A review by thecaffeinatedreader
Tideborn by Eliza Chan

challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

This was a strong sequel for me. Chan continues to delight me with her world-building and I enjoy the flow of her writing style a lot. I think there's just enough left on descriptions for us to fill in on our own which is nice with such a unique world as this one. I continued to love the characters and any time there's an ocean voyage you can basically assume I'm going to love it. 

In all honesty there were a lot of parts of this book that I enjoyed more than the first. I felt this only grew stronger, and when I was absolutely certain nothing Chan could write could make me feel any sort of sympathy for Cordelia, she surprised me. There were other characters that were nuanced just enough that though I could see where they were coming from, I'm glad Chan didn't make excuses for them and I felt the way things ended was right for this set of characters it just felt good at the end. I'd been on this emotional journey with them all for two books and I don't know that I'm ready to say bye; but I know this is going on my favorite releases of 2025.

Thanks to the publisher for the chance to read this, my honest review has been given in exchange for the eARC!