If you caught my review of The Storm Crow then you will know that this book gave me Tamora Pierce vibes. I am living for all these books that bring me back to my Wild Magic days growing up re-reading that series forever.
The Storm Crow
In the tropical kingdom of Rhodaire, magical, elemental Crows are part of every aspect of life…until the Illucian empire invades, destroying everything.
That terrible night has thrown Princess Anthia into a deep depression. Her sister Caliza is busy running the kingdom after their mother’s death, but all Thia can do is think of all she has lost.
But when Caliza is forced to agree to a marriage between Thia and the crown prince of Illucia, Thia is finally spurred into action. And after stumbling upon a hidden Crow egg in the rubble of a rookery, she and her sister devise a dangerous plan to hatch the egg in secret and get back what was taken from them.
Guest Post: Sisters
I have a soft spot for sisters in books. Can you talk about your choice to include these sisters? How their relationship impacts their story and decisions? Did you always know they would be sisters and each one’s personality?
Sibling stories are some of my absolute favorite. There’s so much to unpack when it comes to the dynamics within families that you don’t see in other relationships, and I really wanted to explore that in THE STORM CROW. Family is a big focus in the book, from parental expectations to sibling relationships to found family, but Thia and her sister Caliza are definitely at the core of it.
I knew from the beginning that Thia would have a sister. Partially because I knew that she would not inherit the throne—her story was always going to be about becoming a crow rider, not queen—and partially because I wanted someone to contrast Thia’s growth with. At the beginning of the series, Thia rebels against responsibility and expectation. She’s so consumed by her dream of becoming a rider that it gives her a sort of tunnel vision, and it’s not until that’s all taken away that she really sees what she’d been ignoring. In contrast, Caliza has been preparing to inherit the throne her entire life, and always puts her responsibilities as the heir first, but struggled to form any connection with the crows and riders.
Siblings can often be two sides of the same coin. I’ve felt that way with my own siblings and it was something I explored with Thia and her sister Caliza. Both sisters want the same things: to protect their kingdom and to win their mother’s approval, but while Thia turns to the crows and magic to do that, Caliza uses politics and leadership.
At the same time, they’re envious of each other’s abilities. If their sister can do that, why can’t they? They have the same parents, the same upbringing, so why can one turn words into weapons and the other hit a moving target with an arrow from the back of a crow? They struggle with knowing that even though they come from the same beginning, their paths diverged so strongly—or at least, they think they did. Part of this story was about them finding common ground and growing to understand that they’re stronger together.
The hard part is sibling relationships come with a lifetime of expectations and biases that inform decisions. We see this with Thia and Caliza as each one makes choices without consulting the other, as they think they already know how their sister will respond. Add in that they’ve been in competition for their mother’s withheld affection and praise for most their life, and they struggle to see past their biases of each other. That divisiveness really works against them. Which is why in order to save their kingdom, they’ll have to reach a new understanding of their relationship and each other, which isn’t easy to do!
About the Author
Kalyn Josephson is a Technical Writer in Silicon Valley, which leaves room for too many bad puns about technically being a writer. She grew up in San Luis Obispo, CA, but now lives in the Bay Area with four awesome friends (because it’s the Bay and she’d like to be able to retire one day) and two black cats (who are more like a tiny dragon and an even tinier owl). When not writing YA Fantasy, she loves baking, reading, playing sports, and watching too many movies.
The Giveaway
Prize: Win a finished hard copy of THE STORM CROW by Kalyn Josephson (INT) or a signed finished copy of THE CROW STORM by Kalyn Josephson (US Only)
** International as long as bookdepository ships to the country
Starts: July 9th 2019
Ends: July 23rd 2019
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July 9th
The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club – Welcome Post
July 10th
The Reading Corner for All – Review + Favourite Quotes
Luchia Houghton Blog – Review + Favourite Quotes
TBR and Beyond – Review + Playlist + Favourite Quotes
Lisa Loves Literature – Review
The Reading Chemist – Review
July 11th
Bibliobibuli YA – Guest Post
Moonlight Rendezvous – Review + Favourite Quotes
bookish bibliophile – Review
Milky Way of Books – Review
A Court of Coffee and Books – Review + Favourite Quotes
July 12th
BookCrushin – Interview
Firstbooklove – Review
Cinnamon Summers – Review
NovelKnight – Promo Post
Library of a Book Witch – Review
July 13th
Here’s to Happy Endings – Review
Morgan Vega – Review + Playlist + Favourite Quotes
Bookishly Nerdy – Review + Favourite Quotes
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Life of a Literary Nerd – Promo Post
July 14th
Kait Plus Books – Interview
Betwixt the Pages – Review
Phannie the ginger bookworm – Review
Novel Nerd Faction – Review + Playlist
Adventures and Reading – Review
July 15th
Utopia State of Mind – Guest Post Confessions of a YA Reader – Review + Favourite Quotes A Dream Within A Dream – Review Hauntedbybooks – Review + Favourite Quotes metamorphoreader – Review + Favourite Quotes