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skellyton 's review for:
of the Stars and Sea
by Brianna Remus
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
- first and foremost thank you to the author for giving me the chance to be an ARC reader!
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Overall:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75/5
🌶🌶.75/5
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.
- i am obsessed to say the least. This book is a perfect crossover of things like Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Mummy, which are two of my favorite movies!
- I loved Grayson. I immediately got good vibes from him and I knew I was going to enjoy his character. He very much reminded me of all of the men from POTC. If all of the main men in those movies birthed one child to carry on the legacy it would be this man. And i mean that as the highest compliment! He still has his own twists and turns and secrets though. I had a lot of respect for him pretty much from the get-go. Morally grey sure, but with good reason. He gets a green flag 💚 from me! (There's no green flag emoji so use your imagination)
- Rowenya I have equally as much respect for. She's so strong and capable, and the times when she's "damsel in distress" she's literally helplessly in distress and needs assistance. I love that she has respect for Grayson, but st the end of the day she's still strong and capable! Like thank you for having my back, but i can do this by myself I don't need to be babied. I LOVE that. It's not a full rejection of help either! It's just a believe that I can do this because I can vibe. I will say, I did immediately think she was younger in her 20's but I love it even more that she's older and that's where her self sufficiency comes from.
.
⚠️ spoilers possibly?⚠️
- I love Grayson & Rowenya's relationship. It started rocky for sure, but it genuinely seems so healthy? I feel like I'm not used to seeing healthy relationships in books all that often anymore, there's always gotta be some problem. But with THEM there's a problem and they talk about it? They both have tempers but they both respect each other enough to talk about it and express WHY they're upset and I love that so much. Nothing says power couple like a couple who communicates and talks about things instead of holding it all in and letting things explode.
- the way this book ended on such a cliffhanger?! First of all it was a deliciously tense cliffhanger and I hate you a little bit for it madam author but I also love you for it because I'm now chomping at the bit for book 2.
⚠️spoilers over⚠️
.
- I love that while there IS a cliffhanger, its done in such a way that really leaves you wanting more and excited to see how the story continues.
- you can really feel it in the book, that the author either already knows so much about ships, or did a lot of research that paid off. Which I adore because having a well researched topic book really pays off as far as getting you interested and invested in the story. It felt really well put together and thought out when you're reading it, which just made the whole experience more immersive.
- the side characters were and are so much fun! They're written in a way that's engaging and you get to like them, but it doesn't take away from the main story.
- I would die for Tommy. IYKYK. he's a sweet angel and I will actually cry if anything happens to him (< this was written before finishing the book and the following is after finishing the book - ⚠️ madam author HOW DARE YOU SCARE ME LIKE THAT ⚠️ )
- almost, ALMOST more than enemies to lovers. I love rivals to lovers. Because often rivals are on the same side but against each other, and the sweet sweet moment when they realize they're on the same side and more powerful together?! I eat it up everytime and this time is no different.
- I love a man with "touch her and die" energy. Not that Rowenya NEEDS a man who thinks that about her, but 🥵 man the way Grayson feels about her. Once again, I'm eating that up, its done so well and Rowenya has set such clear boundaries for herself, like "i respect that you feel that way, and i love you for it but dont forget I can fight and I will fight"
.
- one thing that wasn't my favorite was the use of 'male' as opposed to 'man/men'. Unless Grayson & crew are another species, male seems out of place. There was a particular time (I'm paraphrasing here) where Rowenya said something like "it drives me crazy to be attracted to this male one minute and hate him the next" i just feels that in most of the instances 'male' is used feels unnatural and could be replaced with man/men. (This was also written before finishing the book, but I maintain that using Male instead of Man feels unnatural)
Overall:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75/5
🌶🌶.75/5
.
.
Overall:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75/5
🌶🌶.75/5
.
.
- i am obsessed to say the least. This book is a perfect crossover of things like Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Mummy, which are two of my favorite movies!
- I loved Grayson. I immediately got good vibes from him and I knew I was going to enjoy his character. He very much reminded me of all of the men from POTC. If all of the main men in those movies birthed one child to carry on the legacy it would be this man. And i mean that as the highest compliment! He still has his own twists and turns and secrets though. I had a lot of respect for him pretty much from the get-go. Morally grey sure, but with good reason. He gets a green flag 💚 from me! (There's no green flag emoji so use your imagination)
- Rowenya I have equally as much respect for. She's so strong and capable, and the times when she's "damsel in distress" she's literally helplessly in distress and needs assistance. I love that she has respect for Grayson, but st the end of the day she's still strong and capable! Like thank you for having my back, but i can do this by myself I don't need to be babied. I LOVE that. It's not a full rejection of help either! It's just a believe that I can do this because I can vibe. I will say, I did immediately think she was younger in her 20's but I love it even more that she's older and that's where her self sufficiency comes from.
.
⚠️ spoilers possibly?⚠️
- I love Grayson & Rowenya's relationship. It started rocky for sure, but it genuinely seems so healthy? I feel like I'm not used to seeing healthy relationships in books all that often anymore, there's always gotta be some problem. But with THEM there's a problem and they talk about it? They both have tempers but they both respect each other enough to talk about it and express WHY they're upset and I love that so much. Nothing says power couple like a couple who communicates and talks about things instead of holding it all in and letting things explode.
- the way this book ended on such a cliffhanger?! First of all it was a deliciously tense cliffhanger and I hate you a little bit for it madam author but I also love you for it because I'm now chomping at the bit for book 2.
⚠️spoilers over⚠️
.
- I love that while there IS a cliffhanger, its done in such a way that really leaves you wanting more and excited to see how the story continues.
- you can really feel it in the book, that the author either already knows so much about ships, or did a lot of research that paid off. Which I adore because having a well researched topic book really pays off as far as getting you interested and invested in the story. It felt really well put together and thought out when you're reading it, which just made the whole experience more immersive.
- the side characters were and are so much fun! They're written in a way that's engaging and you get to like them, but it doesn't take away from the main story.
- I would die for Tommy. IYKYK. he's a sweet angel and I will actually cry if anything happens to him (< this was written before finishing the book and the following is after finishing the book - ⚠️ madam author HOW DARE YOU SCARE ME LIKE THAT ⚠️ )
- almost, ALMOST more than enemies to lovers. I love rivals to lovers. Because often rivals are on the same side but against each other, and the sweet sweet moment when they realize they're on the same side and more powerful together?! I eat it up everytime and this time is no different.
- I love a man with "touch her and die" energy. Not that Rowenya NEEDS a man who thinks that about her, but 🥵 man the way Grayson feels about her. Once again, I'm eating that up, its done so well and Rowenya has set such clear boundaries for herself, like "i respect that you feel that way, and i love you for it but dont forget I can fight and I will fight"
.
- one thing that wasn't my favorite was the use of 'male' as opposed to 'man/men'. Unless Grayson & crew are another species, male seems out of place. There was a particular time (I'm paraphrasing here) where Rowenya said something like "it drives me crazy to be attracted to this male one minute and hate him the next" i just feels that in most of the instances 'male' is used feels unnatural and could be replaced with man/men. (This was also written before finishing the book, but I maintain that using Male instead of Man feels unnatural)
Overall:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75/5
🌶🌶.75/5