Book Review: Storm by Karen van Holst Pellekaan

 

 Note: this book is not available in English (yet).

Apparently this is based on a movie I've never heard of, or perhaps the other way around? Either way, the cover looked interesting and I don't read a lot of historical fiction so. Why not. Spoilers ahead.

During the Protestant Reformation in Antwerp, Storm, a son of a book printer, is tasked with printing and spreading a message from Martin Luther himself and finds himself hunted. His father is taken captive and sentenced to death for heresy, and Storm and his new friend Marieke are determined to save him while also finding a way to spread Luther's message after all. 

Overall a pretty damn good book. It was rather short, not too long or anything, but I had a good time. Not amazing and the characters aren't the most developed if you ask me, but I had a good time.

The story was mostly just full of excitement. Each time where you think Storm (or his father) are safe they instead are hunted down or betrayed by someone they though they could trust. The only one in the end who he can trust is Marieke, a girl he forms a rather strong friendship with. And while I don't think the characters in this book are amazing, I do absolutely love the bond between Marieke and Storm. It feels genuine and I absolutely can buy them becoming so close over just a few days due to the situation they're both in. 

I also like how, despite the heavy religious (well, mostly christian) tones the book has, it doesn't really outright portray one in the wrong and the other not. While the book does lean more towards Protestantism as Storm and his father have more Protestant leanings and some of the antagonists are Catholics, there's also several characters who are Catholics and also are not demonized for it, such as Storm's mother and Marieke herself, of course. 

And the final epilogue of the book reveals that in the end Storm's family became a family consisting of both Catholics and Protestants where they just respect each other's beliefs rather than hate the other faction. Which is a wholesome solution. I myself don't identify as christian (more-so agnostic) but I like this conclusion and that the book didn't one-side things. There's good and bad Protestants in this book, and there's good and bad Catholics. 

With my history knowledge being far gone, I obviously can't tell how accurate this book is, but I do appreciate that the author used some actual historical characters in this. Not just Martin Luther but also a few others. Storm, his family and Marieke are all made up, but they do feel believable. 

So overall I had a great time reading this book. Rather short and not with the most three-dimensional protagonists ever written, but still a great read full of thrilling scenes and high stakes.

Rating: 4/5