Saints of Storm and Sorrow

De: Gabriella Buba

Narrado por: Danice Cabanela, Dante Basco

In this fiercely imaginative Filipino-inspired fantasy debut, a bisexual nun hiding a goddess-given gift is unwillingly transformed into a lightning rod for her people's struggle against colonization.

Perfect for fans of lush fantasy full of morally ambiguous characters, including The Poppy War and The Jasmine Throne.

Maria Lunurin has been living a double life for as long as she can remember. To the world, she is Sister Maria, dutiful nun and devoted servant of Aynila's Codicían colonizers. But behind closed doors, she is a stormcaller, chosen daughter of the Aynilan goddess Anitun Tabu. In hiding not only from the Codicíans and their witch hunts, but also from the vengeful eye of her slighted goddess, Lunurin does what she can to protect her fellow Aynilans and the small family she has created in the convent: her lover Catalina, and her younger sister Inez.

Lunurin is determined to keep her head down—until one day she makes a devastating discovery, which threatens to tear her family apart. In desperation, she turns for help to Alon Dakila, heir to Aynila's most powerful family, who has been ardently in love with Lunurin for years. But this choice sets in motion a chain of events beyond her control, awakening Anitun Tabu's rage and putting everyone Lunurin loves in terrible danger. Torn between the call of Alon’s magic and Catalina’s jealousy, her duty to her family and to her people, Lunurin can no longer keep Anitun Tabu’s fury at bay.

For the goddess of storms demands vengeance. And she will sweep aside anyone who stands in her way.

©2024 Gabriella Buba (P)2024 Spotify Audiobooks

Well Executed Romantasy For All

It is hard to avoid the current popularity of the Romantasy genre these days and I've read my share with no small amount of trepidation as it is not in my normal wheelhouse. I found that most of the popular novels in this genre lean too far on romance with the fantasy aspect taking a back seat. Gabriella B. has written a very well-balanced novel and avoided this pitfall.

The story is part historical fiction (Filipino circa 1500's I believe, during the Spanish occupation), part fantasy and of course the romance, and she played them all out extremely well. It was a tall order, but she balanced it all keeping all three aspects moving forward.

Even if this is not your usual genre, I would encourage you to give it a chance. It is a unique and refreshing novel for the genre.

Sapphic nuns, angry gods...

I absolutely fell in love with this book from the very beginning. It's fresh and new. Sapphic nuns, angry gods, crisis of faith, slow burn golden retriever romance all wrapped up in one package. This book took me on a emotional roller coaster and had so many relatable subplots. There were characters i fell in love with immediately, others I immediately despised and a few I thought I'd love but irked me by the end of the book haha I cannot wait for the next book in this series. It's been a long time since I've anticipated a new book in a series this much. I hope the author releases the next book as soon as possible!!

Dante Basco needs to stick to acting

Dante Basco needs to stick with the screen or anime because narrating books is not his thing. The female narrator is so much better and should have read the whole novel IMO.

I really wanted to like this audiobook but I got so confused going into it from the start.

Both narrators pronounced the names of the characters so differently that it was distracting.

Whoever directed Dante didn’t give him any notes on how to pause, not to rush, or slur his words. He didn’t give the characters any distinguished voices which further exacerbated my confusion.

I am going to go back and listen to it from the beginning with the book in hand. Maybe if I went along with the audiobook it’ll be better.