Reviews

Whisper of the Tide by Sarah Tolcser

whimsicallymeghan's review against another edition

3.0

Caro has spent her life waiting for her call from the river god, but when the sea god comes calling, she’s not quite prepared for what the god has in store. Caro has spent the last little while helping Markos reclaim the throne of Akhaia, but with no family left, Markos has no allies. He’s then forced into a political marriage in order to gain his throne. This leaves Caro with the choice of her love for him, or the fate of the Akhaian people, while also risking defying the sea god. This novel closed out this duology really nicely. At first the reader wasn’t sure we were going to get a good ending; with not many pages left and what felt like a lot to wrap up, the suspicions were high on what we would get, but this certainly pulled through. Tolcser managed to genuinely surprise her readers and turn things around at the last minute, which left the reader on the edge of their seat. Over the course of this novel, the events that happened in the first started to come back – some of them were more relevant to this book’s plot than others, but this definitely took characters, especially our main one to new heights. The overall story was good; it felt more geared towards the romance plot than the fantasy one, but in the end they both came together to perfection. We couldn’t have one plot without the other, or else the ending wouldn’t have worked the way that it did. The reader enjoyed the adventures, the magic and the misdirects, the deceit and revenge plots; the romance ones were strong, too, but the reader didn’t quite care so much for them. The whole river/sea god plot was so interesting and fascinating. The world building was definitely better in this one, but we still wish we’d gotten more – like that plot alone could have been a cool series. As for our characters, it was good to see new ones join the cast to help shake things up; it was also good to see old characters come back to give a little shake to things too. It felt like all of them combined really rounded and fleshed this story out. For the most part, the characters felt deeply developed, while also being very connected to one another in some way or another which helped to shape each of them in their own ways. Some were more memorable than others, some for more devious things than others, but memorable nonetheless. Our main characters really went through a lot in this and it taught them quite a bit about themselves, which was good to read; it showed growth and maturity. Overall, this was a fun, duology that kept the reader on their toes.

nathaliaborghi's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

snowmariaaa's review against another edition

4.0

The first book, Song of the Current, took a really long time to pick up. I almost gave up reading it and I’m so glad I didn’t! I ended up enjoying it and I enjoyed Whisper of the Tide so much more! I loved Caro, Markos, Kente, and Diric so much. I have a soft spot for a good pirate tale and this was definitely one of those.

missprint_'s review against another edition

3.0

This series is so fun. Unfortunately even with rich world building and characters I've come to love, I wasn't as excited about this one as I was about Song of the Current. Shifting priorities for both Caro and Markos led to a reduced sense of urgency and changing stakes--two things that gave this book a different tone and feel from book one. I think I was more excited about the first book from word-of-mouth hype. This series remains a must read for fantasy fans and readers who love pirates and sailors.

story_sanctuary's review against another edition

4.0

I forgot how much I loved Caro’s character in Song of the Current, but reading Whisper of the Tide brought it all back. She’s so spunky and strong. All the sailing stuff and love for ships and such make Whisper of the Tide a fun read, too. It’s all my favorite things about Pirates of the Caribbean but tossed with some political intrigue and additional strong female characters. Delicious!

It always makes me nervous to read the sequel to a book I loved. I’m always torn because I want to know what happens next, but I’m so afraid it won’t be as good as the first book and will somehow diminish my good memories. No worries here. Whisper of the Tide stands alone as a great love story and a tale about how you have to understand who you are before you can hope to have a happy romantic relationship. It’s very different than Song of the Current, but I really enjoyed the high adventure and race against assassins. I’m so glad I read it. Unfortunately, it does have some references to sex (see below for details), so some sensitive readers may want a heads up on that. The tone and scope of the story will probably appeal more to older readers.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

bigreaderwithnofriends's review

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted tense 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

3.75

mimosaeyes's review against another edition

3.0

Plot-wise, this second novel has a lot more thrust and better pacing. On the downside, though, Caro's motivation is a hot mess - she spends the whole book protecting Markos, trying to get back to Markos, and then hunting down treasure so she can go off sailing into the horizon with Markos. I found this faintly irritating, as it eclipses her own arc about identity. Caro claims to understand who she is by the end of the novel, but I don't see how.

Tolcser is also overly fond of her two leads taking turns to fake-die. But if that's your thing...

At least the subplots involving all the minor characters wrap up nicely.

freddie_and_the_reading's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted 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? Yes

3.0

readaroundtherosie's review against another edition

4.0

A wonderfully satisfying ending to a highly imaginative fantasy duology!

rknuttel's review against another edition

5.0

Dear Sarah Tolcser,
I love you, I love your books, and I will officially read everything you write for the rest of ever. And I will preorder them all! You’re welcome!

Whisper of the Tide was an outstanding sequel to an outstanding debut. I LOVED Song of the Current (like, really loved it), so I was a little bit worried that this wouldn’t live up to my expectations. HOW WRONG I WAS. It was so easy to dive back into Caro’s world, and even though book 2 is very different than book 1, it never felt lacking or lesser. It felt like an awesome continuation of Caro’s story.

EVEN THOUGH there are no more wherries and smuggling in this book,
EVEN THOUGH Markos isn’t even in the book for the middle 50%,
EVEN THOUGH Caro has to work with people she hates,
EVEN THOUGH the Sea God wreaks havoc on Caro’s life,
I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK. In fact, I loved it BECAUSE of all those things. It’s still got adventure, sass, humor, pirates, danger, monsters, corset jokes, shadow magic, strong ladies, etc. And it’s wonderful.

These books deserve all the hype. I can’t wait to read whatever Tolcser puts out next, even if I’ll miss hearing of Caro’s daring tales!