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adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Slavery
Minor: Vomit
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Kidnapping
Moderate: Death
Minor: Terminal illness, Vomit
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Death, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder
Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Blood
Minor: Gun violence, Sexism, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
slow-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
I really enjoyed a lot of the aspects of this story:
- Whimsical
- Fairytale adjacent without being very young
- Writing/ storytelling style
- Humour and the random tangents (reminded me of Hitchhiker's)
- Characterization
- World-building
- Lots of well developed female characters
- Disability inclusion, they had a Deaf sensitivity/ representation reader, so cool!
What I didn't love:
- I didn't find the actual story that compelling after about chapter 8.
When I realized Tress was staying on the ship the entire novel and the story was going to go pretty predictably - she's obviously going to go get Charlie and have some form of happily ever after - Lack of tension
- Felt the pace could've been faster/ the pace was a little inconsistent/ slogged a bit after chapter 8
This was my first Sanderson novel so I'm definitely going to check out some more as I've heard they vary a lot in tone.
We want to imagine that people are consistent, steady, stable. We define who they are, create descriptions to lock them on a page, divide them up by their likes, talents, beliefs. Then we pretend some—perhaps most—are better than we are, because they stick to their definitions, while we never quite fit ours. Truth is, people are as fluid as time is. We adapt to our situation like water in a strangely shaped jug, though it might take us a little while to ooze into all the little nooks. Because we adapt, we sometimes don’t recognize how twisted, uncomfortable, or downright wrong the container is that we’ve been told to inhabit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Slavery, Vomit, Murder, Classism
Minor: Body horror, Gore
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
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
Sanderson does it again! I swear the man never misses. This one is unlike any of his other books so far.
Tone: It is funny and lighthearted while not sacrificing stakes or depth. It also knows when it needs to be serious.
Main Character: I like this character because she’s not your typical female protagonist… she seems like she could be a real person. She is meticulous, thoughtful, polite, she’s not a fighter (looking at you, Kaladin), she’s exceedingly practical and sane (looking at you, Shallan). It’s been a long time since I’ve read about a character and thought “oh, I can actually relate to her.” And she goes through a wonderful arc which I’ll let you discover for yourself.
Caution: this is a Cosmere book, which generally doesn’t affect much until the very end. It would be helpful to have at least a cursory understanding of how the universe works and be familiar with some of the other magic systems. Otherwise some things will feel like they come out of nowhere and don’t fit into this story at all (when I assure you they do). I don’t think it will affect your understanding of what the characters are going through but it will definitely help understand some of the plot beats and overt references at the end.
That’s the only prerequisite for reading this book. Otherwise, I highly recommend this book to everyone!
Tone: It is funny and lighthearted while not sacrificing stakes or depth. It also knows when it needs to be serious.
Main Character: I like this character because she’s not your typical female protagonist… she seems like she could be a real person. She is meticulous, thoughtful, polite, she’s not a fighter (looking at you, Kaladin), she’s exceedingly practical and sane (looking at you, Shallan). It’s been a long time since I’ve read about a character and thought “oh, I can actually relate to her.” And she goes through a wonderful arc which I’ll let you discover for yourself.
Caution: this is a Cosmere book, which generally doesn’t affect much until the very end. It would be helpful to have at least a cursory understanding of how the universe works and be familiar with some of the other magic systems. Otherwise some things will feel like they come out of nowhere and don’t fit into this story at all (when I assure you they do). I don’t think it will affect your understanding of what the characters are going through but it will definitely help understand some of the plot beats and overt references at the end.
That’s the only prerequisite for reading this book. Otherwise, I highly recommend this book to everyone!
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood, Excrement, Vomit
adventurous
lighthearted
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:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Minor: Vomit
adventurous
funny
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
As someone who has not read the majority of Sanderson's works, I can safely say this isn't a bad place to jump in if you're not familiar with the world. Much like Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, this is referencing things from the Cosmere universe Sanderson has created, but you can get by without getting the references. It seemed to me maybe there were more connections in this one? But I'd have to read more to know for sure.
I loved the vibes of this book, a bit of Princess Bride set at sea. But the sea isn't what you think it is. Sanderson is truly creative with his worlds, and the world building is fascinating and so well done. Will it spur me to read more Sanderson in the future? Only time will tell.
I loved the vibes of this book, a bit of Princess Bride set at sea. But the sea isn't what you think it is. Sanderson is truly creative with his worlds, and the world building is fascinating and so well done. Will it spur me to read more Sanderson in the future? Only time will tell.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Blood
Minor: Slavery, Vomit, War
adventurous
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:
Complicated
I hate to be a downer, but this was just a bit too whimsical for my taste... I think I'm just not a cozy fantasy person. The humor was trying a bit too hard and made me cringe. I also wasn't into the fourth wall breaks. Then the narration from Hoid really irked me at parts. Sanderson says he wanted to write a book from Hoid's pov before writing more from that character, but I don't understand why he had to be the narrator for Tress' story. I think the story overall would've been more impactful from a nameless narrator, a more traditional third person pov.
Unfortunately me knowing going into this that Sanderson was inspired by The Princess Bride was a detriment for me, because it's one of my all time fav movies, so I couldn't help compare too closely. I recognize that's unfair and my own issue. He says he wrote it as "if Buttercup had gone searching for Westley" - I personally read it as if Tress was Westley when he goes away and becomes the Dread Pirate Robert.
I did grow to love the cast of characters on the ship. There was great deaf representation! The world building is really interesting and unique. This is my first Sanderson book, and I've been assured it's very different from his other books. I plan to start the Stormlight series this year and look forward to what I'm hoping is a more straightforward epic high fantasy series.
Unfortunately me knowing going into this that Sanderson was inspired by The Princess Bride was a detriment for me, because it's one of my all time fav movies, so I couldn't help compare too closely. I recognize that's unfair and my own issue. He says he wrote it as "if Buttercup had gone searching for Westley" - I personally read it as if Tress was Westley when he goes away and becomes the Dread Pirate Robert.
I did grow to love the cast of characters on the ship. There was great deaf representation! The world building is really interesting and unique. This is my first Sanderson book, and I've been assured it's very different from his other books. I plan to start the Stormlight series this year and look forward to what I'm hoping is a more straightforward epic high fantasy series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Blood
Minor: Gore, Slavery, Vomit