A review by fae_princess_in_space
Leeward by Katie Daysh

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

This book is an absolute must-read for all historical fiction fans! I am a total sucker for queer historical fiction and holy heck was this an amazing book 👀 Set in the 1800’s, this book focusses on Captain Hiram Nightingale, a captain in the British Navy and his adventures on the seas. Basically think Pirates of the Caribbean, but if the films had focussed on Commodore Norrington instead of Jack Sparrow…

Captain Nightingale was severely injured and lost the love of his life, Lieutenant Leeroy Sawyer, at the battle of the Nile. Unable to grieve openly (as homosexuality was a sin punishable by hanging), now he is being dragged back into service as Captain of the Scylla, tasked with tracking down the mutinied ship, Ulysses. Before Nightingale joins, the Scylla had been plagued with disease and kept running solely due to the tenacity of its young Lieutenant, Arthur Courtney. Nightingale and Courtney start out very much on the wrong foot with each other, but as the book progresses, it’s so heartwarming to see them stepping up for each other. 

The writing in this book is absolutely exquisite - it’s like watching a film as you’re reading. I know nothing of boats and sailing but I feel like an expert after reading this, ha! The battle scenes are moving and terrifying, the politics are intriguing and the whole thing is so immersive. There is also so much depth and emotion in all of the characters. As expected in a book of this setting, there is a lot of injury and death and you can feel the waves of emotion that these events cause. 

I just adored this book and am so excited to read the next one (just ordered it!!) - we don’t get to see a lot of Nightingale and Courtney together in this book, so I’m really excited to see where their relationship goes.

Read Leeward for:
✨ Amazing naval historical queer gay romance 
✨ Drama on the high seas, mutiny, murder, mayhem! 
✨ Captain x Lieutenant 
✨ Rivals to lovers 
✨ Demi rep (not named but I get those vibes!) 
✨ Key side character is AroAce 
✨ Disability rep (partial blindness)  
✨ Dealing with grief in secret 
✨ A political mystery to be untangled!