A review by jensenart
The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

Rating 3.5 

 

Quick very high level summary. Simran is a witch, and Vina is a knight, who are stuck in a cycle of reincarnation that causes them to repeat over and over a tragic love story which maintains the world's stability. Each cycle they must make a choice, between fulfilling their predetermined fate, destroying each other, or rewriting their story. 

 

My Take. 

We have of fated love, a murder mystery, knights, witches, destiny vs liberation and sapphic romance. I appreciated the atmospheric feel and prose but sometimes that made things feel a bit too vague. I had trouble trying to visualize the world this story takes place in. My mind took me to the medieval period but then some of the terminology would sounds so modern leaving me to question my perception of the world. Giving this a YA feel at times. What I adored was the double meaning of changing the narrative and erasing cultures and stories to benefit the oppressor. At times this message is so subtle I did not really realize it until I was thinking about what I read later. This part of the story stuck with me and that is a sign of a subtle but strong message in my opinion. The story started a bit slow for me but picked up and that second half of the book had be fully invested. Overall this was an interesting story with deep themes and at times, poetic writing.