A review by mspilesofpaper
Drowned Country by Emily Tesh

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Drowned Country happens two years after the first book and starts with Henry, the new wild man of Greenhollow, sulking in the ruins of his mansion because he is alone (aside from Bramble) as Tobias left him. Their romantic relationship lasted just a few months and their split resulted in Henry struggling with being the wild man of Greenhollow but also being Henry Silver at the same time. Until the day his mother comes calling to demand his help with a case in the seaside town of Rothport where a 900-year-old vampire lives. Rothport used to be part of the ancient wood to which Henry is bound but it was drowned beneath the sea. While Henry still suffers from a broken heart, he is still quickly pulled into the mess that awaits him in Rothport, and there's more to Rothport and Maude, the vampire's supposed victim, than meets the eye.

While Silver in the Wood was very character-driven and whimsical in its own way, Drowned Country is a plot-driven story, which switches between the present and the past when Henry remembers how his relationship with Tobias ended. I found the plot to be a bit all over the place with a vampire, the run-away young woman who wants to become a monster hunter/wants to follow Henry's and his father's footsteps in terms of academic success, the last fairy and the fairy queen in fairyland, and then the sudden end. The end irks me a lot because it's really just to solve the entire romance situation, so Henry and Tobias can be back together and enjoy a mortal lifetime together.