The Wind Weaver by Julie Johnson

TL;DR: A fun romantasy that fans of ACOTAR will enjoy
Source: NetGalley – Many thanks to the publisher! 

Plot: A halfling girl is captured and on the brink of death is saved by the last person she expected.
Characters: I liked them! I don’t think they were anything wild and new, but I enjoyed them nevertheless.
Setting: A fantasy world where magic has been destroyed and surprise surprise the world is drying up and dying.
Fantasy: Fae Magic is our primary source of power with a few unique creatures tossed in for fun. 

About the Book:

Magic and adventure swirl through this spellbinding romantasy where a young woman reignites the embers of an ancient prophecy, unleashing a storm that could save her realm or doom them all.

Fear of maegic plagues war-torn Anwyvn. Halflings like Rhya Fleetwood are killed on sight. But Rhya’s execution is interrupted by an unexpected savior—one far more terrifying than her would-be killers: the mysterious and mercenary Commander Scythe. In the clutches of this new enemy, Rhya finds herself fighting for her life in the barren reaches of the Northlands. Yet the farther she gets from home, the more she learns that nothing is as it seems—not her fearsome captor, not the blight that ravages her dying realm, not even herself.

     For Rhya is no ordinary halfling. The strange birthmark on her chest and the wind she instinctively calls forth means she is a Remnant, one of four souls scattered across Anwyvn, fated to restore the balance of maegic…or die trying.

     But mastering the power inside her is only the beginning. Desire for the Commander—a man she can never trust, a man with plans of his own—burns just as fiercely as the tempests beating against her rib cage for release. Rhya must choose: smother the flames…or let them consume her.

Thoughts: 

In all honesty – the romantasy genre is drenched with books very similar to The Wind Weaver. A firey prince, a lost girl with no idea of her powers, a prophecy, etc. Thankfully The Wind Weaver can stand on it’s own in the crowd for me and I had a lot of fun with it. Rhya is a halfling in a world that hunts down and kills her kind. Rhya has been hunted and captured and waits with a noose on her neck when the Commander Scythe arrives to check her. And to her surprise he frees her. 

Not only does he free her but they take off on the run to reach the snowy mountains of a neighboring kingdom. Along the way they fight off soldiers, giant centipedes, run from bandits, and avoid trolls. In that, I think is the strength of this book. The journey is filled with danger, the centipedes alone had me kicking my feet I was having so much fun, and I felt like the characters acted (for the most part) how I would expect. 

Of course the journey ended and we reached our capital city, meeting the almost required ‘Soren’ of the story along the way. Here my enjoyment dropped off a bit. I wish we’d gotten a more unique story or a twist, but I had so much fun in the first 50/60% I didn’t mind. I’ll definitely be continuing, and if you enjoy this type of fantasy romance, this is a great of it’s kind. I’d recommend it for other fans in the genre!