Reviews with content warning for Death - Sea of Ruin

Genre: Adult Historical Romance (don’t let this put you off if this genre isn’t your thing 😂)

Rating: 5/5 ⭐️

Spice: 3/5 🌶

Review/What I Thought: OH MY GOD how do I even put this book into words!!

This bloody book!! It was sooo well written and the plot was just SO good. I won’t say anything about the plot because it’s best to go into this one blind! The plot twist at the end was great and I do know some people didn’t like it but I thought it was executed SO well.

I found myself really engaged with this from the 30% mark onwards and I was just hooked. Really needed to know what was going on! I did struggle at the beginning because I had to get used to the writing style as the book was set in the 1700s but once I was used to it, it wasn’t an issue at all! If you find yourself struggling I encourage you to push through the beginning because the ending is really worth it.

This is a historical romance including pirates (yes pirates). There was a good balance between plot, romance and spice and it was just done so so well! There’s no shortage of tropes in this (included the one bed trope) and again these weren’t overwhelming and just added to the story well. The spice was so good too (I found myself into pirates at the end of this!).

Borrow or Buy? Buy/Borrow. I would personally buy.

Would I Recommend? YES, add it to your TBR!

Would I Re-read? 100% I need the physical copy to annotate

This book does contain triggers, please search up before reading

Content Warnings

vicktorea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

love isn’t a decision. It arrives unannounced, breeds madness, and leaves a sea of ruin in its wake

(this is going to be a very scattered review as i just finished this and haven't fully collected my thoughts but anyway) i really enjoyed this!! it was my first ever historical romance and i loved the action and adventure (pirate romances might be a new thing for me [esp if the FMC is a pirate herself!]) along with the FMC (Bennett) and her fierceness - she didn't feel pretentious or annoying!

this was super sexy but also super dark throughout various points of the story (see CWs above).

also, Priest 🥵🔥

This was the first book I've read from Pam Godwin and I'm excited to read more (hopefully she writes more pirate romances 🤞🏽).

Content Warnings

deesquared's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Bit of a rollercoaster, couldn’t stop reading, definitely check triggers! I’m not sure if it was historically accurate, but still a wild read.

Content Warnings

megatza's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

1721. Bennett Sharp is a pirate. She’s always felt more comfortable with a deck below her feet than dry land. She is the captain of the Jade, a gift from her father, a notorious pirate himself, and she’s worked to earn her reputation as a fair captain among her crew and a fearsome pirate on the seas. She’s tied herself to another pirate named Priest, who she can’t escape and yet can’t get enough of…until she meets Commodore Ashley Cutler, pirate hunter of the Royal Navy, who captures her with the intent to take her to England to see her hanged. Something electric connects her to Ashley, though, and she’ll fight through the trials of the seas to save him.

First of all, if you haven’t seen this from others yet PLEASE CHECK CONTENT WARNINGS before picking this book up. There are some moments that are very difficult to read, ranging from death to abuse to slavery to assault. If you have concerns, I am happy to chat with you about them. That said, this was easier for me to read than some of the antihero books this spring, as the majority of CWs were from external sources rather than hero against heroine, and read instead like gritty fantasy.

That said, this book was a surprising favorite for me this month. I’ve been obsessed with pirates since I was a child (let’s start by blaming Hook as a seminal childhood movie), and as I told the group on Discord “I’ll do anything for pirates.” In Sea of Ruin, Godwin captures a beautiful balance between the grit and glamor and the adventure and danger of the high seas. It blends adventure and romance in all the ways I crave when I open a book like this: fierce and sensitive characters facing every challenge head on.

Thanks to @reads.by.rae for getting this on my radar in the first place and to our still unnamed romance book club for reading this together! I cannot wait to discuss!

Content Warnings

lea_talisa's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I love this so much.

Historical fiction isn’t something I read a lot but let me tell you it was just that good. This is like Pirates of the Caribbean with kind of a love triangle and way more explicit scenes (sexual as well as torturing ones). So please check the trigger warnings on this one !

At 8% of the story (attempted) rape made me reconsider continuing but I pushed through and I was absolutely captured by the book.

After the first half I was very very conflicted about this story. I love the setting and everything. But it hurt my heart to read some of those sex or rather rape scenes.

As problematic as this is for me, the story was still captivating and fortunately I continued reading.

I like Bennett’s character. She’s a strong and intelligent but savage female main character. She earned her respect and has everything it takes to lead but she also has a vulnerable side.

Some quotes:

„I’d never been a woman who depended on a man to save her. This wasn’t their fight. It was mine.“

„I forgave the two men I loved, completely and unconditionally. Not for their sakes. I did it for me. A final gift to myself“

I couldn’t put this book down. Some parts made my heart ache and my stomach sick but it just felt so real and then there were the happy scenes full of hope, trust and love. This book broke my heart quite a few times but never failed to put it back together.

At about 75% I knew this book is going to be a highlight of mine. I just didn’t want this story to end and loved everything about it.

This book isn’t for the lighthearted or for those who are triggered by mostly rape but a lot of other points to. So this time really check the trigger warnings and be sure going into the book that it isn’t going to be pretty.

For everybody who can handle all the featured triggers you’re in for a ride and I hope with my whole heart that you will love this book as much as I did by the end.

Some more quotes:

„And we shall be blinded by our love for life and beyond the ends of the sea.“

„Love had hunted me, captured me, bred madness, and yes, it left a sea of ruin in its wake“

„I was a pirate captain, a rebel queen of the sea, fighting against the conformities of society and the oppressive laws of man.“

Content Warnings