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A review by ladynightwolf
Song of the Abyss by Makiia Lucier
4.0
3.5 Stars. Best enjoyed on a beach or on a boat and with a sense of adventure.
I’d like to preface this review by stating that although this book is a sequel t0 the Tower of Winds, it is not necessary to read the first book prior to this one. Although the del Marians often elude to events that happened in the first book, the storytelling in this one is not dependent on that and the story does truly stand on its own.
Reyna is a mapmaker for the kingdom of St. John del Mar. During one of her adventures, her ship is overtaken by a mysterious group led by a distinctive leader with an interesting sword topped by a chrysanthemum. The men aboard her ship, seemingly in a trance, transfer themselves to the ships that had overtaken them and Reyna escapes into the unforgiving sea, finding her way to the kingdom of Lunes where she meets a handsome stranger, Levi, who turns out to be a Lunesian prince. After a small coup, she escapes back to St. John del Mar where she puzzles out who could have possibly taken her crew. While home, Lord Elias and her childhood friend Jaime, two very important people in Reyna’s life, take a ship of their own to investigate these pirates or slave traders…and fail to return, seemingly gone the same way. It is up to Reyna to band together with Levi, whose own brother, Asher, was taken the same way. They must search for their lost loved ones in a distant, isolated, and lush kingdom once thought to be legend, and figure out what this leader did with them before the people they love are lost forever.
Overall, Song of the Abyss was pretty good. The first half of it is where most of my issues stem from, and it’s mostly just because it’s super slow up until Levi and Reyna travel. I admittedly struggled to get into it because it seemed like there was a lot of people judging Reyna as only being ‘pretty’ and not recognizing her value as a scholar. Although this is kind of how the world worked in any other time setting, it was nonetheless a bit of a distraction from the adventure itself. There was also a little bit of insta-love, will they/won’t they, which I can take or leave that could have been written better. Maybe that’s a little nitpick-y, but I just wasn’t into it.
However, the last half of the book really started to amp up and the totality of the story was completely redeemed for me, starting with the maelstrom, which caught my attention and made me snap to attention and took my imagination for a ride. The remainder of the book took place in a once-mythical kingdom and their culture, which seemed to be a mix of Egyptian, Ancient Chinese, and Ancient Central American cultures. This is where palace intrigue, and world building sunk its teeth into me and I couldn’t put the book down until I was done.
The world, the characters, and the various locations are all described in detail and the main characters are fleshed out nicely. If you need to top off your summer reading list, I recommend this satisfying fantasy that will take you on an interesting adventure.
Thank you to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review!
I’d like to preface this review by stating that although this book is a sequel t0 the Tower of Winds, it is not necessary to read the first book prior to this one. Although the del Marians often elude to events that happened in the first book, the storytelling in this one is not dependent on that and the story does truly stand on its own.
Reyna is a mapmaker for the kingdom of St. John del Mar. During one of her adventures, her ship is overtaken by a mysterious group led by a distinctive leader with an interesting sword topped by a chrysanthemum. The men aboard her ship, seemingly in a trance, transfer themselves to the ships that had overtaken them and Reyna escapes into the unforgiving sea, finding her way to the kingdom of Lunes where she meets a handsome stranger, Levi, who turns out to be a Lunesian prince. After a small coup, she escapes back to St. John del Mar where she puzzles out who could have possibly taken her crew. While home, Lord Elias and her childhood friend Jaime, two very important people in Reyna’s life, take a ship of their own to investigate these pirates or slave traders…and fail to return, seemingly gone the same way. It is up to Reyna to band together with Levi, whose own brother, Asher, was taken the same way. They must search for their lost loved ones in a distant, isolated, and lush kingdom once thought to be legend, and figure out what this leader did with them before the people they love are lost forever.
Overall, Song of the Abyss was pretty good. The first half of it is where most of my issues stem from, and it’s mostly just because it’s super slow up until Levi and Reyna travel. I admittedly struggled to get into it because it seemed like there was a lot of people judging Reyna as only being ‘pretty’ and not recognizing her value as a scholar. Although this is kind of how the world worked in any other time setting, it was nonetheless a bit of a distraction from the adventure itself. There was also a little bit of insta-love, will they/won’t they, which I can take or leave that could have been written better. Maybe that’s a little nitpick-y, but I just wasn’t into it.
However, the last half of the book really started to amp up and the totality of the story was completely redeemed for me, starting with the maelstrom, which caught my attention and made me snap to attention and took my imagination for a ride. The remainder of the book took place in a once-mythical kingdom and their culture, which seemed to be a mix of Egyptian, Ancient Chinese, and Ancient Central American cultures. This is where palace intrigue, and world building sunk its teeth into me and I couldn’t put the book down until I was done.
The world, the characters, and the various locations are all described in detail and the main characters are fleshed out nicely. If you need to top off your summer reading list, I recommend this satisfying fantasy that will take you on an interesting adventure.
Thank you to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review!