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thebookgiraffe's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Self harm, and Blood
Moderate: Misogyny and Sexual assault
shxwnx's review against another edition
4.0
extremely slow-paced fantasy with an interesting world and storyline
the characters were sweet, though Ananna’s actions sometimes didn’t sit well with me (i.e. the first kiss…)
3,5/5
the characters were sweet, though Ananna’s actions sometimes didn’t sit well with me (i.e. the first kiss…)
3,5/5
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
5.0
I had thought that my love for pirate themed YA was long over, but this one took me by surprise. I was so invested in the story and really enjoyed reading about the characters. Some I liked more than others. Such a great story and excited to read more from this series
wizardingwisteria's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This one is a tough one to rate. I have a lot of conflicting feelings, but overall I did enjoy the book. As annoying as it got at certain points, I never once considered a DNF.
Starting with the pros, I really loved the writing style. Experiencing the story through Ananna's perspective and her unique way of speaking / thinking was really interesting. I grew attached to her very quickly. I always found the narrative to be clear and it was easy to follow along.
The side characters in this book are fantastic. The manticore and Marjani, a pirate friend, were major highlights. I loved how the manticore was written. Their dialogue had so much personality and they added a nice touch of humor to the story at a few points. I only wish they had been given a proper name instead of just being called "the manticore." They do have a very long and very difficult to pronounce name, but none of the characters ever considered a nickname. Marjani was also a nice addition. She provided a lot of helpful guidance and helped expand the world building. I loved learning about her relationship. I could have read an entire series on her and her girlfriend alone.
The world building was really interesting, although a bit inconsistent sometimes. The magic was explained well enough to get by, but at certain points it felt a little too convenient. This is mostly a pirate fantasy, but at one point there were what seemed like giant fighting machines that I believe only showed up once or twice. The steampunk / cyber mechanics end up not mattering at all in the grand scheme of the story.
Going into the cons...
The biggest one for me was how corny the three impossible tasks that Ananna and Naji are given to complete. Any stakes that I had felt up to the point where the tasks were revealed were totally lost. The three tasks to cure Naji's curse were:
1.Hold a magical (and very dangerous) stone against skin.
2:"Create life from violence."
3:Experience true love's kiss.
I was particularly annoyed by the third task.What is this? A Disney movie? The second task also didn't make a lot of sense and wasn't resolved until the last two chapters in which it was rushed through to make way for the ending. The two main characters don't even spend much time thinking about what it's supposed to mean in the first place. The way it was resolved was incredibly lazy.
Overall this is a fast paced read, but the story seriously lulled at certain points. I was really frustrated with how much of the story took place in the desert at the beginning. This looks like a pirate book. The synopsis sounds like a pirate book. Why are we spending 100 pages being lost in the desert? Then once Ananna and Naji manage to get on a ship, they soon get stranded on a massive floating island where they spend another hundred pages being miserable with each other. My attachment to the characters were the only things that pulled me through these sections.
My last con is a minor nitpick about Ananna's motivations at the very beginning. In the opening of the book her parents have arranged for her to be married. The marriage essentially exists to form a political alliance. Ananna decides that she doesn't want to be married and that she wants to captain her own ship alone so she escapes from her parents. Naji is sent by the groom's pirate clan to murder Ananna. I won't recite the whole plot, but Ananna and Naji get cursed and it ties them together with magic. Enemies to lovers so on and so on. I found it a bit funny that Ananna started on this whole adventure because she didn't want to be married, but she immediately falls in love with the first emo boy she meets (and that tries to kill her!).
This is a book I can definitely see myself recommending, but only to people who are willing to put up with some plot quirks in exchange for some really fantastic characters.
Starting with the pros, I really loved the writing style. Experiencing the story through Ananna's perspective and her unique way of speaking / thinking was really interesting. I grew attached to her very quickly. I always found the narrative to be clear and it was easy to follow along.
The side characters in this book are fantastic. The manticore and Marjani, a pirate friend, were major highlights. I loved how the manticore was written. Their dialogue had so much personality and they added a nice touch of humor to the story at a few points. I only wish they had been given a proper name instead of just being called "the manticore." They do have a very long and very difficult to pronounce name, but none of the characters ever considered a nickname. Marjani was also a nice addition. She provided a lot of helpful guidance and helped expand the world building. I loved learning about her relationship. I could have read an entire series on her and her girlfriend alone.
The world building was really interesting, although a bit inconsistent sometimes. The magic was explained well enough to get by, but at certain points it felt a little too convenient. This is mostly a pirate fantasy, but at one point there were what seemed like giant fighting machines that I believe only showed up once or twice. The steampunk / cyber mechanics end up not mattering at all in the grand scheme of the story.
Going into the cons...
