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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
Oof. She was rough. I was excited about this one, who doesn't want to read about pirates and magic? But ultimately it was a disappointment. The world building was clumsy and inconsistent (they're underwater but there's paper and sometimes running sometimes swimming), the chrono setting made no sense (1700s but there's toilets and modern slang), and a love triangle featuring two brothers (urgh).
So many things were mentioned then ignored and the time jumps felt more like the author wanted to get the characters from point A to point B, development-wise, without doing the work of writing it. There's also a queer side-character that feels very tokenistic.
Would not recommend, I'm 100% sure I would have DNFd if I hadn't been on vacation and able to read it in a day.
So many things were mentioned then ignored and the time jumps felt more like the author wanted to get the characters from point A to point B, development-wise, without doing the work of writing it. There's also a queer side-character that feels very tokenistic.
Would not recommend, I'm 100% sure I would have DNFd if I hadn't been on vacation and able to read it in a day.
Basically read all of this in one sitting! Great start to a series. Good world building. Fun pirate/witch themes. So happy I bought the whole trilogy and can instantly start book 2! Plus these covers are gorgeous
Amare Bellamy is an orphan living aboard the Moonshadow pirate ship in the Caribbean. When an unexpected storm cause her to leap into the ocean she discovers a secret underwater kingdom!
The Sunken City starts out aboard the Moonshadow. Amare is the only girl on the ship and her life is spent trying to hide who she is in order to fit in with the pirates. I enjoyed this part of the story, it was fun and intriguing and the author did a great job of describing the ship and life at sea. Although the pirate talk was a little too much at times, this was actually my favourite section of the book.
In the underwater kingdom, Amare had lots of new things to discover and there was a lot of world building here. For me it wasn’t as consistent or comprehensive as I would have liked. I was never really sure how this all worked. The water went through everything, houses and shops etc so I needed an explanation as to why objects didn’t just float away. How did the beings play musical instruments underwater? This was never explained and I found it quite frustrating.
There were a few secrets revealed once Amare was underwater, her past wasn’t exactly as she thought and I liked the few twists. The inclusion of magic and witches was fun and I enjoyed the relationship between Amare and one of the brothers. However, I thought the romance aspect was a little underdeveloped with the other brother and didn’t quite justify Amare’s feelings for him.
Overall it was a quick read with some fun aspects but the confusing world building threw me out of the story too much for me to fully immerse myself in it.
Thanks to the author for the review copy.
The Sunken City starts out aboard the Moonshadow. Amare is the only girl on the ship and her life is spent trying to hide who she is in order to fit in with the pirates. I enjoyed this part of the story, it was fun and intriguing and the author did a great job of describing the ship and life at sea. Although the pirate talk was a little too much at times, this was actually my favourite section of the book.
In the underwater kingdom, Amare had lots of new things to discover and there was a lot of world building here. For me it wasn’t as consistent or comprehensive as I would have liked. I was never really sure how this all worked. The water went through everything, houses and shops etc so I needed an explanation as to why objects didn’t just float away. How did the beings play musical instruments underwater? This was never explained and I found it quite frustrating.
There were a few secrets revealed once Amare was underwater, her past wasn’t exactly as she thought and I liked the few twists. The inclusion of magic and witches was fun and I enjoyed the relationship between Amare and one of the brothers. However, I thought the romance aspect was a little underdeveloped with the other brother and didn’t quite justify Amare’s feelings for him.
Overall it was a quick read with some fun aspects but the confusing world building threw me out of the story too much for me to fully immerse myself in it.
Thanks to the author for the review copy.
I don't think I was the intended audience for this book. It read very young YA. I probably would have loved this book when I was 13, and it would be a great intro fantasy for young audiences as the story was clean and approachable. I probably won't be continuing this series, personally.
I was engaged with the beginning and the end of the book as I enjoyed the pirate parts. But the strange modern day inclusions when they were in the Sunken City (night clubs, fake ids, rock n roll, mini skirts) really took me out of the story.
The audio grew on me. Some of the side character voices weren't my favorite, but overall the audio was well done.
Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for the audio eArc.
I was engaged with the beginning and the end of the book as I enjoyed the pirate parts. But the strange modern day inclusions when they were in the Sunken City (night clubs, fake ids, rock n roll, mini skirts) really took me out of the story.
The audio grew on me. Some of the side character voices weren't my favorite, but overall the audio was well done.
Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for the audio eArc.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Although it was slow to start once the action started it was hard to put down. And as always give me a lady pirate as the main character any day.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I wanted to like this more. The premise is great, but some characters fell flat for me. And it felt rushed at times.
The Sunken City was so incredibly magical! I adored this story from the first page to the very last (having book 2 queued up to read right after did help with that ending). The swashbuckling essence of the pirates in this book was amazing but the plot hit its stride in the sunken city. Amare was such an incredible character who I cant wait to see develop as the series goes on!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.