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lighthartedreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Physical abuse, Child death, Murder, Death, and Blood
booklifeisthelife's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Violence and Sexual content
Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Confinement, and Sexual violence
Minor: Child death, Gore, and Suicidal thoughts
koistyfishy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5/5
The whole time thinking about what to write in this review, that TikTok sound clip of "Paige, you were good. I'm waiting for you to be great" played on repeat in my mind, as that is exactly how I feel about this book.
Do not get me wrong, it was enjoyable the same way a Marvel Movie is, and contains so many annotateable and memorable lines. But going in I wanted the next Endgame or Guardians of the Galaxy, and instead was given Black Widow. The one that is not "technically" bad, but it's not "technically" good either.
This book is a Dual POV story that follows Maren, a little <s>mermaid</s> syren, who was hungry for experience and adventure after growing tired of her life under the sea. She makes a deal with a sea witch to turn her human but is lied to about what life is truly like with feet. Soon Maren finds herself married to an abusive prince, where she is expected to be seen and not heard. On the voyage home, our dear Captain Ramsey captures their ship and takes her and the prince hostage...but soon Maren learns that things are not always what they seem on board with the Brethren of Blood.
Before I elaborate on what kept this from AMAZING I want to touch on what I did like. The worldbuilding is absolutely exceptional. Considering this is standalone, there is not often a lot of time given to this to set the foundation, but it was there. I could smell the ocean, I felt like I was on that Pirate ship. There was a fully-fledged magic system and lore that truly paid homage to the vibes of The Little Mermaid mixed with Pirates of the Caribbean. I also really enjoyed the writing as a whole and the style. It was easy to follow and as I mentioned, the number of lines I highlighted in the book truly gives a testament to how much I enjoyed the general quotability of the book.
It was clear that a lot of time and care was put into understanding the life of a pirate as well as the mechanics of sailing a ship. My vocabulary-loving brain practically squealed at the amount of nautical terms that I learnt reading this.
So why then is this only good? Firstly there are a lot of action scenes in this book but every single one of them felt like they had this intense build-up to a climax that would be instantly over or brushed off very quickly. I honestly thought I must have been missing pages or chapters as the story would move on and not line up. It was like aspects of the plot were just missing, conversations were not had and the consequences of the events weren't ever shown.
We were just told things happened and not shown how they happened. Big events would just be mentioned in a passing line and wouldn't have the reaction expected. I would have not minded this if it happened once or twice but it happened numerous times, to the point that I got frustrated. This bled into the smut and the inopportune time that the smut happened.
There were also factors of the plot and writing that felt like they were added purely to elicit a shock from the reader. Added to create a feeling of being unhinged for the sake of being unhinged.
The relationship switches from lust to love with the main characters feeling very quickly. They both lack some characterization and development. For a captain who has been mourning his dead wife and his daughter for so long to move on almost instantly because he found someone to warm his sheets felt weird. I would have liked to see him going through that emotional struggle to accept this. And I felt that any time anything was borderline serious or crossing into that emotional exploration, it would move on very quickly into action or smut.
The tropes you can expect in this are:
▶ Enemies to Lovers
▶ The Little Mermaid X Pirates of the Caribbean
▶ Touch Her You Die
▶ Hidden Identity
▶ Revenge Plot
▶ Morally Grey MMC
Ultimately it's still good...I'll still recommend this as I had fun with it but it had so much potential to be more...
Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, and Kidnapping
Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts
rhi_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Cannibalism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, and Self harm
lizzie_b99's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Body horror, and Cursing
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
sierrayak's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Grief, Emotional abuse, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
kkxmac's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Torture, Cannibalism, Child death, Physical abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, and Emotional abuse
angelamarcela2's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I wish there was a bit more emphasis or building on Marrens 10year gap in the story which we know was a large issue in her marriage with Aerik. But if that gap was worth her literally ending his life, I think it’s worth exploring in the novel!
The spice scenes were okay- they come off a little “rapey” in nature, but the author does issue a trigger warning for such. After all is it DARK romantasy.
All in all I did enjoy the book- I think the author does a great job at bringing the reader to the location and writes with vivid imagery. The book was entertaining for me enough to get through in only a few days. Fans of this genre and pirates of the Caribbean will absolutely love this book.
Graphic: Death, Murder, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Blood, Rape, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
seaofbooks3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Cursing, Blood, Torture, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexism, Physical abuse, Murder, and Emotional abuse
millenialglowworm's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Gore, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping
Minor: Death of parent, Child death, and Confinement