The biggest one for me was how corny the three impossible tasks that Ananna and Naji are given to complete. Any stakes that I had felt up to the point where the tasks were revealed were totally lost. The three tasks to cure Naji's curse were:
1.
2:
3:
I was particularly annoyed by the third task.
Overall this is a fast paced read, but the story seriously lulled at certain points. I was really frustrated with how much of the story took place in the desert at the beginning. This looks like a pirate book. The synopsis sounds like a pirate book. Why are we spending 100 pages being lost in the desert? Then once Ananna and Naji manage to get on a ship, they soon get stranded on a massive floating island where they spend another hundred pages being miserable with each other. My attachment to the characters were the only things that pulled me through these sections.
My last con is a minor nitpick about Ananna's motivations at the very beginning. In the opening of the book her parents have arranged for her to be married. The marriage essentially exists to form a political alliance. Ananna decides that she doesn't want to be married and that she wants to captain her own ship alone so she escapes from her parents. Naji is sent by the groom's pirate clan to murder Ananna. I won't recite the whole plot, but Ananna and Naji get cursed and it ties them together with magic. Enemies to lovers so on and so on. I found it a bit funny that Ananna started on this whole adventure because she didn't want to be married, but she immediately falls in love with the first emo boy she meets (and that tries to kill her!).
This is a book I can definitely see myself recommending, but only to people who are willing to put up with some plot quirks in exchange for some really fantastic characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Sexual content
Minor: Torture, Sexual assault, and Cannibalism
ellie_lantsov's review against another edition
5.0
This book is the first book i bought after i got into reading this year. I dont know what to say about it
malglories's review against another edition
4.0
Magic of Blood and Sea combines two books, The Assassin's Curse and The Pirate's Wish, which came out separately a few years ago. I never read them before, and I can't imagine them separated; the arcs of each book just aren't enough to justify it.
However! This was a cool ass book. It's about Ananna, the daughter of pirates, who flees a marriage to another pirate clan and in doing so, incurs their wrath, which they show by sending an assassin after her. During her encounter with the assassin, she inadvertently saves his life and triggers a curse which binds them together. Off they go, then, to try to break this curse, encountering sea-witches and creepy floating islands and loving if savage manticores, lesbian female pirate captains and underwater cities and blood magic.
The world itself was so rich. Most of it seemed to be in a setting much like the Caribbean, and most characters are people of color. The story had little to do with the grand politic schemes of the world, but they were still included - the Mists, the Empire, the Free Islands, the pirate Confederation. So much was conveyed in so little, and it really wove the tapestry well.
I loved Ananna, the main character. Her voice is so original - difficult for some to get used to, I think, since it's in a dialect - but it was as if she were sitting next to me, telling me the story over a cup of steaming coffee. I loved her fierceness, her impulsiveness, her prickliness: she is never a perfect person, which was fantastic. But she loves with her whole heart while guarding her independence (!!!), she wants to be a pirate captain (!!!!!), and she's just a general badass (!!!!!!!!).
The story moved too quickly in some places, especially the beginning, and I think so many aspects could have been explored in more depth. At times it seemed Ananna was pulled into the plot just because of Naji, and many things were too easy and formulaic. Their love story as well seemed a bit unexplored and rushed, as much as I love Naji and the ending they both have (an important one, I think). I would have appreciated a bit of a different handling on the situation, a bit more nuance.
But all in all, Magic of Blood and Sea is an exhilarating and original sea-stained book, perfect for hot summer days.
However! This was a cool ass book. It's about Ananna, the daughter of pirates, who flees a marriage to another pirate clan and in doing so, incurs their wrath, which they show by sending an assassin after her. During her encounter with the assassin, she inadvertently saves his life and triggers a curse which binds them together. Off they go, then, to try to break this curse, encountering sea-witches and creepy floating islands and loving if savage manticores, lesbian female pirate captains and underwater cities and blood magic.
The world itself was so rich. Most of it seemed to be in a setting much like the Caribbean, and most characters are people of color. The story had little to do with the grand politic schemes of the world, but they were still included - the Mists, the Empire, the Free Islands, the pirate Confederation. So much was conveyed in so little, and it really wove the tapestry well.
I loved Ananna, the main character. Her voice is so original - difficult for some to get used to, I think, since it's in a dialect - but it was as if she were sitting next to me, telling me the story over a cup of steaming coffee. I loved her fierceness, her impulsiveness, her prickliness: she is never a perfect person, which was fantastic. But she loves with her whole heart while guarding her independence (!!!), she wants to be a pirate captain (!!!!!), and she's just a general badass (!!!!!!!!).
The story moved too quickly in some places, especially the beginning, and I think so many aspects could have been explored in more depth. At times it seemed Ananna was pulled into the plot just because of Naji, and many things were too easy and formulaic. Their love story as well seemed a bit unexplored and rushed, as much as I love Naji and the ending they both have (an important one, I think). I would have appreciated a bit of a different handling on the situation, a bit more nuance.
