Review: Daughters of the Storm by Kim Wilkins

The King falls ill seemingly with a brain illness. He has fits of raving and then long deep sleeps. The sleeps become longer and more frequent. His wife, the daughters' step-mother sends for her son. The daughters come to his side as well. There are 5 girls, each so different from the other. Bluebell, the eldest, is a warrior and next in line for the throne. Rose was married off to a neighboring kingdom to help maintain a peace and loves her daughter dearly and another man. Ash is gifted or cursed with magic. She has been sent to learn to be a healer. The youngest of the girls, the twins Ivy and Willow, couldn't be more different. Ivy is all about boys. And Willow is aiming to be pious, but to the trimartyr god and not to, as she puts it, the heathen gods her sisters believe in.

The five daughters come together to take their father away from whatever might be making him sick. Then, they seek a way to heal him. Each weathers the journey differently. And each of the daughters faces challenges. How they deal with the challenges is so very human and not always as successfully as they would like. 

I thought in the beginning that 5 daughters would be too much for one book. But, Kim Wilkins makes it work. It's easy to tell when the point of view changes from one to the other because they are so very different from each other. And there is variety. So, for example, if you don't much like Ivy, you don't have to read about her too long before the point of view changes to another daughter. 

While a little slow in places, overall the plot moves along at a decent rate. When it seems slow, it's really setting things up for a future occurrence. 

I think this could mostly be read as a stand-alone, but there are enough loose ends to make someone want to read the next book. I'm wondering where the second book will go.

I give this book a rating of 4 out of 5 stars. Overall, it's well-written with interesting characters and events. If you enjoy a good fantasy read, then you will probably enjoy this book.

Daughters of the Storm by Kim Wilkins is expected to be released from Del Rey books March 6, 2018.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions herein are my own and freely given.