Thank you to Bloomsbury and Netgalley for an eARC.

PROGRESSIVELY BETTER.

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This was almost a miss for me, buuuut I liked the second half so much more that I’m anxious for the finale. And what I did most love was the writing. Kemmerer is a brilliant writer and I love how smooth and easy it is to follow her story and be tucked into the pages.

This book had very slow pacing. The entire first half was dedicated to getting onto a ship. At least interspersed were some total character upheavals. I think the progression focus was on who Corrick and Tessa are becoming. That mindset really helps set the scene for how a lot of these moments occur. I wish there was a toooouch more romance, but I feel it in my bones that it’s coming!

There’s even a third POV thrown in that was fun to figure out and to see another side to the world that was needed to keep the pace for book three. I think there’s SO MANY places that POV could go and I can’t wait to get to know them even more. I already love this character as much as Corrick and Tessa so it was exciting to have that added in as well.

While it took a long time to get to the ship, I do love a good boat book. There’s the right amount of drama and intrigue. Characters getting to know one another. And allll the secrets revealed (like what’s behind the door?!). I thoroughly enjoyed how this played out and even though the ending left me going WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, I know the next book will deliver too.

Overall audience notes:
- YA Fantasy
- Language: some mild
- Romance: make-outs
- Violence: medium
- Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of life, battle scenes, physical altercations, weapons violence, kidnapping, poisoning