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wordwoonders's review against another edition
3.0
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange of an honest review*
TW: Blood, physical violence, physical assault, kidnapping murder of a child (pt1 ch4), discussion of torture (pt1 ch11), graphic description of battle injuries (pt2 ch1), graphic execution and a human eating monster (pt2 ch4)
Full review originally posted on my blog: Word Wonders
I have been DYING for this book since I finished and adored The Seafarer’s Kiss. If you’ve read my review for that one you know that I loved Ragna’s character and was intrigued by her, ESPECIALLY after I learned that her story would be a captain hook retelling, especially after I was told that it would be a companion and not a direct sequel. And although I really really enjoyed it, to me, it didn’t live up to The Seafarer’s Kiss and didn’t quite meet my expectations.
When I first started reading The Navigator’s touch, it completely slipped my mind just how much I freaking love Julia’s writing style, it caught me by surprise AGAIN, even though I raved all about it in my review for The Seafarer’s Kiss (Goldfish memory, don’t mind me), everything I said in that review about the writing stands here as well. The author’s prose is absolutely exquisit, it’s so fairytale like that it gives the story the perfect vibe.
The book is written from Ragna’s POV, she’s the love interest in The Seafarer’s Kiss and a very intriguing one at that. The first book raises many questions about her and this one doesn’t fail to answer them. The Navigator’s Touch falls somewhere in between companion and sequel as it takes place right after the events of the first book but it also has flashbacks that give us Ragna’s full backstory, her family, how she came to leave her town, how she lost her hand, got her hook, her crew until she meets Ersel and everything that happens after. This one is also a lot richer with Norse mythology and the mythology hoe that I am was thriving.
The main issue I had with this book is how slow it was at first, and how long it took to get started. It wasn’t just slow, which I don’t mind usually (again, see my review for The Seafarer’s Kiss), it’s that it felt like the plot drags for the first half of the book. Besides the flashbacks that were great, it felt to me like the story took a little too long to get to the a point that could have been reached in fewer chapters. That being said, once the pace picked up, I forgot all about that. I read the first half in five days and the second in two, that’s how much I was hooked to the events by that point.
The Navigator’s touch only reinforced my love for Ragna. She’s not a good character, she’s extremely flawed, makes questionable decisions, is driven by revenge and a lot of her actions are based on fear, mistrust or lack of self-confidence but she’s also strong, resilient and hot headed and the character development she goes through as the story moves along as well as realisation she makes about herself and people around her were great to read.
Another thing that I wasn’t a big fan of and that is just a matter of personal preference is the relationship between Ersel and Ragna. I know this is from Ragna’s POV but I still expected to see a lot more of Ersel than we actually got and I also expected their relationship to progress one way or another but it… didn’t for 70% of the book, it was stagnant, Ersel herself barely got any characterisation and the romance was barely there if there at all. I just wanted MORE from it. But the way it was handled at the end was actually something I was able to get behind, how the girls followed their dreams and/or duties above all and not romantic love, Because those stories are very frequent but are rarely told. And I think they’re as important as HEA and HFN.
One last thing before I finish this review, I really liked the open ending. It gives way for so many possibilities and so many more stories can be told after the end of The Navigator’s touch, it makes me hope for more companion books haha, eventhough I know none are planned. A girl can dream.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange of an honest review*
TW: Blood, physical violence, physical assault, kidnapping murder of a child (pt1 ch4), discussion of torture (pt1 ch11), graphic description of battle injuries (pt2 ch1), graphic execution and a human eating monster (pt2 ch4)
Full review originally posted on my blog: Word Wonders
I have been DYING for this book since I finished and adored The Seafarer’s Kiss. If you’ve read my review for that one you know that I loved Ragna’s character and was intrigued by her, ESPECIALLY after I learned that her story would be a captain hook retelling, especially after I was told that it would be a companion and not a direct sequel. And although I really really enjoyed it, to me, it didn’t live up to The Seafarer’s Kiss and didn’t quite meet my expectations.
