Seasons of the Storm by Elle Cosimano

Seasons of the Storm by Elle Cosimano
Release Date - June 23, 2020

Publisher Website - Harper Collins Canada
Publisher Social Media - Twitter/Facebook/SavvyReader/Frenzy

Pages - 480 pages
My Rating - 3/5
**arc received from the publisher for an honest review**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

One cold, crisp night, Jack Sommers was faced with a choice—live forever according to the ancient, magical rules of Gaia, or die.

Jack chose to live, and in exchange, he became a Winter—an immortal physical embodiment of the season on Earth. Every year, he must hunt the Season who comes before him. Summer kills Spring. Autumn kills Summer. Winter kills Autumn. And Spring kills Winter.

Jack and Fleur, a Winter and a Spring, fall for each other against all odds. To be together, they’ll have to escape the cycle that’s been forcing them apart. But their creator won’t let them go without a fight.

Ever since watching Rise of the Guardians with my nieces I have wanted someone to write a book that incorporated similar elements to the story arc of Jack Frost in that movie. His origin story is heartbreaking and resonated with me along with the fun, soaring feeling of his new found powers. Seasons of the Storm does exactly this and more. It manages to capture some of that magic, even if other elements were not quite as strong.

This book is very plot focused. The story is propelled forward because of actions and not necessarily because of the characters themselves. I don't feel that we get to really know these characters other than the basic stuff. They feel very surface level but it works in this action driven sort of story. I liked the characters well enough though, and that also fits with the type of story this is.

The romance was one of the things that I thought was well done. We meet Fleur and Jack when they are already falling for each other. We jump right into their story and the connection is evident immediately. The history they share is part of why this element works. I bought that they had grown to feel things for each other and that it would cause them to question everything. It is exactly what I hoped I would get from this romance. Lots of angst, longing, and emotion. It is very Romeo and Juliet. There is also another romance in this that I predict many readers will love even more as it feels more like it is being built on the page.

The magic aspect is, sadly, not as developed as I would have hoped. There is plenty foundation here but I still only feel like we know the basic of the powers these characters have. We get to see some of what they can do but it is under extreme circumstances. I wanted a bit more detail about what they typically do with their powers. What does it mean to be a winter, spring, summer, or autumn? I never felt like I had a clear understanding of what they did while it was their season. I hope this is expanded upon in future books because the whole premise is intriguing. I just wish the world building had gone a little deeper. I did appreciate that we got to find out how a someone becomes a season and the choices they have to make as a result are explored in detail. These origin stories are, as you can guess, heartbreaking in various ways and I feel that weight is given the appropriate heft in both the plot and characterization.

The stakes and consequences for actions are something else I feel was handled well within the story. There are lasting repercussions for their actions that felt earned. The characters have to get their hands a little messy and that comes back to haunt them in a way that worked for me.

As I got to the last few chapters I was hit with two distinct thoughts. First was that the book was heading for a cliffhanger ending. It just did not seem possible to wrap the story up in the amount of pages left. The second was disappointment that some of the major point points would not be dealt with within this one book. I was, mostly, wrong. The book does end in a satisfying way even if it felt a bit rushed. There are elements that I wished has been expanded upon, particularly those introduced towards the end. It ends with just enough being teased for sequels while providing a full intact story.

This might be the book for you if you like books filled with romance, action, and bit of magic. It is more plot driven than anything else so it offers a fast paced read that has some fun action sequences. It is the kind of story that you will breeze through and that will leave you entertained.