Stormsong (The Kingston Cycle, #2)
by C.L. Polk
4.5/5. I really, really liked this. Great political drama, activism, alternate history, love story! The title is the dippiest thing about it.
I liked Grace much, much more in this book, and her choices made more sense. In Witchmark, every time a conflict was needed, it turned out oops, Grace had confided something to her father; she came off as pretty thick. In Stormsong, she's not dumb, she's an excellent political manipulator, and when she screws up by talking to her father it's by wanting to tell him off. When she realizes she needs to stop talking to him even to express her anger, you get why that's hard for her.
Choosing to tell the story of a protest movement from the perspective of the person who benefits enormously from and is heavily invested in the status quo, but is slowly realizing change is needed was a unique choice, and it paid off. Grace isn't a revolutionary, but at the end you see her reject the offer of additional personal power in favor of working in coalition.
I also prefer the romance between Avia and Grace to Miles and Tristan. The Miles/Tristan thing just escalated and resolved a little too quickly for me; I loved the development of Grace's crush.
Looking forward to Robin's perspective in the next one!