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readingwithmani 's review for:
Leeward
by Katie Daysh
I was drawn to this book because the premise checked a lot of my favourite boxes: a captain in the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars pursuing mutineers across the Atlantic. As I read, I discovered many other lovely bonuses, like political intrigue, disability and mental health rep, and a queer slow-burn romance.
The main characters are well developed, Captain Nightingale has such an interesting and tragic backstory that it makes you root for him from the first page. His relationships (with his family, superiors, and most importantly, his crew), play an important part in how he takes on this new assignment and how he deals with the losses he has suffered in battle and the resulting trauma. His journey of redemption and self-discovery is quite touching.
The plot itself is exciting, as the stakes are high and everything that could happen to a ship happens to the Scylla, Nightingale's command. The descriptions of storms, battles, even the becalming fog are flawlessly executed. While the constant use of first names between the officers threw me off, I have no other complaints about the writing. I was immediately immersed in the time period, and I can appreciate the amount of research the author must have undertaken to ensure that the technical aspects of sailing were accurately depicted. As an aside, I have read many books set on ships and each time it takes me a while to recall the terms, but it never detracts from my understanding and enjoyment of the story.
The romance in this book is extremely slow-burn, as the focus of the main characters is elsewhere and so it feels right for this story. It was nevertheless very satisfying to read, and I expect to see the relationship develop more in the planned sequels (which I was pleasantly surprised to discover reading the author's note).
All in all, I would thoroughly recommend this book. It is a sound, enjoyable read.
I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley and Katie Daysh for the chance to read and review this book.
The main characters are well developed, Captain Nightingale has such an interesting and tragic backstory that it makes you root for him from the first page. His relationships (with his family, superiors, and most importantly, his crew), play an important part in how he takes on this new assignment and how he deals with the losses he has suffered in battle and the resulting trauma. His journey of redemption and self-discovery is quite touching.
The plot itself is exciting, as the stakes are high and everything that could happen to a ship happens to the Scylla, Nightingale's command. The descriptions of storms, battles, even the becalming fog are flawlessly executed. While the constant use of first names between the officers threw me off, I have no other complaints about the writing. I was immediately immersed in the time period, and I can appreciate the amount of research the author must have undertaken to ensure that the technical aspects of sailing were accurately depicted. As an aside, I have read many books set on ships and each time it takes me a while to recall the terms, but it never detracts from my understanding and enjoyment of the story.
The romance in this book is extremely slow-burn, as the focus of the main characters is elsewhere and so it feels right for this story. It was nevertheless very satisfying to read, and I expect to see the relationship develop more in the planned sequels (which I was pleasantly surprised to discover reading the author's note).
All in all, I would thoroughly recommend this book. It is a sound, enjoyable read.
I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley and Katie Daysh for the chance to read and review this book.