A review by shelvedthoughts
Pearls of Salt and Sacrifice by Everly Haywood

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

 Reader’s Notes:

– this is part of a series, but meant to be read as a stand-alone

– this takes place in the same world as Everly’s Between Shade & Flame series (Rhuin), but about 500 years in the future

– this is told from Reva’s point of view

– there is some fantasy violence & death

Review:

I loved getting to read this quick jaunt onto the high seas! I loved our swashbuckling princess and her desire to care for her people. Reva was such a fun character that was an amazing untypical princess. I loved that one of the baby krakens took a liking to her (though she didn’t take to it as quickly) and would constantly be found inside her pocket. I loved that Jareth was so sweet beneath his stoic exterior. He clearly also cared for his people and the creatures in his care and grew to fall for Reva over the course of the story. I also really enjoyed the fun the pirate captain brought into play. Sure, he wasn’t the most noble of characters, but he did add a levity to things as it settled down. I am really excited to see what his future adventures will look like and if he’ll be getting his own story or just be the road for other characters to get to theirs!

Summary:

Princess Reva is almost willing to do anything in order to save her people from starvation. She just never thought that her hand in marriage would even be a suggestion. When she arrives to negotiate a trade alliance with the prince from another kingdom, Reva finds that her stepmother went behind her back and offered Reva’s hand in marriage to the foreign prince. Not only that, but others come asking for the same offer. Her hand for the lives of her people.

To make matters worse, someone is trying to end negotiations by any means necessary. Which is how Reva finds herself attacked and later kidnapped to the high seas. But things are much more dire than anyone could have predicted. A mysterious, yet deadly creature has risen from the deep to attack those involved in negotiations. And it looks like something from myths has been uncovered for the dastardly deed. When the attacker and creature set their sights on her kingdom, Reva needs to make a new alliance and bring together her various suitors or risk everything falling apart…