When I first started reading The Navigator’s touch, it completely slipped my mind just how much I freaking love Julia’s writing style, it caught me by surprise AGAIN, even though I raved all about it in my review for The Seafarer’s Kiss (Goldfish memory, don’t mind me), everything I said in that review about the writing stands here as well. The author’s prose is absolutely exquisit, it’s so fairytale like that it gives the story the perfect vibe.
The book is written from Ragna’s POV, she’s the love interest in The Seafarer’s Kiss and a very intriguing one at that. The first book raises many questions about her and this one doesn’t fail to answer them. The Navigator’s Touch falls somewhere in between companion and sequel as it takes place right after the events of the first book but it also has flashbacks that give us Ragna’s full backstory, her family, how she came to leave her town, how she lost her hand, got her hook, her crew until she meets Ersel and everything that happens after. This one is also a lot richer with Norse mythology and the mythology hoe that I am was thriving.
The main issue I had with this book is how slow it was at first, and how long it took to get started. It wasn’t just slow, which I don’t mind usually (again, see my review for The Seafarer’s Kiss), it’s that it felt like the plot drags for the first half of the book. Besides the flashbacks that were great, it felt to me like the story took a little too long to get to the a point that could have been reached in fewer chapters. That being said, once the pace picked up, I forgot all about that. I read the first half in five days and the second in two, that’s how much I was hooked to the events by that point.
The Navigator’s touch only reinforced my love for Ragna. She’s not a good character, she’s extremely flawed, makes questionable decisions, is driven by revenge and a lot of her actions are based on fear, mistrust or lack of self-confidence but she’s also strong, resilient and hot headed and the character development she goes through as the story moves along as well as realisation she makes about herself and people around her were great to read.
Another thing that I wasn’t a big fan of and that is just a matter of personal preference is the relationship between Ersel and Ragna. I know this is from Ragna’s POV but I still expected to see a lot more of Ersel than we actually got and I also expected their relationship to progress one way or another but it… didn’t for 70% of the book, it was stagnant, Ersel herself barely got any characterisation and the romance was barely there if there at all. I just wanted MORE from it. But the way it was handled at the end was actually something I was able to get behind, how the girls followed their dreams and/or duties above all and not romantic love, Because those stories are very frequent but are rarely told. And I think they’re as important as HEA and HFN.
One last thing before I finish this review, I really liked the open ending. It gives way for so many possibilities and so many more stories can be told after the end of The Navigator’s touch, it makes me hope for more companion books haha, eventhough I know none are planned. A girl can dream.
jenna_birdy's review against another edition
3.0
This book gets a resounding OK from me. Not amazing by any means, but also not the worst thing I've ever read. It had a lot of cool elements--Norse Gods, Vikings, battles, mermaids, and lots of badass female characters so there was a lot to like in a world building sense. I think the execution was the most lacking part of the whole story and this criticism goes for both the first and second book in this series.
First of all the pacing feels off. We spend so much time with these characters working toward a goal--in this case Ragna is trying to take back her village from the ppl who killed everyone and kidnapped her--but the buildup takes AGES and then the payoff lasts about 5 pages to a chapter long. It feels extremely anticlimactic and if it was just the first book that did this I could understand (debut books and all that) but the same thing happens in this one too and it was frustrating. I also felt that telling the whole story from one character's perspective was a mistake. The whole first book was from the mermaid's POV, and this whole book was from Ragna's. I feel like you lose a lot of character development and exposition opportunities by doing this and I found myself constantly wondering what the other characters were thinking rather than being invested in Ragna. Plus it means that exciting things are constantly happening off screen and have to be explained later in long flashback scenes. Honestly both books are so short they could have easily been one book with alternating chapters and I probably would have enjoyed it much more.
