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ilshadowhsangel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
5.0
nachokitty's review against another edition
5.0
This book is the kind that slowly burns, like the tail of a firework, until it suddenly explodes into this world of emotion and frantic energy. I found myself skipping paragraphs just to see what was going to happen next; I had to literally tell myself to breathe and read the book properly. I was THAT excited to read this book. As i sit here typing this I almost feel out of breath from the JOURNEY i went through with Seafire, and I’m suddenly wanting to go on a boat. I eagerly await the next book in the series!
colleens_conclusions's review against another edition
4.0
Seafire by Natalie Parker was one of the books I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since I kept hearing about it. I think I over hyped this book myself because I wasn’t as into it as everybody else seemed to be, and it wasn’t like how Daughter of the Siren Queen was for me. I liked all of the friendships in this book though and I liked there was a whole crew of girls. It was just rated four stars because I got it over hyped.
sarahforster's review against another edition
5.0
Lets just get this over the way with, I devoured this book. LOVE LOVE LOVE everything about this book: I was enthralled by Seafire from the first sentence. The pace is perfect, the characters so delightfully unique and honestly human. After reading To Kill A Kingdom, These Rebel Waves and Ice kingdom, I think I can finally say I love novels based on the sea. This book encapsulates a classic YA fantasy/dystopian plot, evil ruler taking innocents to build and army, and places it on water, following themes of loyalty, trust, revenge and friendship in an epic battle against the tyrant Aric Athair.
There are LGBTQIA+ characters in the story, but their relationship does not take any limelight. This, I'm thankful for. Personally, I like that Natalie doesn't shove ANY of the romantic relationships into our faces. They are not necessary to the story so they stay in the background.
I was not unhappy with any of the relationships that unfolded in this novel. One in particular is surely going to make the next novel VERY interesting.
Caledonia calls herself a "rebel" and that is exactly what she and her crew are. The girls are fearless, badass war heroes who you would not want to mess with. I love how powerful these women and girls are, I only wish we got to know more of the crew rather than a handful. That being said, you are not confused from the sheer amount of names being thrown around which makes it easy to follow and fall in love with the few you do know. I found myself apart of the crew whilst I read and like the girls, I would have given my life to serve these girls. It's quite a disappointment when you finish this novel and realise you are in fact not apart of the crew.
There are no negatives to this book for me, I physically cannot find fault with anything even now as I rack my brain trying to find something. Surely a book cant be perfect!? Well for me, Seafire came as close as it gets. I only wish the release date for Steel Tides was now.
Oh on second thought, there is one negative: the cover art has changed so now my books will not match.
There are LGBTQIA+ characters in the story, but their relationship does not take any limelight. This, I'm thankful for. Personally, I like that Natalie doesn't shove ANY of the romantic relationships into our faces. They are not necessary to the story so they stay in the background.
I was not unhappy with any of the relationships that unfolded in this novel. One in particular is surely going to make the next novel VERY interesting.
Caledonia calls herself a "rebel" and that is exactly what she and her crew are. The girls are fearless, badass war heroes who you would not want to mess with. I love how powerful these women and girls are, I only wish we got to know more of the crew rather than a handful. That being said, you are not confused from the sheer amount of names being thrown around which makes it easy to follow and fall in love with the few you do know. I found myself apart of the crew whilst I read and like the girls, I would have given my life to serve these girls. It's quite a disappointment when you finish this novel and realise you are in fact not apart of the crew.
There are no negatives to this book for me, I physically cannot find fault with anything even now as I rack my brain trying to find something. Surely a book cant be perfect!? Well for me, Seafire came as close as it gets. I only wish the release date for Steel Tides was now.
Oh on second thought, there is one negative: the cover art has changed so now my books will not match.
mastersal's review against another edition
4.0
3 stars for my emotional reaction to this book - I liked it but didn't love it. 1 star added for the craft - this is a well written story which avoids a lot of clichés and pitfalls. I would definitely recommend this everyone who likes adventure stories and especially those set on the sea. I would make this mandatory reading to all the little girls who never get to see girls in a wholistic real way (killing people and generally being violent is not strength people).
This is sort of a pirate story but I've always disliked that moniker as pirates were cruel and thieves. This crew, as they describe themselves are rebels in the best tradition of stories about a small band finding against oppression. The characters, especially of the main lead Caledonia, are well drawn for the most part. There are a few stock types which I can accept since it wont be a crew otherwise - the best friend, the quippy weapons master, the plucky younger orphan (?). But for the stock characters there was a Hime and Amina. I especially like Hime who balanced between vulnerable and strong quite well.
Ms. Parker has a command over her writing which is admirable. The flatness of some of the other characters, including Pisces, fits into the story which is squarely focused on Caledonia. This is her book and the rest are supporting characters in the truest sense. They support but don't take centre stage. The author kept that focus so that the book is not cluttered. I am sure it was difficult to maintain it - as an example, I was expecting more focus on the boy they rescued but we don't even learn his name till the last 1/3rd of the book. That dedication to keep in character and focus on developing Caledonia's motivation was fascinating. It would have been easy to go on a tangent to build him up but in a novel of sisterhood it would have been self-indulgent and Ms Parker is definitely not that.
