rodes's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Vomit, and Abandonment
Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, and Grief
saturdayslaughter's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Good fun! I couldn’t really find it in me to care about the romance. Setting was fun, liked the action. I did like her father, that was an exciting relationship. Didn’t get attached to any of the other characters, though they had pleasant vibes I guess. I was nit-picking it a lot while reading, which did make me think less of it, but it was enjoyable to criticize as well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Violence, Murder, and Death of parent
Murder is for the time they drown a guy, I assume there were other deaths I don’t remember. A couple people get beat up very bad, typical violence for the genre, and there is a prominent dead parent though it’s not very heavy. Her father abandons her to fend for herself in extreme poverty, so there’s that. None of it felt very intense, but they are big parts of the plotmandregora's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Death, Alcohol, and Abandonment
her's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Kidnapping, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail
lixard's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
- fascinating world
- there are very severe consequences and Young doesn't hold back on very violent maiming and murdering
- but simultaneously there is some ya-fantasy-main-character-syndrome hand-waving to explain away some plot points
- i don't Greatly mind but it would've been nice to see complete grittiness and them actually facing problems that they aren't insanely suited towards solving
- im interested in seeing how those not in this industry treat their children? like if they're just a baker's kid, do their parents still neglect and emotionally traumatize them?
- sheepishly, i am kinda more interested in the other characters besides the main 2
Spoiler
the guy fell too fast with 000 interaction and then their buildup was literally only looks and touches. their few conversations were already so tense with "chemistry" that came almost out of nowhere- where is the sister gonna go after this? how was it like those years she had to stay with her mom before ML came back for her?
- how did the two others meet and end up together and what is the social climate for their relationship?
- their stories just seem more compelling to me without the trope-y ya romance-ness ig
- i also hope for more actual found family and not just smirks and bullying of fable, ouch
I loved her with a love that broke me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, and Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia and Sexual violence
rain_baby's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Death, Alcohol, Blood, and Violence
taelights's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
I did enjoy the setting, plot, conflicts, and characters in this. Those elements really got me hooked to the book and made listening to it very enjoyable.
But, I hated the romance elements. Honestly I thought Fable and West had no chemistry at all. Like Fable has a huge crush on West throughout the book but I never bought her feelings for him and other than his looks didn't understand why she liked him so much. I also thought their interactions had basically zero chemistry and felt really forced. Fable had a lot more actual chemistry with Willa who would have been such a better love interest for her. Yet another book where the cishet romance is boring and falt and the possible queer romance that authors refuse to acknowledge would have been 10 times better and more interesting.
It wasn't a bad book and I will probably listen to the sequel one day. I'm not dying to read it but this was a solid short read that I did enjoy though!
But, I hated the romance elements. Honestly I thought Fable and West had no chemistry at all. Like Fable has a huge crush on West throughout the book but I never bought her feelings for him and other than his looks didn't understand why she liked him so much. I also thought their interactions had basically zero chemistry and felt really forced. Fable had a lot more actual chemistry with Willa who would have been such a better love interest for her. Yet another book where the cishet romance is boring and falt and the possible queer romance that authors refuse to acknowledge would have been 10 times better and more interesting.
It wasn't a bad book and I will probably listen to the sequel one day. I'm not dying to read it but this was a solid short read that I did enjoy though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Physical abuse, Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Sexual content
gwynn0715's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Physical abuse
theteamsreader's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A definite favourite. Such an incredibly light, but engaging read with a promise of more to come. All characters were interesting and fun to read about and explore, and the actual plot and setting itself felt like a strong breath of air in terms of a subgenre like this. Recommend to anyone into pirate and trader books, with hunts for missing treasure, escapes from islands, battles on and off seas, big plot twists, and characters to fall in love with entirely.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Grief, Alcohol, Body horror, Cursing, and Vomit
_ohheyisabella_'s review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Abandonment, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Death, and Fire/Fire injury