Review: The Stormchasers (Jenna Blum)

I read Jenna Blum's first novel, Those Who Save Us, a little while ago. Absolutely fantastic. This doesn't mean I expected the same level of great writing for her sophomore effort. Indeed, I try not to have super high expectations for those. Although it didn't come as a surprise, the fact that this book turned out just as well as her first efforts came as a welcome reprieve during my long commutes this week.


The story centers around Karena, a reporter in her late 30s that hasn't see her twin brother in 20 years. Charles, her twin, is a stormchaser. The incident that marked both of them forever happened during a chase. Karena frequents chaser forums trying to find Charles. She gets her break when she receives a call from a hospital that Charles checked into after having what the doctor diagnosed as a panic attack. Karena knows better. Charles is bipolar, and he hallucinates and had tried to kill himself at least once before.


Karena decides to join a tour group for people that want to chase storms. I'm sure the people in this book got to see a lot more action than most, but it made for a great story. Karena and one of the tour guides, Kevin, hit it off. And they have more in common than they could imagine at first.


Now, everyone has unbalanced people in their families. But having a twin with the kind of disorder Charles has is something I wouldn't wish on anyone. But, in the end, Charles gives Karena the opportunity to help herself as they help each other. You want this story to have a happy ending, even if not a storybook one.


Jenna Blum's descriptions of the Plains, the power and beauty of these storms as well as the immeasurable damage that they cause, really stuck with me. Did I feel the urge to Google my way into a trip on a stormchasing tour? No freaking way. But I have more respect for the people who do it and I feel less cold terror at the thought of being caught in one of these storms.


Great effort from Jenna Blum! Looking forward to reading her next book.


Next up: The Hand That First Held Mine, by Maggie O'Farrell. I'm about 80 pages in and I'm not enjoying it as much as I did her previous book, The Vanishing Life of Esme Lenox. Both books tell the story from a split perspective, but I just found she did it better before. I'll see if I change my mind as the book progresses.


After that, I'm afraid I'm going to have to pick between four books that are all due in 8 days. I'm off for a four-day weekend, which actually means I'll get less reading done. I'll just have to put some books on hold again, which totally sucks because I waited for some of these for months!