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nenya_kanadka's review against another edition
4.0
Another great entry in this series. Excellent that we get to find out more about Sophie's birth parents (her father in this one, looks like her mother in book #3). One star off for the immediate jump to diagnosing someone as a "sociopath! omg!" when nobody here is an expert on personality disorders. But some fun action sequences and good emotional payoff. Also, my ship (in the romantic sense) sails!
waclements7's review against another edition
5.0
I won an ARC from Tor and this is an honest review.
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I will try not to be spoilery, and this really is an honest review, because when I won the ARC, I had no idea who A.M. Dellamonica was, was shocked I'd actually won anything at all, (because I never win things), and had entered because I thought the book looked interesting. I had _heard_ of A.M. Dellamonica before, so her name was familiar. Since this was the second book, after I won this book, I got a copy of the first book, and by the time I'd finished "Child of the Hidden Sea," this was the most wanted book I'd won that I hadn't known I wanted. Maybe that's the trick to winning books, to not know how much you really want them in the first place.
I don't know if I can adequately express how much in love with Stormwrack, the alternate universe Dellamonica has created, I am. Or how much I adore the characters, and the sibling relationships and their interactions, the magnificence of the worldbuilding, the wonderful dialogue... I love Sophie as the main character because she is so smart, yet she is just as fallible to making human mistakes as anyone, and blurts out inappropriate things and puts her foot in her mouth--she is just so _irrepressible_. Sometimes to her own detriment, and those around her.
This continuation of her adventures in Stormwrack as a result of what happens in "Child of the Hidden Sea" are just as enthralling as the first. The situation is more confusing for Sophie as she tries to sort out her feelings for her father as she visits his home country and finds out things that have been deliberately kept from her--things that would have changed her mind about visiting, thus voiding the contract she agreed on to help free her mother.
The layers of family are handled so well--her family on Erstwhile vs. her family on Stormwrack, and how she feels so intertwined with both. The differences between what separates a child from an adult, contrasted with the age at which heavy responsibilities are taken on, is fascinating.
The continuing dance between Sophie and Parrish is so much fun. And how Varena handles things.
I admire so much the way Dellamonica writes, the way she comes up with the subplots that weave together into such an amazing story. Turtles, automatons, throttle vines, warring island nations, pirates, all interconnected in such a brilliant way. And the cat. I love the cat. And Tonio. Parrish's mother. There are just so many things--_Nightjar_, the belief in predestination and all the "sciences" that Sophie finds shocking and amazing and somewhat horrifying, the discoveries she and Bram start to make. It just leaves me breathless. I felt like crying when the book was over, because I just didn't want it to end.
I feel like winning this book is so much more than just winning a book. I've found about a new author, a new world that I can't stop thinking about, and it's made my fictional book life a happier, better place. And I didn't even know it would be. I am recommending these books to everyone. They are such an accomplishment; they are, to me, what a really good fantasy is--they feel like living, breathing things, a remarkable new world where I'm just as delighted as Sophie to find out what's the same and what's different. And just a little bit afraid as she and Bram posit their ideas about what those similarities and differences mean. But what a ride!
*
*
*
*
I will try not to be spoilery, and this really is an honest review, because when I won the ARC, I had no idea who A.M. Dellamonica was, was shocked I'd actually won anything at all, (because I never win things), and had entered because I thought the book looked interesting. I had _heard_ of A.M. Dellamonica before, so her name was familiar. Since this was the second book, after I won this book, I got a copy of the first book, and by the time I'd finished "Child of the Hidden Sea," this was the most wanted book I'd won that I hadn't known I wanted. Maybe that's the trick to winning books, to not know how much you really want them in the first place.
I don't know if I can adequately express how much in love with Stormwrack, the alternate universe Dellamonica has created, I am. Or how much I adore the characters, and the sibling relationships and their interactions, the magnificence of the worldbuilding, the wonderful dialogue... I love Sophie as the main character because she is so smart, yet she is just as fallible to making human mistakes as anyone, and blurts out inappropriate things and puts her foot in her mouth--she is just so _irrepressible_. Sometimes to her own detriment, and those around her.
This continuation of her adventures in Stormwrack as a result of what happens in "Child of the Hidden Sea" are just as enthralling as the first. The situation is more confusing for Sophie as she tries to sort out her feelings for her father as she visits his home country and finds out things that have been deliberately kept from her--things that would have changed her mind about visiting, thus voiding the contract she agreed on to help free her mother.
The layers of family are handled so well--her family on Erstwhile vs. her family on Stormwrack, and how she feels so intertwined with both. The differences between what separates a child from an adult, contrasted with the age at which heavy responsibilities are taken on, is fascinating.
The continuing dance between Sophie and Parrish is so much fun. And how Varena handles things.
I admire so much the way Dellamonica writes, the way she comes up with the subplots that weave together into such an amazing story. Turtles, automatons, throttle vines, warring island nations, pirates, all interconnected in such a brilliant way. And the cat. I love the cat. And Tonio. Parrish's mother. There are just so many things--_Nightjar_, the belief in predestination and all the "sciences" that Sophie finds shocking and amazing and somewhat horrifying, the discoveries she and Bram start to make. It just leaves me breathless. I felt like crying when the book was over, because I just didn't want it to end.
