted companions. They embark on a journey to prove their case and get other clans to ally against the King. It shall prove to be a perilous journey, filled with hardships, surprise attacks, alliances, secrets, treason, and political games. Will Lei be able to hold it together? Or will she crumble under the pressure and strain?
After reading the first book in this trilogy — Girls of Paper and Fire, I was really intrigued by the ending, and curious to find out what happened to Lei and Wren. When I started reading this book, however, I wasn’t immediately drawn to the story. The beginning didn’t exactly hook me onto the book and make me want to find out more. Either way, I kept reading, hoping it would get better and at least some questions would be answered. And it did. It got better once the conflict came in, and became really fast-paced, so it didn’t bore me. All the twists and turns kept me engaged in the book. It wasn’t as good as the first book in terms of character development; there was more plot development. The main thing that makes me want to read the third and final book (Girls of Fate and Fury) is the cliffhanger at the end. I would give it a 3.5, but since there is no half rating, I will round it up to a 4.