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A review by wizardingwisteria
Magic of Blood and Sea by Cassandra Rose Clarke
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