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nikkisbooknook 's review for:
I Summon the Sea
by Mona Archer
Take a retelling of the Little Mermaid, add a dash of the Greek Myth of Theseus and add a dollop of Jekyll and Hyde and you have a totally intriguing fantasy romance!
There are many stray strands of this story that have not yet been explained and the cliffhanger at the end is a bit of a doozy! I have my theories but I don't want to give away the storyline to those who haven't read it yet. Let's just say that the madness of Jai is I think in some way related to the lost memories of both him and Rae and not just to his "dark passenger".
Athdara (aka Jai) really is the morally grey mc! He's done some appalling things prior to the story beginning but we also see that he is being manipulated and controlled and not everything was of his own volition. He has inspired some true friends/found family in Tru et al. Yes, he's another shadow daddy but can you really have too many???
Rae’s paid a high price to get in these deadly trials and her plan has soon gone to pot. She's improvising on the fly and she's not quite sure what to make of her new adversary/ally.
The world building is pretty good and I didn't fall over any info-dumps. Rae's inner monologue did grate occasionally but I'll put that down to her scrambled memories and essentially dealing with a type of chronic pain due to altered appearance/suppressed talents.
There are a wide selection of different kinds of people/persons in the story including: humans, fae, finnfolk, dragons, elemental magic wielders. The Reversal was a great way to inject something novel into the story and explain the changes undergone by each of the worlds and its people.
Rae is intelligent, independent, deadly and a tad naïve. With her characters mutism, she was a breath of fresh air and so much had to be conveyed by a look or lip reading and it really showed how people ignore/infantilise the deaf and mute communities in real life.
I have a not so subtle crush on Tru, I'll admit. He's funny and pushes Jai in a brotherly way. He ses past that murderous/manic outer shell into the heart of his bestie.
This is a slow burn, insta-attraction story. The spice is mostly of the tension variety but there is one particular scene which may set your book ablaze!
Now to wait for book #2!
There are many stray strands of this story that have not yet been explained and the cliffhanger at the end is a bit of a doozy! I have my theories but I don't want to give away the storyline to those who haven't read it yet. Let's just say that the madness of Jai is I think in some way related to the lost memories of both him and Rae and not just to his "dark passenger".
Athdara (aka Jai) really is the morally grey mc! He's done some appalling things prior to the story beginning but we also see that he is being manipulated and controlled and not everything was of his own volition. He has inspired some true friends/found family in Tru et al. Yes, he's another shadow daddy but can you really have too many???
Rae’s paid a high price to get in these deadly trials and her plan has soon gone to pot. She's improvising on the fly and she's not quite sure what to make of her new adversary/ally.
The world building is pretty good and I didn't fall over any info-dumps. Rae's inner monologue did grate occasionally but I'll put that down to her scrambled memories and essentially dealing with a type of chronic pain due to altered appearance/suppressed talents.
There are a wide selection of different kinds of people/persons in the story including: humans, fae, finnfolk, dragons, elemental magic wielders. The Reversal was a great way to inject something novel into the story and explain the changes undergone by each of the worlds and its people.
Rae is intelligent, independent, deadly and a tad naïve. With her characters mutism, she was a breath of fresh air and so much had to be conveyed by a look or lip reading and it really showed how people ignore/infantilise the deaf and mute communities in real life.
I have a not so subtle crush on Tru, I'll admit. He's funny and pushes Jai in a brotherly way. He ses past that murderous/manic outer shell into the heart of his bestie.
This is a slow burn, insta-attraction story. The spice is mostly of the tension variety but there is one particular scene which may set your book ablaze!
Now to wait for book #2!