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A review by readundancies
Dark Water Daughter by H.M. Long
adventurous
dark
mysterious
relaxing
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? It's complicated
5.0
Welcome to the pirate nautical novel of my dreams.
Don't get me wrong, there's definitely piracy in this dark fantasy adventure. I even really enjoyed it, but it doesn't really focus on typical pirate attributes one would expect in a standard pirate novel. And that's fine because the world-building more than makes up for it.
The world-building was easily my favourite aspect of the story - the sweeping seas, the twisted magic (let's make a point to mini-squeal about the song magic in this novel because when I tell you I lived for it, I truly mean I LIVED for it), the ghistings and other creatures from the Dark Water - all of it when introduced was so incredibly engrossing. Every port was a new world to explore, with differing cultures and people and customs, with every departure another step into the unknown. You can really tell that Winter Sea world was painstakingly crafted by H.M. Long and based on the author note, this has been in the works for a very long time. There is a lot of effort and time that was put into it and it all paid off because learning about the world was such a treat.
The characters were also a highlight of the story - Mary's resilience and Samuel's patience were aspects that grew throughout the novel and watching them both grow in the face of their hidden secrets and magic felt really satisfying. There was inklings of a romance growing between them as well and I hope with the subsequent stories in this series we get to see that develop as well.
I can't wait for the sequel and this is already on my list of favourite reads for 2024.
Don't get me wrong, there's definitely piracy in this dark fantasy adventure. I even really enjoyed it, but it doesn't really focus on typical pirate attributes one would expect in a standard pirate novel. And that's fine because the world-building more than makes up for it.
The world-building was easily my favourite aspect of the story - the sweeping seas, the twisted magic (let's make a point to mini-squeal about the song magic in this novel because when I tell you I lived for it, I truly mean I LIVED for it), the ghistings and other creatures from the Dark Water - all of it when introduced was so incredibly engrossing. Every port was a new world to explore, with differing cultures and people and customs, with every departure another step into the unknown. You can really tell that Winter Sea world was painstakingly crafted by H.M. Long and based on the author note, this has been in the works for a very long time. There is a lot of effort and time that was put into it and it all paid off because learning about the world was such a treat.
The characters were also a highlight of the story - Mary's resilience and Samuel's patience were aspects that grew throughout the novel and watching them both grow in the face of their hidden secrets and magic felt really satisfying. There was inklings of a romance growing between them as well and I hope with the subsequent stories in this series we get to see that develop as well.
I can't wait for the sequel and this is already on my list of favourite reads for 2024.