But all in all, Magic of Blood and Sea is an exhilarating and original sea-stained book, perfect for hot summer days.
zenalth's review against another edition
This book had way too many "really?" moments. It's super fast-paced, but there's a reason they say slow and steady wins the race.
For a pirate whose first words to the reader are about how she doesn't trust people, Ananna does the exact opposite at almost every turn. She listens to this Random Lady who suspiciously knows her name, threatens her with magic and refuses to tell her anything about why she's so keen on helping a complete stranger. Right.
Then she saves the life of the assassin trying to kill her, and immediately sticks around to have a good ol' convo about why he's no longer going to finish her off. Girl, what are you doing. He just tried to kill you. He could still tie you up like a hog and haul you back to the Hariris. He could maim you. Stop fantasising about his handsome looks and run.
Instead, she saves his life again and then demurely follows him into the unknown. Just 'cause. She's under the false impression that he's under some oath to protect her--yay bodyguard--but then she herself states that oaths can be broken. So what the hell is the benefit of doing your would-be murderer's bidding? Moreover, why is she just blindly trusting what people say? Especially after the catastrophe with the Random Lady?
Not to mention the blasé way she ran away in the novel's opening scene. It felt very sudden. No buildup or foreshadowing. She was sassing Tarrin one minute and stealing camels the next. The abruptness of her decision threw me off; it would have been more digestible if her decision to run away from her entire life wasn't made between one blink and the next.
The fight scenes felt rather ridiculous to me too. Somehow, while being outnumbered and stuck in magical black fog, Ananna avoids being shot and better yet, manages to fire off a shot of her own. Of course she doesn't miss. And after, the ease with which she accessed water magic robbed the scene of any urgency. There was never a sense of real danger or struggle.
Lastly, why doesn't Naji tell her anything? She's not a hostage and the curse obviously needs to be broken. I'm assuming it'd be easier if they, oh y'know, communicated. But nooooo, he has to be the sexy, stoic badass even if it detracts from the story. Because reasons.
Yeah, no. This was definitely not for me. I enjoy fast-paced novels, but this was a bit too fast. It came at the cost of characterisation and worldbuilding. The snappy dialogue was a distraction from the poor plot and illogical decisions. I wish I could look past the flaws for a quick and light read, but alas.
For a pirate whose first words to the reader are about how she doesn't trust people, Ananna does the exact opposite at almost every turn. She listens to this Random Lady who suspiciously knows her name, threatens her with magic and refuses to tell her anything about why she's so keen on helping a complete stranger. Right.
Then she saves the life of the assassin trying to kill her, and immediately sticks around to have a good ol' convo about why he's no longer going to finish her off. Girl, what are you doing. He just tried to kill you. He could still tie you up like a hog and haul you back to the Hariris. He could maim you. Stop fantasising about his handsome looks and run.
Instead, she saves his life again and then demurely follows him into the unknown. Just 'cause. She's under the false impression that he's under some oath to protect her--yay bodyguard--but then she herself states that oaths can be broken. So what the hell is the benefit of doing your would-be murderer's bidding? Moreover, why is she just blindly trusting what people say? Especially after the catastrophe with the Random Lady?
Not to mention the blasé way she ran away in the novel's opening scene. It felt very sudden. No buildup or foreshadowing. She was sassing Tarrin one minute and stealing camels the next. The abruptness of her decision threw me off; it would have been more digestible if her decision to run away from her entire life wasn't made between one blink and the next.
The fight scenes felt rather ridiculous to me too. Somehow, while being outnumbered and stuck in magical black fog, Ananna avoids being shot and better yet, manages to fire off a shot of her own. Of course she doesn't miss. And after, the ease with which she accessed water magic robbed the scene of any urgency. There was never a sense of real danger or struggle.
Lastly, why doesn't Naji tell her anything? She's not a hostage and the curse obviously needs to be broken. I'm assuming it'd be easier if they, oh y'know, communicated. But nooooo, he has to be the sexy, stoic badass even if it detracts from the story. Because reasons.
Yeah, no. This was definitely not for me. I enjoy fast-paced novels, but this was a bit too fast. It came at the cost of characterisation and worldbuilding. The snappy dialogue was a distraction from the poor plot and illogical decisions. I wish I could look past the flaws for a quick and light read, but alas.
theroamingleo's review against another edition
Couldn’t get into the story & not a fan of the writing, or the main character. Maybe I didn’t give it long enough, but I didn’t want to go any further.
danielle_olivia's review against another edition
4.0
3,5 - 4☆ Was it good? Not particularly (especially the "create life from violence" part was pretty cringe). Was it enjoyable? Yes. Why wasn't this just one book in the first place though?