The Stormchasers by Jenna Blum

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

Jenna Blum's debut novel became a grassroots sensation and was a New York Times bestseller for more than a year. In this emotional and provocative new novel, Blum asks the question: How far would you go to protect a sibling-and at what cost to yourself?

As a teenager, Karena Jorge has always taken care of her twin brother, Charles. Obsessed with severe weather, Charles, who suffers from bipolar disorder, begins chasing storms. Refusing to take his medication, Charles soon involves them both in a terrifying tornado chase-with deadly consequences.

Now, two decades later, Karena must find her long-estranged brother before he reveals the dark secret from their past or hurts himself-or someone else. But there is only one way to find him: the storms...

Review:

The Stromchasers has been in my TBR pile for a while. However, recently I decided to give it a chance, and boy, was I surprised at the final product, because not only was it fully unique and enthralling, but it presents a complex sibling bond- one that I have never quite seen before.

The Stromchasers opens up the day of Karena Jorge’s birthday. For Karena, birthdays have never been the cheeriest time of the year, not only because of the fact she’s getting older, but because she’s reminded of what she lost all those years ago- her twin brother Charles. However, this birthday is different, because with one single phone call, Karena knows the location of her brother for the first time in years, and it seems he wants her to come after him. With this, she leaves and begins a path like no other- one filled with deadly storms, figuratively and metaphorically, a possible chance at love and redemption, and the chance to make everything good again with her brother. However, what happens when a problem of the past comes into view again? Will it leave Charles and Karena farther apart than ever before, or will it bring them closer together? Only time and more pages can tell in this fascinating tale of twins, love, and disease in their best and worse.

With The Stromchasers came several memorable aspects and one of those was the characters. Complex, interesting, and distinctive, Jenna presented each in a notable way. However, the most interesting out of then would have to be Karena and Charles, not only because of their fascinating bound, but because these two were the ones who had so much to gain as well as loss. With Karena and Charles also came feelings that continually rocketed over the page, making the reader feel for them, even when they were not exactly likable.

Furthermore, the plot in this was also absorbing. I enjoyed the focus on storm chasers, because not only is what they do thought-provoking and dangerous, but it also lead to many thrilling moments in the book, as storms truly represented the trouble that had plagued the characters over their lives with the beauty and the horror. It was interesting and I loved every moment of it. The romanced subplot between Karena and Kevin was also a high point, because it lead to Karena to find yet another missing puzzle piece of her life. Better yet, as I mentioned before, I loved the focus on siblings and the bonds between them in this, and with the fact that Charles was bipolar made it even more interesting.

Lastly, Jenna Blum’s writing reached the amount of wealth the characters and storylines had. Truly, she did such a fantastic job of getting the emotions of the characters down and with making the bipolar aspects of Charles's character real and relatable. Better yet, I loved the ending she gave. It was not picture perfect, instead it left off in a place where it could really go any which way and I loved that because life isn’t picture perfect.

Beguiling, unique, and startling, Jenna Blum’s The Stormchasers is one novel you simply cannot miss! Making things even better, it is now available in paperback!

Grade: A-

The Stormchasers is now out!

Source: Publisher and Kathleen at Goldberg McDuffie Communications- thanks!