A review by kblincoln
Child of a Hidden Sea by A.M. Dellamonica
4.0
I almost didn't finish it...now I can't wait for the sequel.
Hmm...does that sound like the writing's a bit uneven? It isn't like that at all. I think maybe my enjoyment of it had to undergo a revision in expectations.
I thought this would be a kick-butt female protagonist swashbuckling around an ocean-based world.
She does swash some buckle, but Sophie Hansa took some time for me to warm up to. Or maybe the world took some time for me to warm up to. Or maybe it was the odd place the action started-- with Sophie just having been rejected by her birth mother, foiling an attack on her birth-aunt, and being whisked off to an alternate world. It didn't feel like I was plopped straight into the action, it felt like I'd missed the pilot episode.
But I'm glad I stuck with it. Once Sophie gets the lay of the land and is sent back to our world in disgrace, she returns to the world of Stormwrack intent upon finding a mysterious spell that is the deterrent to war amongst disparate, squabbling island nations. She comes back with her brother, Bram, who is a genius and just as fascinated by language, geography, bats, otter behavior, and everything else that is different about this world.
Maybe its that Sophie really shines as part of her sibling duo, or that she gains enough confidence with Bram's presence to actually dare to assert her intelligence and good sense.
Either way, that's when the book became all kinds of fun. Granted, it's more political manuevering and spy-foiling complete with dramatic courtroom scene where Sophie saves the day with her wit, but still lots of fun.
And there's an incredibly honor-bound, raised by monks, stuffy love interest (who just screams Darcy-as-played-by-Colin-Firth-if-Darcy-were-a-buccaneer) that can't show an ounce of emotion to Sophie for all kinds of reasons.
And a spider-breeding rogue with loose morals. And pompous female politicians. And ex-pirates who torture captives by putting pearls underneath their fingernails. And a bio-dad who is Judge Dredd with a sword.
So once you get past the learning curve, and Sophie begins hanging with her sibs, this book is really fun. Fascinating world.
Hmm...does that sound like the writing's a bit uneven? It isn't like that at all. I think maybe my enjoyment of it had to undergo a revision in expectations.
I thought this would be a kick-butt female protagonist swashbuckling around an ocean-based world.
She does swash some buckle, but Sophie Hansa took some time for me to warm up to. Or maybe the world took some time for me to warm up to. Or maybe it was the odd place the action started-- with Sophie just having been rejected by her birth mother, foiling an attack on her birth-aunt, and being whisked off to an alternate world. It didn't feel like I was plopped straight into the action, it felt like I'd missed the pilot episode.
But I'm glad I stuck with it. Once Sophie gets the lay of the land and is sent back to our world in disgrace, she returns to the world of Stormwrack intent upon finding a mysterious spell that is the deterrent to war amongst disparate, squabbling island nations. She comes back with her brother, Bram, who is a genius and just as fascinated by language, geography, bats, otter behavior, and everything else that is different about this world.
Maybe its that Sophie really shines as part of her sibling duo, or that she gains enough confidence with Bram's presence to actually dare to assert her intelligence and good sense.
Either way, that's when the book became all kinds of fun. Granted, it's more political manuevering and spy-foiling complete with dramatic courtroom scene where Sophie saves the day with her wit, but still lots of fun.
And there's an incredibly honor-bound, raised by monks, stuffy love interest (who just screams Darcy-as-played-by-Colin-Firth-if-Darcy-were-a-buccaneer) that can't show an ounce of emotion to Sophie for all kinds of reasons.
And a spider-breeding rogue with loose morals. And pompous female politicians. And ex-pirates who torture captives by putting pearls underneath their fingernails. And a bio-dad who is Judge Dredd with a sword.
So once you get past the learning curve, and Sophie begins hanging with her sibs, this book is really fun. Fascinating world.