A review by tagreads
Sea of Ruin by Pam Godwin

adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
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- Part of The 52 Book Club Reading Challenge, A Character "On The Run"
- Part of POPSUGAR Reading Challenge, A book set mostly or entirely outdoors

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General Review:

What a ride! Although I have issues with it, this book pulled me in from the start. The story was packed with so much action gripping you to know what is next. The author does not shy away from exposing the anti-heroes’ flaws and the romance is a dark one which left me with so many conflicting emotions/opinions. I am new to the Dark Romance world so I am not sure how much of the “darkness” I should have expected or what is considered “normal” in a dark romance so mostly I am basing my enjoyment of the book on the story itself and how it succeeded in maintaining my interest throughout, aside from the “love” between the characters. 

Trigger/Content Warnings:

Sexual Assault, Rape, Lack of Consent, Violence

The Main Characters:

  • Bennett Sharp: Daughter of the infamous pirate Edric Sharp, Bennett is following in her father’s footsteps. She is a badass female Captain, fierce enough to command Jade, a ship with one-hundred-and-twenty-man crew
  • Priest Farrell: Known as the King of Libertines, Priest is an infamous raider well-known for boarding ships, overthrowing the captain, and taking command. At least this was his life before meeting Bennett who he ended up marrying
  • Ashley Cutler: Stone cold pirate hunter with a very high sense of duty. He commands HMS Blitz, the only one-hundred-gun ship of the line on the sea

The Plot:

Bennett has been on the run for two years. As the pirate daughter of the infamous Captain Edric Sharp, she is wanted by a lot of people: Navy officers wanting to bring her down, pirate hunters seeking the bounty for her capture, enemies wanting to eliminate their competition, but most importantly her husband Priest Farrell. After finding out his betrayal, Bennett left him and never looked back. Now, he is determined to find her and make her give him a second chance. However, just when their paths collide, Bennett is captured by Lord Ashley Cutler, who is determined to see her hang and collect his due recognition. But Bennett turns out to be more than what he bargained for, and when the lines between enemies and lovers start to blur, everyone’s lives become at risk.  

*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***

What I Liked:

  • The storytelling: The narrative was beautiful and you could easily imagine the scenes as they unfolded. The story was packed with action and suspense to keep you flipping through the pages. 
  • Bennet & Edric Sharp: Chapters 2 and 3 were among my favorite ones. Although you could guess that she was going to meet her father, but from the moment Bennert start running, you can’t help but be engrossed in the scenery. Her interaction with her father was beautifully written with a heartbreaking end. I also loved the twist of her mother knowing about these meetings taking place
  • The aftermath of being caught by Madwulf: Probably the most suspenseful part of the story. With Priest thrown into the equation, I just couldn’t wait to see what his plan would be and how the 3 would be able to escape.
  • The treasure hunt: The compass was my favorite part of King of Libertines and Bennett finally being able to open it was very satisfying. Albeit cut short by the detestable Madwulf!

What I Disliked:

  • I would have loved to see a glimpse of how Bennett came to command Jade prior to having Priest and Ashley on board. She is one of the few - if not the only - female pirate captains so it would have been nice to see her first moments where she proved herself as a fierce captain on a ship full of men
  • Insta Love: In the King of Libertines novella, this was also one of the issues I disliked and it happens here again with Bennett and Ashley. They are both too quickly mesmerized by each other
  • The “Romance” between Ashley and Bennett: Ashley sexually assaulting Bennett and the lack of consent scene were really disturbing to read. It is quite alarming for Bennett especially to consider that they were in love. Moreover, the aftermath of the lack of consent is more focused on Ashley than on Bennett. We get to see how this affected him and how regretful he is that it happened and her feelings are eventually glossed over  
  • The Love Imbalance: The story concludes as being this epic love story between our 3 main characters with Bennett being the main focus, however I can’t help but feel that the love/relationship between Priest and Ashley came out as far more superior/deeper than their love for Bennett, which took away from the resolution being all 3 of them ending up together 
  • Bennett’s continual abuse: Bennett went through a lot of abuse that it got to a point where it became just too much! Characters do not need to be continually raped for them to have a dark backstory. She already suffered enough, her father’s death, her mother’s suicide, the fact that she succeeded in being a pirate doing whatever is necessary to survive, all are factors that portray her fierceness without resorting to sexual assault 
  • Lack of trauma after rape: After being sexually assaulted for days by the admiral, I thought we would see more of a struggle for Bennett to get back to her normal self. I do not claim to know what rape survivors go through or how they handle their trauma but we failed to see any signs of Bennett trying to heal from what happened. She is forced to be so strong that she is not given the time to deal with the rape’s aftermath.
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