I also struggled with the "romance" in this book. I'm all for LGBTQ romance--it's one of the things that drew me to these titles in the first place! But the romance is barely that. They kiss a few times and there are a few "steamy" scenes, both actual and implied, but as far as the emotional depth I expect from a romance story this felt extremely lacking. I just didn't buy it really and it was a huge disappointment. Don't get me wrong--it was healthy and realistic, but maybe too realistic. There was no passion and little drama that I could see--it was all very meh.
I doubt I'll go for the third one. This one was fine, but I didn't love it enough to keep going unfortunately.
First of all the pacing feels off. We spend so much time with these characters working toward a goal--in this case Ragna is trying to take back her village from the ppl who killed everyone and kidnapped her--but the buildup takes AGES and then the payoff lasts about 5 pages to a chapter long. It feels extremely anticlimactic and if it was just the first book that did this I could understand (debut books and all that) but the same thing happens in this one too and it was frustrating. I also felt that telling the whole story from one character's perspective was a mistake. The whole first book was from the mermaid's POV, and this whole book was from Ragna's. I feel like you lose a lot of character development and exposition opportunities by doing this and I found myself constantly wondering what the other characters were thinking rather than being invested in Ragna. Plus it means that exciting things are constantly happening off screen and have to be explained later in long flashback scenes. Honestly both books are so short they could have easily been one book with alternating chapters and I probably would have enjoyed it much more.
I also struggled with the "romance" in this book. I'm all for LGBTQ romance--it's one of the things that drew me to these titles in the first place! But the romance is barely that. They kiss a few times and there are a few "steamy" scenes, both actual and implied, but as far as the emotional depth I expect from a romance story this felt extremely lacking. I just didn't buy it really and it was a huge disappointment. Don't get me wrong--it was healthy and realistic, but maybe too realistic. There was no passion and little drama that I could see--it was all very meh.
I doubt I'll go for the third one. This one was fine, but I didn't love it enough to keep going unfortunately.
asiantomato's review against another edition
3.0
The Navigator's Touch follows Ragna's story of revenge on the men who raided her village and the reconquering of said village. It has an element of Norse mythology, specifically Loki and their creations.
Almost the entire book, I thought that Ragna was incredibly infuriating. She believed that in order to gain control and be a good captain, she needed her men to fear her and in doing so, she disregarded Ersel's feelings. I didn't like how she would apologize for being an asshole and then continue to be an asshole. I love Ragna's backstory, but I felt like I just didn't connect with her character because of how she was acting.
This sequel felt out of place. It was a mix of another point-of-view on an already told story, but also what happened after Ersel leaves her hometown. It could have been a sequel or a companion novel. The premise of the story is interesting, but execution could have been better. It felt as though the entire book we were learning about Ragna's goals and her plan, but then when she actually goes through with it, everything happened very quickly. The ending also felt unsatisfying because there was still so many questions left unanswered
Almost the entire book, I thought that Ragna was incredibly infuriating. She believed that in order to gain control and be a good captain, she needed her men to fear her and in doing so, she disregarded Ersel's feelings. I didn't like how she would apologize for being an asshole and then continue to be an asshole. I love Ragna's backstory, but I felt like I just didn't connect with her character because of how she was acting.
This sequel felt out of place. It was a mix of another point-of-view on an already told story, but also what happened after Ersel leaves her hometown. It could have been a sequel or a companion novel. The premise of the story is interesting, but execution could have been better. It felt as though the entire book we were learning about Ragna's goals and her plan, but then when she actually goes through with it, everything happened very quickly. The ending also felt unsatisfying because there was still so many questions left unanswered
teabooksart's review against another edition
4.0
The start of the book was a bit of a slog to get through but once it got going I really enjoyed this! I am really hoping for a second book as the characters budding relationships and the upcoming quest sound just as interesting as the first book.
If you're looking for a book with queer relationships that doesn't explicitly focus on relationships then this is also a good book to grab!
If you're looking for a book with queer relationships that doesn't explicitly focus on relationships then this is also a good book to grab!
barhu's review against another edition
3.0
terapia pesada na ragna!!!!!
e assim, tudo bem ok menos esse final que parece ter sido escrito em cima da hora.
3 estrelas pela honor apenas.
e assim, tudo bem ok menos esse final que parece ter sido escrito em cima da hora.
3 estrelas pela honor apenas.
pagestarfire's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
shereadstales's review against another edition
5.0
Shoutout to NetGalley and the author for an eARC of this in exchange for an honest review. Buckle up, because I really liked it and devoured it in 2.5 days.
First, can we just talk about the cover for a minute? This book and its predecessor have the most beautiful covers art, and I could post like 800 pictures of them on Instagram. Okay, now that’s out of the way, onto the review.
The Navigator’s Touch is the follow up to Ember’s 2017 release, The Seafarer’s Kiss, and we pick up at the end of the first book. I only discovered the first book a couple of months ago, so fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long for more of Ersel and Ragna’s story.
Mermaids, Vikings, and Norse gods. Really what more do you need to know? This is a Viking/Norse re-imagining of The Little Mermaid, and I am 100% here for it. The first book is mostly Ersel’s story and her introduction to Ragna, a shipwrecked Viking warrior and the lengths she goes to not only to protect her new friend, but more importantly, to gain her freedom from an oppressive society where she’s judged by her ability to procreate. Oh yeah, and not only is Ersel a mermaid, but Ragna has map tattoos bestowed on her ancestors by the gods that always guide her. There’s some romance, but it’s more about the journey.
If the first book is Ersel’s story, The Navigator’s Touch is Ragna’s. We follow the pair as they head back to Ragna’s homeland, which has been burned and pillaged and where children are being held captive, one of which is Ragna’s cousin. Ragna has fought her way back from freezing and starvation to defeat the leader of the people who pillaged her village and took her captive for her tattoos. She’s out for revenge, but along the way, she’ll find unlikely allies and her pride might just lose her Ersel’s favor.
I liked this book. I liked it a lot. I don’t think I liked it quite as much as the first one, only because Ragna is pretty immature, and though this book is her journey to becoming herself and realizing her shortcomings, she’s a bit annoying at times and takes Ersel for granted a lot. Ersel is all around a nicer person, and her journey was all about gaining the courage to break free. Ragna’s journey is about learning to trust people and accept help and to not take things and people for granted, so she has more of an uphill battle in the personality department. However, I did love her journey, and just like the first book, I was left wanting more.
Think we could persuade Ember to write another one?
Bonus points for gender nonconforming representation, both in humans and in gods and for flawless use of they/them pronouns. Some solid lady romance in here, as well, but I appreciate that, again, it’s secondary to the plot and character development of the women individually.
This one is out now (so go read it!), and though I read the ebook, I really want both books in print to show off on my coffee table (and to probably devour again and again).
First, can we just talk about the cover for a minute? This book and its predecessor have the most beautiful covers art, and I could post like 800 pictures of them on Instagram. Okay, now that’s out of the way, onto the review.
The Navigator’s Touch is the follow up to Ember’s 2017 release, The Seafarer’s Kiss, and we pick up at the end of the first book. I only discovered the first book a couple of months ago, so fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long for more of Ersel and Ragna’s story.
Mermaids, Vikings, and Norse gods. Really what more do you need to know? This is a Viking/Norse re-imagining of The Little Mermaid, and I am 100% here for it. The first book is mostly Ersel’s story and her introduction to Ragna, a shipwrecked Viking warrior and the lengths she goes to not only to protect her new friend, but more importantly, to gain her freedom from an oppressive society where she’s judged by her ability to procreate. Oh yeah, and not only is Ersel a mermaid, but Ragna has map tattoos bestowed on her ancestors by the gods that always guide her. There’s some romance, but it’s more about the journey.
