A review by odbookreviews
Claimed by Alisha Klapheke

4.0

Description: A short teaser for a YA fantasy series with a lot of potential. In this prequel we get a glimpse into the situation our protagonists are in. Kinneret is trying to get her and her sister out of debt so that they can advance in society and she can be with the man she loves. She is a skilled sailor and witch that uses forbidden salt magic to help her.

In Short: This series seems like it would appeal to fans of YA fantasy who enjoy nautical themed stories with magic and romance mixed in. I think this story shows a lot of potential for the series.

Pros: By the end of the story I was very interested in seeing more. The main character, Kinneret proved to be a strong and likable character. I would like to see her story continue and see her accomplish all of her goals. There are a lot of promising features to this story. I would like to learn more about the myths and magic of this world including what exactly are Salt Wraiths and what role do they play. I would like to see the characters earn the removal of their bells, that symbolize their low-caste. I see a lot of potential for exciting conflicts in this storyline. Although short, this book was well written and edited.

Cons: Because of the short nature of this book it lacked character descriptions. I jumped in without knowing anything about this story so as I read the first several pages I wasn't sure what the main character looked like or their gender. The character you get the best/only physical description of is the love interest of the narrating character. I was a little disappointed in the use of magic in this book just because I thought it was too brief and lacking wonder. The spell started out nice and rhymed a little and then lost its flow for me. The magic itself wasn't descriptive, I assume the spell worked but didn't see it work. This teaser was a little too mysterious for me at times.

Parent's Guide: This short story was clean.