The first thing Silverfish had learned on board the Brackish was how to hold a knife. Not the useful kind that could gut a man, but something smaller, duller, and better suited for a child's grip.

Silverfish has almost succeeded in paying off her debt to the Brackish, a debtorship that has held her captive for years. She can almost become Amaya once more, but she rescues a mysterious stranger from drowning and not only does the Captain increase her debt, but her life will never be the same again. The stranger, Boon, offers the opportunity to exact revenge on those who held her captive and the monetary means to do so.

The story also follows the perspective of Cayo Mercado, the son of a merchant in Moray, who has fallen on some hard times. With a bit of a gambling problem, Cayo is looking to return to his father's good graces, secure expensive medicine for his sister, and restore the Mercado wealth. One way to achieve this is to become close to the new and mysterious Countess Yamaa

If it isn't clear how these stories intersect then let me spoil you. Countess Yamaa is in fact our heroine from the debtorship, Amaya in disguise as she seeks out the men, who wronged her and sold her to the debtorship. She is operating out of Moray with a team, who are helping her to exact revenge, and her best opportunity is befriending Cayo, who's father recently owned the Brackish. Her plan is to dismantle the Mercado House, but of course, this does not go according to plan.

Overall, I think this story was much better before the two characters interacted. Amaya was a vicious and confident woman who had a bit of a knife problem. While Cayo was reeling from his sudden change in luck and attempting to figure out his identity, which this story hints at his bisexuality but Cayo never fully embraces it and then falls into an expected romance with Amaya. Once the two characters meet these strong storylines are abandoned for a half concocted money counterfeit scheme, political maneuvering of the Slum King, widow vaults, and a questionable future for Moray as the crown prince dies unexpectedly. Whoa - where did my original plot go?

As a result, these various plots overpowered the story and took away from its strengths. One is the characters and the other being the world. When the story started, I immediately felt intrigued by the world that our main character lived in. A debtorship? A mysterious stranger found in the water? Ties to a merchant economy in a coastal setting? It created a sense that we about to embark on a story about pirates, who were going to upset the upper-class and instead, it was a forced romance and too many plotlines that were set in the city landscape. It lost its charm and appeal by not having Amaya take the city by storm with her swashbuckling skills.