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auttiereads 's review for:
of the Stars and Sea
by Brianna Remus
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was able to secure an ARC of OTSAS and I loved it 🏴☠️🚢⚓️🩵🌊🧜🏼♀️!!! Thank you to Brianna Remus for trusting me to review and read your words ahead of publishing 🥹
TLDR version of the Review:
Check trigger warnings before reading.
In a swash-buckling tale of rivals to lovers pirate dark romance, we get a killer instinct FMC Rowenya and a morally grey cheeky MMC Grayson who you can’t help but love. The world is full of lore and creatures from vampyres to sirens and witches, and the treasure hunt adventure our 2 main characters set off on throughout the book gave Pirates of the Caribbean energy in the best way. And the ending cliffhanger we get definitely makes me hungry for book 2 ASAP!
I’m still thinking about these characters days after reading and I can’t wait for the next instalment in this trilogy.
SETTING ⚓️
Although most of the book takes place at sea, Remus does a great job at making the ship feel like a whole other world.
Set in a world where mythical gods, vampyres, sirens, witches, pirates and magic all exist, we get a healthy dose of magical realism backdropped by a politically corrupt kingdom, and hence, a layered storyline that evokes another time and place (a la Pirates of the Caribbean).
STORYLINE 📖
Our characters individual storylines were surprisingly layered and complex as well - but not in a way that detracted from the overall plot, rather in an way that gave them a lot more depth and added to their respective arcs throughout the book.
As we follow our FMC and MMC on their journey to find the treasure unlocked by The Serpents Key, we explore themes of found family, belonging, trauma, and loss (so again, check your trigger warnings before reading), amid the slow burn romance between Rowenya and Grayson- which brings me to:
THE ROMANCE 🩵
I LIVE for a rivals to lovers so for me the dynamic between Grayson and Rowenya was a delight. We start with Grayson kidnapping Rowenya to help him find and secure the treasure of The Serpents Key to forced proximity at the inn, and eventually get the ‘touch her and I’ll 🔪 you’ vibe (which we love) so it was definitely giving rivals to lovers as promised. And the nickname Little Pearl is everything 🐚
When he [SPOILER]cuts off the hand of the guy who dared to touch her without consent !!!! 🥵
And I also LOVE that our FMC is 36. It was so nice to see an age gap relationship (since our MMC is immortal) where the protagonist isn’t freshly 18 or 21 and has a bit more life lived. Like slay women in their 30s 💅🏻
The *one* thing I might say about the pacing of the romance was that because we did have a slow burn and lot of tension before we them get intimate in any way (which I lived for), it might have made sense to draw out Rowenya’s feelings of contempt towards Grayson a bit longer before she realized what she was actually feeling was lust/attraction. It felt like maybe she admitted to herself how hot she thought he was a bit too early.
EDITING/METAPHORS ✏️
I did love all the sea and star metaphors - especially ones like our loved ones who have passed on “dancing among the stars” - however, the storm metaphors for what Rowenya was seeing in Grayson’s eyes were a bit overdone. I get why we described his godly features that way, but I think that specific metaphor may have been overused.
As well, something that held me back from going all the way to 5 stars was that I did note a few typos while reading. Totally get this can happen, but it was just that extra little editing thing that held that final star back for me.
OVERALL 🫶
I had a GREAT time with this book and I’m really excited for the sequel. Thank you again to Brianna for the chance to be an ARC reader and I can’t wait to continue reading about Rowenya and Grayson in the coming sequel.
If you like magic, pirates and romance novels, this book is for you.
TLDR version of the Review:
Check trigger warnings before reading.
In a swash-buckling tale of rivals to lovers pirate dark romance, we get a killer instinct FMC Rowenya and a morally grey cheeky MMC Grayson who you can’t help but love. The world is full of lore and creatures from vampyres to sirens and witches, and the treasure hunt adventure our 2 main characters set off on throughout the book gave Pirates of the Caribbean energy in the best way. And the ending cliffhanger we get definitely makes me hungry for book 2 ASAP!
I’m still thinking about these characters days after reading and I can’t wait for the next instalment in this trilogy.
SETTING ⚓️
Although most of the book takes place at sea, Remus does a great job at making the ship feel like a whole other world.
Set in a world where mythical gods, vampyres, sirens, witches, pirates and magic all exist, we get a healthy dose of magical realism backdropped by a politically corrupt kingdom, and hence, a layered storyline that evokes another time and place (a la Pirates of the Caribbean).
STORYLINE 📖
Our characters individual storylines were surprisingly layered and complex as well - but not in a way that detracted from the overall plot, rather in an way that gave them a lot more depth and added to their respective arcs throughout the book.
As we follow our FMC and MMC on their journey to find the treasure unlocked by The Serpents Key, we explore themes of found family, belonging, trauma, and loss (so again, check your trigger warnings before reading), amid the slow burn romance between Rowenya and Grayson- which brings me to:
THE ROMANCE 🩵
I LIVE for a rivals to lovers so for me the dynamic between Grayson and Rowenya was a delight. We start with Grayson kidnapping Rowenya to help him find and secure the treasure of The Serpents Key to forced proximity at the inn, and eventually get the ‘touch her and I’ll 🔪 you’ vibe (which we love) so it was definitely giving rivals to lovers as promised. And the nickname Little Pearl is everything 🐚
When he [SPOILER]
And I also LOVE that our FMC is 36. It was so nice to see an age gap relationship (since our MMC is immortal) where the protagonist isn’t freshly 18 or 21 and has a bit more life lived. Like slay women in their 30s 💅🏻
The *one* thing I might say about the pacing of the romance was that because we did have a slow burn and lot of tension before we them get intimate in any way (which I lived for), it might have made sense to draw out Rowenya’s feelings of contempt towards Grayson a bit longer before she realized what she was actually feeling was lust/attraction. It felt like maybe she admitted to herself how hot she thought he was a bit too early.
EDITING/METAPHORS ✏️
I did love all the sea and star metaphors - especially ones like our loved ones who have passed on “dancing among the stars” - however, the storm metaphors for what Rowenya was seeing in Grayson’s eyes were a bit overdone. I get why we described his godly features that way, but I think that specific metaphor may have been overused.
As well, something that held me back from going all the way to 5 stars was that I did note a few typos while reading. Totally get this can happen, but it was just that extra little editing thing that held that final star back for me.
OVERALL 🫶
I had a GREAT time with this book and I’m really excited for the sequel. Thank you again to Brianna for the chance to be an ARC reader and I can’t wait to continue reading about Rowenya and Grayson in the coming sequel.
If you like magic, pirates and romance novels, this book is for you.