If anything, I found the book to be a little sparse. At less than 400 pages it is economical in what it focuses on. The worldbuilding is done quickly and the mix of modern technology and sea-adventure vibe creates echoes of Treasure Planet which kept me engaged. I could have used a little ore context setting and description of where we were as this could have been Earth or Mars for what I got. Nothing that rose to the level of annoyance but just an acknowledgement of the fact that this is a relatively short book when it comes to fantasy adventure and as a result it will leave off certain things. The focus on sisters and brothers also a very welcome change from the focus on romantic couples. The acknowledgement of addiction and child enslavement was covered sensitivity but not graphically given the target age range. If you are a younger reader, or giving this to a younger child please be aware that there is mention of things like addiction - it's not gratuitous and not visceral but it should be approached with guidance for the younger readers who are getting into these topics for the first time.
Having said all of this and despite my admiration of the book, I couldn't really love it. This is not going to become one of my favourites and I am not sure I will put the sequel high on my TBR. This is due to my preferences in fantasy and the fact that I don't like stories set on ships. There is a claustrophobia to the setting which doesn't appeal. Stories on ships are necessarily narrow in focus so they avoid nuance and big picture narrative that I prefer when reading. This is akin to liking history books about the entire war instead of a particular battle.
The reading level of the book is also for younger audiences. This is not a bad thing as the writing is clear. However, the writing was too simple for my tastes - honestly this is my fault in picking up a YA novel. On a positive note though it reminds me of Terry Brookes in his heyday so fans of that style should definitely pick this.
PS. All of this may be bunk as I read this while recovering from surgery so my detachment could be psychosomatic.
This is sort of a pirate story but I've always disliked that moniker as pirates were cruel and thieves. This crew, as they describe themselves are rebels in the best tradition of stories about a small band finding against oppression. The characters, especially of the main lead Caledonia, are well drawn for the most part. There are a few stock types which I can accept since it wont be a crew otherwise - the best friend, the quippy weapons master, the plucky younger orphan (?). But for the stock characters there was a Hime and Amina. I especially like Hime who balanced between vulnerable and strong quite well.
Ms. Parker has a command over her writing which is admirable. The flatness of some of the other characters, including Pisces, fits into the story which is squarely focused on Caledonia. This is her book and the rest are supporting characters in the truest sense. They support but don't take centre stage. The author kept that focus so that the book is not cluttered. I am sure it was difficult to maintain it - as an example, I was expecting more focus on the boy they rescued but we don't even learn his name till the last 1/3rd of the book. That dedication to keep in character and focus on developing Caledonia's motivation was fascinating. It would have been easy to go on a tangent to build him up but in a novel of sisterhood it would have been self-indulgent and Ms Parker is definitely not that.
If anything, I found the book to be a little sparse. At less than 400 pages it is economical in what it focuses on. The worldbuilding is done quickly and the mix of modern technology and sea-adventure vibe creates echoes of Treasure Planet which kept me engaged. I could have used a little ore context setting and description of where we were as this could have been Earth or Mars for what I got. Nothing that rose to the level of annoyance but just an acknowledgement of the fact that this is a relatively short book when it comes to fantasy adventure and as a result it will leave off certain things. The focus on sisters and brothers also a very welcome change from the focus on romantic couples. The acknowledgement of addiction and child enslavement was covered sensitivity but not graphically given the target age range. If you are a younger reader, or giving this to a younger child please be aware that there is mention of things like addiction - it's not gratuitous and not visceral but it should be approached with guidance for the younger readers who are getting into these topics for the first time.
Having said all of this and despite my admiration of the book, I couldn't really love it. This is not going to become one of my favourites and I am not sure I will put the sequel high on my TBR. This is due to my preferences in fantasy and the fact that I don't like stories set on ships. There is a claustrophobia to the setting which doesn't appeal. Stories on ships are necessarily narrow in focus so they avoid nuance and big picture narrative that I prefer when reading. This is akin to liking history books about the entire war instead of a particular battle.
The reading level of the book is also for younger audiences. This is not a bad thing as the writing is clear. However, the writing was too simple for my tastes - honestly this is my fault in picking up a YA novel. On a positive note though it reminds me of Terry Brookes in his heyday so fans of that style should definitely pick this.
PS. All of this may be bunk as I read this while recovering from surgery so my detachment could be psychosomatic.
heckyeahbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Read this during my 24-hour read a thon and I honestly don’t know how I feel about it. I liked this book but I don’t know if I was in love with it. I liked the story (I love pirates and the sea) and I loved the story as a whole but there was something missing for me. Also, the ending has me kind of torn about it.
huffvetica's review against another edition
1.0
DNF
I literally could not finish this book. There is hardly any meaningful plot development. Our main girl is written as cold and one dimensional. Her relationships with her crew members are extremely one sided and give no added dimension to the story. Save your money. This isn’t worth it
I literally could not finish this book. There is hardly any meaningful plot development. Our main girl is written as cold and one dimensional. Her relationships with her crew members are extremely one sided and give no added dimension to the story. Save your money. This isn’t worth it
amityreads's review against another edition
Skipped from 30% to 80%. This one just wasn't for me unfortunately.
nunzia2210's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
mj1588's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder