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adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
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:
Yes
Are the criticisms of this book valid? Yes. Did the book spend way too much time at the end on the villain speech? Also yes. Does the magic system make sense? Not really. What's really going on behind that wall? Who knows!
Did I enjoy this regardless? Hell's yeah!
I've never read a crime "whodunnit" novel with fantasy elements and a gay romance. Sign me up! The book kind of lost me a bit at the end but overall I laughed, I facepalmed, I gasped, and I had a hell of a good time.
I loved Dee to death š and also the GOAT Grasshopper, of course š¦
Did I enjoy this regardless? Hell's yeah!
I've never read a crime "whodunnit" novel with fantasy elements and a gay romance. Sign me up! The book kind of lost me a bit at the end but overall I laughed, I facepalmed, I gasped, and I had a hell of a good time.
I loved Dee to death š and also the GOAT Grasshopper, of course š¦
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Dee Piscero is the sole heir to his province, the next in line to inherit the lowest rung on the ladder, and completely and utterly un-Blessed. Problem is, the leaders and heirs of the other 11 provinces donāt know that last part. Now heās trapped on a ship with the 11 most powerful people in the empire, all of whom posses magic unknown to him, for 12 days. All he has to do is piss them off enough that he isnāt invited to any party ever again, and hide the fact that his father has produced enough bastards that one of them inherited the devastating storm magic he pretends to have - with a minor side quest of not getting murdered somewhere along the way, since everyone is dropping like flies, and figuring out who the killer is before they get him and those he loves. A tongue-in-cheek writing style blends Fruits Basket with a game of Clue in this magical murder mystery where everyone is a suspect, and nobody is safe. Everybody has a secret, and secrets always come out.
Whiteās particular style of fantasy is one I initially balked at - hot dogs are mentioned pretty early on, the magic system is revealed slowly and in increments, and the contemporary style of speech all pin this in the āfantasy-ishā category for me. But as the story goes on it becomes clear that the magic system is secret for a purpose, the contemporary aspects of the story are a function of a blended society comprised of 12 distinct cultures, and hot dogs arenāt that far out of the realm of fantasy (because they are just mystery meat sausages anyway. No one would have been startled to read āsausageā in a Brandon Sanderson novel Iām sure.) The style of writing lends itself well to the world White crafted, and it gives a witty voice to the narrator who is living through horrific events. It is a story that could have been written in a somber tone, but doing so would lose its heart.
On the down side, I love lore. I obsess over it, I dissect it, I talk my partnerās ear off about it and make assumptions based on it. And due to the strained nature of relationships between provinces, we donāt get to learn about many of their cultures outside of its brief relevance to the story. I could have used a hundred or so pages interspersed throughout the book explaining each province and their culture more in depth and still been happy.
A murder mystery is nothing if not twisted, and this book did not disappoint with the twists and turns. I had so many suspicions, so many theories to who and how, that the WHY didnāt occur to me until the very end.
In the end I would 100% recommend this book to anyone who wants a standalone fantasy novel with mystery and heart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-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:
Yes
This is not the book it was marketed as. Unless the publisher and marketer really did the author dirty by mis-marketing her book completely, this also means it is not the book that it set out to be.
This is marketed as a locked-room mystery: 12 heirs, with 11 mysterious powers unknown to the reader (or protagonist and narrator, Ganymedes, who has no powers of his own), locked on an autonomous boat for 12 days as their number is steadily whittled away in mysterious, gruesome murders. However, the book's lighthearted tone, fast pace and fairly simple prose, combined with its narrators obsession with his fraught romantic relationships with other passengers on the boat and voraciously horny thoughts about half the cast, mean this reads solidly as a Teen romance, *maybe* YA Romance, with some cursing and gore to get it filed as 'Adult.'
I would hazard an estimate that the proportion of scenes focusing on the mystery versus focusing on the romance is roughly 60%-40% respectively, but Ganymedes' mind remains on how attractive various characters are and what he would like to do to them even in scenes set at the morgue or discovery of a murder, so readers should be ready for the whole plot to unfold through a heavily romantic and moderately sexual lens.
The mystery itself is fairly intricate and did impress me when it was all laid out at the end, but only at the end; previous to the final ~100 pages, the murders felt like an afterthought to the social and romantic dramas unfolding, and clues felt clumsily dropped in through characters quite suddenly choosing to disclose major secrets to Ganymedes simply because he is the protagonist and it was their turn to die next.
In short, everything about this book happens very neatly and suddenly: secrets fall into the protagonist's lap, characters fall into deep love within a fortnight, characters spell their motivations out simply and directly, and it all speeds along at a brisk jog on a procession of short, clear prose. This could have been an excellent example of a YA Romance or an emerging reader's first foray into mystery tropes, but I have chosen to judge this in the category the marketing and occasionally graphic content seem to have entered it into, and so I must be blunt: this falls far short of the book that it seems to have been aiming to be.
This is marketed as a locked-room mystery: 12 heirs, with 11 mysterious powers unknown to the reader (or protagonist and narrator, Ganymedes, who has no powers of his own), locked on an autonomous boat for 12 days as their number is steadily whittled away in mysterious, gruesome murders. However, the book's lighthearted tone, fast pace and fairly simple prose, combined with its narrators obsession with his fraught romantic relationships with other passengers on the boat and voraciously horny thoughts about half the cast, mean this reads solidly as a Teen romance, *maybe* YA Romance, with some cursing and gore to get it filed as 'Adult.'
I would hazard an estimate that the proportion of scenes focusing on the mystery versus focusing on the romance is roughly 60%-40% respectively, but Ganymedes' mind remains on how attractive various characters are and what he would like to do to them even in scenes set at the morgue or discovery of a murder, so readers should be ready for the whole plot to unfold through a heavily romantic and moderately sexual lens.
The mystery itself is fairly intricate and did impress me when it was all laid out at the end, but only at the end; previous to the final ~100 pages, the murders felt like an afterthought to the social and romantic dramas unfolding, and clues felt clumsily dropped in through characters quite suddenly choosing to disclose major secrets to Ganymedes simply because he is the protagonist and it was their turn to die next.
In short, everything about this book happens very neatly and suddenly: secrets fall into the protagonist's lap, characters fall into deep love within a fortnight, characters spell their motivations out simply and directly, and it all speeds along at a brisk jog on a procession of short, clear prose. This could have been an excellent example of a YA Romance or an emerging reader's first foray into mystery tropes, but I have chosen to judge this in the category the marketing and occasionally graphic content seem to have entered it into, and so I must be blunt: this falls far short of the book that it seems to have been aiming to be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide attempt, Murder
Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Eating disorder, Gore, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Terminal illness
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia
Minor: Sexual content, Suicide, Vomit, War
emotional
funny
inspiring
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Eating disorder
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Fantasy murder mystery that's billed as adult but is really YA. Sort of a cross between And Then There Were None & Death On The Nile, with a bunch of young people with assorted magical powers (there's a 6yo and a 14yo, and the rest act 16-21, although I believe some are allegedly a bit older) stuck on a journey on a magical boat (so nobody besides themselves).
There's a lot of diverse rep here, from sexuality to gender to size to mental health. One note of caution: the MC is fat and struggles with food, and I believe this was intended to be positive rep but if so it isn't handled well and could be triggering.
The worldbuilding is a bit shallow and simplistic here, and personally I feel the book would have been better in 3rd person than 1st person present tense. The narrator's quirkiness is a bit too forced at times for me.
Overall, this is an engaging book and a ton of people love it. I mildly liked it. If the characters had been older (and less exhaustingly teenagery) and the worldbuilding deeper, I probably would have liked it more.
There's a lot of diverse rep here, from sexuality to gender to size to mental health. One note of caution: the MC is fat and struggles with food, and I believe this was intended to be positive rep but if so it isn't handled well and could be triggering.
The worldbuilding is a bit shallow and simplistic here, and personally I feel the book would have been better in 3rd person than 1st person present tense. The narrator's quirkiness is a bit too forced at times for me.
Overall, this is an engaging book and a ton of people love it. I mildly liked it. If the characters had been older (and less exhaustingly teenagery) and the worldbuilding deeper, I probably would have liked it more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Suicide attempt, Murder
Moderate: Eating disorder
The magic system and world building made no sense. The plot was so slow and the characters were not believable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Eating disorder
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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:
Yes
I have very conflicting opinions on this book, but I'll try and explain it as best as possible. There will be spoilers so read the review with caution!
I'll start off with this, I'm not a fantasy reader. I don't read a lot of it, so maybe I don't understand the ins and outs of what makes a good fantasy book. But I did enjoy it. At least until the ending. And the main reason the ending I think fumbles is because of the message theming and of course, the romance. The Wolf and the Woodsman is still the only fantasy book that I think pulled off the romance pretty well.
Anyway, what I did like about this book were the characters. There were a lot. And I think it's hard to pull off a big cast, but Voyage of the Damned did a pretty solid job, as each character had a unique voice and personality and were developed just enough to feel three-dimensional. They were more than just stereotypes of their province, and it works well for all twelve of them.
My absolute favorite thing of the book was Dee's POV. It was such a breath of fresh air to have a character balance heart and humor in their inner dialogue. There were parts that hit a little too deeply and parts that made me, at the very least, chuckle. He's so very obviously flawed and needs to overcome said flaws in order to solve the growing murders on the ship before it's too late. He's realistic, in my opinion. And I enjoyed reading through his eyes.
Now, slight nitpick, this does feel like a YA book at times, which again, feels par for the course for a lot of adult fantasy books, but it doesn't necessarily hinder my enjoyment. There was a lot of exposition through Dee's POV that felt over-explained and at times, unneeded.
What did interfere with my enjoyment was the entire third act of the book, the finale.
Massive Spoilers ahead!
From the least offensive thing to the most offensive:
I didn't mind that Leofric and Cordelia were the killers. I think that made sense, their motivations were understandable. Grief over Lysander led to rash decisions and radicalizations, which can happen, they needed something to believe in. I didn't care for Ravinder faking his death, and despite his Half-Crab/Half-Crow heritage, I don't think his sob story excuses everything he did throughout the present.
I don't particularly like the fact that, not only does Dee get his Blessing, but all of them. It think this messes with the themes of the book, of accepting one's self regardless. I thought it was going to go the other way, similar to Encanto, where Dee realizes he doesn't need a Blessing in order to be powerful, but that his Blessing was inward, that he could bring the provinces without magic. It just feels too 'perfect' for him. I don't even think he really did anything to deserve all the Blessings.
And lastly, the romance. Oh my god, we could have just done without Ravinder and Dee. I think they would have stayed better as exes who had a thing when they were teenagers. I'll say I was rooting for Wyatt and Dee, because I thought it would have been nice, but surpise it wasn't Wyatt! It was Ravinder all along. Which, is deceptive! This is the same person that told Dee he was 'of no value' at the beginning. Part of the plan or not, it's gross! And to excuse Ravinder's (attempted) murders and overall plan of killing all the Blessed because he's sorry feels rushed and for no reason other than to push a gay romance at the end. It feels weird that Dee doesn't even care about the massive amount of deception and absolute terrible actions all for the sake of "love". I'm not going to excuse Ravinder just because he's a pretty boy with a sob story.
All and all, I had fun! It was fun. There's not a ton of magic for a fantasy novel, but I don't personally care. I don't mind the fact that the ending was wrapped up neatly in a little bow. It makes sense considering this is a one-off it seems. It's just a fun low-fantasy murder mystery, and I would recommend it to people who aren't huge fantasy fans and just starting to get into the genre.
I'll start off with this, I'm not a fantasy reader. I don't read a lot of it, so maybe I don't understand the ins and outs of what makes a good fantasy book. But I did enjoy it. At least until the ending. And the main reason the ending I think fumbles is because of the message theming and of course, the romance. The Wolf and the Woodsman is still the only fantasy book that I think pulled off the romance pretty well.
Anyway, what I did like about this book were the characters. There were a lot. And I think it's hard to pull off a big cast, but Voyage of the Damned did a pretty solid job, as each character had a unique voice and personality and were developed just enough to feel three-dimensional. They were more than just stereotypes of their province, and it works well for all twelve of them.
My absolute favorite thing of the book was Dee's POV. It was such a breath of fresh air to have a character balance heart and humor in their inner dialogue. There were parts that hit a little too deeply and parts that made me, at the very least, chuckle. He's so very obviously flawed and needs to overcome said flaws in order to solve the growing murders on the ship before it's too late. He's realistic, in my opinion. And I enjoyed reading through his eyes.
Now, slight nitpick, this does feel like a YA book at times, which again, feels par for the course for a lot of adult fantasy books, but it doesn't necessarily hinder my enjoyment. There was a lot of exposition through Dee's POV that felt over-explained and at times, unneeded.
What did interfere with my enjoyment was the entire third act of the book, the finale.
Massive Spoilers ahead!
