A review by ashmagoffin
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

5.0

One thing Olivie Blake excels at is her characters. Broody, complicated and flawed, Blake has two large families thrown together in a rivalry that has lasted decades. There are a lot of characters introduced at once, all with multiple nicknames, which wasn't difficult to keep track of after 30 pages or so. I must admit I did have to reread the first couple of chapters to reorientate myself to this world, but after that I was solid. I loved the characters and loved the humour brought out by the family dynamics and how they all interacted with each other. However my biggest criticism is of a plot device that I cannot delve into because it would involve massive spoilers. I feel like it cheapened the gravity of the drama and detracted from my investment in the characters. The same characters and same world with a different plot and this could have had the makings of a five-star read. I still did enjoy my time with this book, Blake is an author I feel like I will always gravitate towards.