I feel like winning this book is so much more than just winning a book. I've found about a new author, a new world that I can't stop thinking about, and it's made my fictional book life a happier, better place. And I didn't even know it would be. I am recommending these books to everyone. They are such an accomplishment; they are, to me, what a really good fantasy is--they feel like living, breathing things, a remarkable new world where I'm just as delighted as Sophie to find out what's the same and what's different. And just a little bit afraid as she and Bram posit their ideas about what those similarities and differences mean. But what a ride!
diaryofthebookdragon's review
4.0
Likes:
ø A couple of intriguing mysteries
ø Romance between proper, rule-following Parrish and quirky Sophie.
ø Geeky Sophie. Her scientific approach and examination of everything, gave me opportunity to learn a lot of different facts about wonderful world of Shipwreck.
Dislikes:
ø Sophie was very naive and childish at times. Listing all the times when this was obvious would take hours and spoil a lot of what happens in the book. But take an example when she refuses to eat food prepared by slaves. But sleeps in a house built by slaves, in a room cleaned and maintained by slaves. :/
Sophie annoyed me a lot, but I was still swept away by her enthusiasm and love for learning. If you liked the world of Shipwreck, there is more about their weird magic and belief to learn in A Daughter of No Nation
I'm looking forward to the sequel.
ø A couple of intriguing mysteries
ø Romance between proper, rule-following Parrish and quirky Sophie.
ø Geeky Sophie. Her scientific approach and examination of everything, gave me opportunity to learn a lot of different facts about wonderful world of Shipwreck.
Dislikes:
ø Sophie was very naive and childish at times. Listing all the times when this was obvious would take hours and spoil a lot of what happens in the book. But take an example when she refuses to eat food prepared by slaves. But sleeps in a house built by slaves, in a room cleaned and maintained by slaves. :/
Sophie annoyed me a lot, but I was still swept away by her enthusiasm and love for learning. If you liked the world of Shipwreck, there is more about their weird magic and belief to learn in A Daughter of No Nation
I'm looking forward to the sequel.
burnet's review
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
lolajoan's review against another edition
3.0
Fun and entertaining, but definitely not perfect. I like the world and I really hope the 3rd book goes into what exactly is going on there, but I kind of hate Sophie - she's obnoxious and bratty and childish. And the romance seems ridiculous to me - they're both annoying cold fishes and there are way more interesting pairings I'd be up for reading about. Anyway, I'll read the 3rd book and I'm sure I'll enjoy it but I'm not expecting anything life-changing.
merricatct's review against another edition
2.0
I hate the covers of these books, because they're so cool, and yet have NOTHING to do with what's actually in the books. I keep expecting rollicking pirate adventure fiction, but that is really not what's going on here. If anything, Sophie goes out of her way to keep wearing her regular Erstwhile/Earth clothes, and spent most of this book on land, so whyyyy is she dressed as a pirate on the prow of a ship on the cover? Anyway. I love the worldbuilding, I really do. Stormwrack is such a great creation, and I love the diversity and complexity of the nations and cultures and peoples there. Too bad we don't get to hang out with any of them, and instead are stuck with one of my least favorite MC's of all time. I'm reading the third book now, because they're quick reads and "in for a penny, in for a pound", but I'm really hoping the third book is better than this one.
annike_'s review
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
etoiline's review
4.0
Seafaring mystery
Starts off a little slow, but the mystery (involving turtles!) ramps up as the story goes along, building to a satisfactory finish. Same main characters as the first book in the series, with deeper insight into how one family could be the crux of nationwide (island-wide) political drama. Do you like sailing, science, solving a mystery, with a splash of an entirely new (or is it old?) worlds to explore? You'll like this one.
Starts off a little slow, but the mystery (involving turtles!) ramps up as the story goes along, building to a satisfactory finish. Same main characters as the first book in the series, with deeper insight into how one family could be the crux of nationwide (island-wide) political drama. Do you like sailing, science, solving a mystery, with a splash of an entirely new (or is it old?) worlds to explore? You'll like this one.
egelantier's review against another edition
4.0
a sequel to the child of a hidden sea that paradoxically profits from the profoundly lowered stakes. sophie hansa gets back to the world of stormwrack, but instead of the international intrigure of the previous book the main conflict revolves around her fraught relationship with her birth father. he’s charismatic, larger-than-life, determined like hell, impressive like whoa, very devoted to sophie and very into the idea of reclaiming their familial relationship… and not so simple. there’s a beautifully simple and strong conflict in the middle of the book, and i loved how it fell out (and didn’t finish, yet).
i love dellamonica’s worldbuilding - beautifully unrestrained in the way martha wells’ is, sprawling, brave and inventive - but my main incentive for reading these books is sophie, who’s a stunningly relatable portal fantasy heroine, curious and headstrong and awkward, neither adapting to the weirdness of the other world too easily nor fighting the obvious; she’s one of the best waypoint characters for this kind of thing i’ve ever read, and i would be happy to follow her for many more installments.
i love dellamonica’s worldbuilding - beautifully unrestrained in the way martha wells’ is, sprawling, brave and inventive - but my main incentive for reading these books is sophie, who’s a stunningly relatable portal fantasy heroine, curious and headstrong and awkward, neither adapting to the weirdness of the other world too easily nor fighting the obvious; she’s one of the best waypoint characters for this kind of thing i’ve ever read, and i would be happy to follow her for many more installments.