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princessleopard's review against another edition
4.0
Preface: I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review
TW: Sexual assault/rape is a major theme, with assaults happening on- and off-page.
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
I really enjoyed this novel! That's actually a weird running theme through a lot of the stories I rate highly - a ton of them are pirate-related in some way, even though I wouldn't call myself a fan of the genre. But this was genuinely good. The prose was vivid and descriptive without being overwrought. The characters were varied and likable (even our main villain has a touch of humanity). There's a sprinkle of LGBT rep. The little doses of magic scattered throughout the book were intriguing, especially the Serpent's Children. It was overall just a very satisfying read.
My biggest complaint would be the pacing - once our big twist is revealed and our heroes understand the trouble they're in, the story sort of takes a weird turn. Instead of capitalizing on the suspense and intrigue of the revelation, the characters just kinda...leave? They wander off to try and find a solution to the problem. Because of the nature of Preel's abilities, it takes a long time for them to narrow down what they're looking for, which means we end up spending a solid little chunk of the novel just sitting around. Then, the solution we get is pretty underwhelming, and we end up without any real climax. I guess the battle with a certain character is supposed to be our climax, but we aren't really invested in hating that character, and the conflict with the actual villain ends in a grand whimper (so the author can set up more books). I think this would have been way more interesting if the villain was actually dealt with in a meaningful way, so our crew can go on to have more adventures. As it is, this just felt kinda hollow at the end, as the characters haven't really won any meaningful victory.
Overall, though, this was still a solid fantasy/action read, with a surprising amount of romance and heart. I'm definitely interesting in continuing the rest of the series and seeing where these characters go from here.
TW: Sexual assault/rape is a major theme, with assaults happening on- and off-page.
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
I really enjoyed this novel! That's actually a weird running theme through a lot of the stories I rate highly - a ton of them are pirate-related in some way, even though I wouldn't call myself a fan of the genre. But this was genuinely good. The prose was vivid and descriptive without being overwrought. The characters were varied and likable (even our main villain has a touch of humanity). There's a sprinkle of LGBT rep. The little doses of magic scattered throughout the book were intriguing, especially the Serpent's Children. It was overall just a very satisfying read.
My biggest complaint would be the pacing - once our big twist is revealed and our heroes understand the trouble they're in, the story sort of takes a weird turn. Instead of capitalizing on the suspense and intrigue of the revelation, the characters just kinda...leave? They wander off to try and find a solution to the problem. Because of the nature of Preel's abilities, it takes a long time for them to narrow down what they're looking for, which means we end up spending a solid little chunk of the novel just sitting around. Then, the solution we get is pretty underwhelming, and we end up without any real climax. I guess the battle with a certain character is supposed to be our climax, but we aren't really invested in hating that character, and the conflict with the actual villain ends in a grand whimper (so the author can set up more books). I think this would have been way more interesting if the villain was actually dealt with in a meaningful way, so our crew can go on to have more adventures. As it is, this just felt kinda hollow at the end, as the characters haven't really won any meaningful victory.
Overall, though, this was still a solid fantasy/action read, with a surprising amount of romance and heart. I'm definitely interesting in continuing the rest of the series and seeing where these characters go from here.
ms_m's review
4.0
I had the pleasure of meeting the author at Dragon Con and picked up this book. Now I regret not grabbing a couple of others. I love pirates and this series is great. Definitely going to be reading more from this series.
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