From the least offensive thing to the most offensive:
All and all, I had fun! It was fun. There's not a ton of magic for a fantasy novel, but I don't personally care. I don't mind the fact that the ending was wrapped up neatly in a little bow. It makes sense considering this is a one-off it seems. It's just a fun low-fantasy murder mystery, and I would recommend it to people who aren't huge fantasy fans and just starting to get into the genre.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Murder
Moderate: Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt
Minor: Body shaming, War
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a definite romantasy with an emphasis on the romance. Readers who want something a little spicy (but not too spicy) and who love classic romance tropes, like enemies to lovers, forced proximity/stuck together, and drunken games of 'never have I ever,' will find all that and more here, including a HEA. The other element is the mystery, which is similar to And Then There were None, only on a cruise ship rather than an island. Fans of snarky narrators will enjoy the feisty main character, Ganymedes, who is never without a quip no matter if the situation is a fusty dinner party, or witnessing a murder. The characters, representing the twelve political entities of the fantasy world, are a representation of POC, disabled and LGBTQIA+ folks. This romantasy mystery mashup is for fans of In Other Lands, and would lend itself to YA crossover readers. Fantasy readers who want very detailed world building and magic systems may feel let down. Avid mystery readers may figure out the puzzle early on in the story. While this is marketed for an adult audience the tone and characters are really more in line for YA readers. While this is in no way as good as Six of Crows, that's more what you're getting for character type, and romance spicy level in this book rather than the Magicians or A Marvelous Light. The characters, some of whom are in their late 30's read like teens.
This was not my cup of tea, I was really in it for the people dying on a cruise ship thing, but that wasn't the focus of the story. The more I thought about it the more I felt like I was reading a fanfiction about something I'd like, but where the author and I had very different ideas about situations to put the characters in. While I was interested in who would die next, and whodunit, this was much more a romance story than a mystery. Many pages were dedicated to developing a romance, which I was not on board with (see the pun!) at first, but eventually came around to, but then the twist happened and nothing made sense.
I had just accepted the fact that I was reading a romantasy with a slight murder mystery subplot and was if not loving the heavy use of romance tropes, I was at least agreeing to stay on the ride. Through the chapters dedicated to having the characters need to go to the baths (together because murderer is out there!), deciding they needed a break from investigating all the murders to get drunk and play never have I ever together (totally not going to get murdered when we're passed out!) and then smooch under a willow tree in a scene that was not not inspired by the little mermaid. I was still on the ride. I liked the two characters (enough) and wanted to see how it all panned out (also I was still really hopeful that the first character who died would come back because she seemed like she'd be really cool).
Then the author revealed a twist, that for me made all of those scenes very very weird. And not in a good way. The author also pretty much treated the twist like it made sense and the characters accepted it pretty much within a paragraph and were able to move forward with a this new/old/other romantic thing that just made absolutely no sense to me at all. I mean, it also solved the mystery, but in a really stupid way - basically Ganymedes the MC who has been playing detective this whole time, just has the murderers explain everything to him. It was kinda like the scene where the detective gathers everyone in the study for the big reveal, only it's the murderer revealing it to the detective.
Also, there is no justice in the story. The MC ends up with someone I would say is a psycho and he's like, "you complete me." It's bonkers. Lastly, way too much telling, and very little showing.
This was not my cup of tea, I was really in it for the people dying on a cruise ship thing, but that wasn't the focus of the story. The more I thought about it the more I felt like I was reading a fanfiction about something I'd like, but where the author and I had very different ideas about situations to put the characters in. While I was interested in who would die next, and whodunit, this was much more a romance story than a mystery. Many pages were dedicated to developing a romance, which I was not on board with (see the pun!) at first, but eventually came around to, but then the twist happened and nothing made sense.
I had just accepted the fact that I was reading a romantasy with a slight murder mystery subplot and was if not loving the heavy use of romance tropes, I was at least agreeing to stay on the ride. Through the chapters dedicated to having the characters need to go to the baths (together because murderer is out there!), deciding they needed a break from investigating all the murders to get drunk and play never have I ever together (totally not going to get murdered when we're passed out!) and then smooch under a willow tree in a scene that was not not inspired by the little mermaid. I was still on the ride. I liked the two characters (enough) and wanted to see how it all panned out (also I was still really hopeful that the first character who died would come back because she seemed like she'd be really cool).
Then the author revealed a twist, that for me made all of those scenes very very weird. And not in a good way. The author also pretty much treated the twist like it made sense and the characters accepted it pretty much within a paragraph and were able to move forward with a this new/old/other romantic thing that just made absolutely no sense to me at all. I mean, it also solved the mystery, but in a really stupid way - basically Ganymedes the MC who has been playing detective this whole time, just has the murderers explain everything to him. It was kinda like the scene where the detective gathers everyone in the study for the big reveal, only it's the murderer revealing it to the detective.
Also, there is no justice in the story. The MC ends up with someone I would say is a psycho and he's like, "you complete me." It's bonkers. Lastly, way too much telling, and very little showing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Blood, Colonisation