Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

There were some things I really enjoyed and appreciated about this book, so I'll start with those:
1. Sister bonds: this sister bond was done well! The amount of fighting/arguments balanced well with the love and appreciation for each other, and I liked that the sister bond was the focal point, rather than a romantic bond.
2. Aro/ace rep: Ophelia's implied asexuality felt very in-character and was described in a period-appropriate way, so it didn't take me out of the historical time period. I really loved this aspect of her character!
3. OCD/neurodiverse rep: Again, the way that Betsy's mental struggles were described felt very period-appropriate and added a lot to her character.

Some icks that I had about the book:
1. Simple villains: the villains felt very unbelievable compared to the well-fleshed out main characters. I wish they had more substance to them to balance well with the complex mcs.
2. Pacing: The beginning of this book REALLY lagged. I was not very invested until around 50% of the way into the book, which is too long. For a title that promises a fast-paced piratical adventure, there sure wasn't a lot of fast paced moments or a lot of pirates.

All in all, this was a solid book, but it didn't hook me nearly as much as I had hoped it would because of the two dimensional villains and the slow pacing.

Publication Date: April 9, 2024