If the first book is Ersel’s story, The Navigator’s Touch is Ragna’s. We follow the pair as they head back to Ragna’s homeland, which has been burned and pillaged and where children are being held captive, one of which is Ragna’s cousin. Ragna has fought her way back from freezing and starvation to defeat the leader of the people who pillaged her village and took her captive for her tattoos. She’s out for revenge, but along the way, she’ll find unlikely allies and her pride might just lose her Ersel’s favor.
I liked this book. I liked it a lot. I don’t think I liked it quite as much as the first one, only because Ragna is pretty immature, and though this book is her journey to becoming herself and realizing her shortcomings, she’s a bit annoying at times and takes Ersel for granted a lot. Ersel is all around a nicer person, and her journey was all about gaining the courage to break free. Ragna’s journey is about learning to trust people and accept help and to not take things and people for granted, so she has more of an uphill battle in the personality department. However, I did love her journey, and just like the first book, I was left wanting more.
Think we could persuade Ember to write another one?
Bonus points for gender nonconforming representation, both in humans and in gods and for flawless use of they/them pronouns. Some solid lady romance in here, as well, but I appreciate that, again, it’s secondary to the plot and character development of the women individually.
This one is out now (so go read it!), and though I read the ebook, I really want both books in print to show off on my coffee table (and to probably devour again and again).
utopiastateofmind's review against another edition
3.0
More like a 3.5
Immediately beginning The Navigator's Touch I was entranced both by Ember's descriptive and beautiful writing, and the Norse mythology. It has been so long since I've read a story with Norse mythology in it, and I rarely ever read one that does it justice. That delivers to me the atmosphere and richness that I'm craving. And The Navigator's Touch is this perfect combination of sapphic romance, Norse mythology (hello Loki!), and descriptive battle.
However, while I enjoyed this sequel, for some reason it didn't hook me as much as The Seafarer's Kiss. Not only did the ending feel incredibly fast, but while I loved Ersel and Ragna, I felt that this story didn't give Ersel enough development. I realize that this book is from Ragna's POV, but I missed their connection and interactions. Even more so, Ersel felt like such an immense side character without the intrigue that I felt for Ragna in The Seafarer's Kiss. All things considered, I just was missing that richer sense of context in terms of characters.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/review-the-navigators-touch-by-julia-ember/
Immediately beginning The Navigator's Touch I was entranced both by Ember's descriptive and beautiful writing, and the Norse mythology. It has been so long since I've read a story with Norse mythology in it, and I rarely ever read one that does it justice. That delivers to me the atmosphere and richness that I'm craving. And The Navigator's Touch is this perfect combination of sapphic romance, Norse mythology (hello Loki!), and descriptive battle.
However, while I enjoyed this sequel, for some reason it didn't hook me as much as The Seafarer's Kiss. Not only did the ending feel incredibly fast, but while I loved Ersel and Ragna, I felt that this story didn't give Ersel enough development. I realize that this book is from Ragna's POV, but I missed their connection and interactions. Even more so, Ersel felt like such an immense side character without the intrigue that I felt for Ragna in The Seafarer's Kiss. All things considered, I just was missing that richer sense of context in terms of characters.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/review-the-navigators-touch-by-julia-ember/
flaviaaalouise's review against another edition
3.0
Sadly wasn't really feeling this too much. I really liked the characters when I read the first book but with this book I just couldn't really get into it. *cryface*
jamiebooksandladders's review
5.0
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book and chose to review it. This in no way impacts my opinion.
Actual Rating: 4.5*
LOL THAT'S NOT HOW THIS ALL ENDS. That's not fair. There is going to be another book right?? Because this was good - and getting to the best part. So like no, there is more. Full review to come on Books and Ladders closer to release date!
Actual Rating: 4.5*
LOL THAT'S NOT HOW THIS ALL ENDS. That's not fair. There is going to be another book right?? Because this was good - and getting to the best part. So like no, there is more. Full review to come on Books and Ladders closer to release date!