ARC acquired from Disney Hyperion in exchange for an honest review. All quotation and opinions are based off an uncorrected proof.

“The first thing Silverfish had learned on board the Brackish was how to hold a knife.”

This book was pitched as a kind of YA gender-swapped “Count of Monte Cristo”. And I can thankfully say that this book most definitely lives up to this in the best way. It uses that story to set up this story, but the book also makes an effort to establish an entire world beyond just that classic story.

I suppose my favorite part of the book has to be the characters. Amaya was absolutely captivating from the first page. I did feel like at times, she didn’t have much personality, but her circumstances and situation always made me invested in her character. To that extent, I thought she was a great narrator!

Cayo, though. He’s my favorite character for sure. Is it possible I’m bias for the charismatic disaster bi, who is really just trying to do the right thing while struggling with his fundamental flaws and past mistakes? No, I don’t think I am. I love him and I want more, please.

Seriously though, I loved Cayo. I liked how much he was just trying to do the right thing even as it got progressively harder for him to do so.

Both of them trying to solve the same mystery from different angles was a great structure pushing the book forward! But I guess I did think that not enough happened in the book. It felt like there’s a lot of set-up happening which was great, but I guess a lot of the book was conversations. But there were plenty of plot twists that did keep me guessing!

I also loved the aesthetic of the novel even though I didn’t at all think I would. I thought it would be more ship and ocean based, but the city felt more like a Ketterdam than anything else to me. Which, yeah, was pretty awesome. The city really set the tone and picked up a lot of weight in making this book original.

The book also felt unique in its inclusion of queer characters. I mentioned Cayo, but also trans and non-binary characters did a lot to make this book feel fun and interesting. I really loved the representation and I’m always a fan of queer people freely existing in fantasy stories.

I’m definitely excited to read the next book in this series and can’t wait to see where this story goes. I’ve never actually read The Count of Monte Cristo…or seen it. I have no idea how it ends, but I can probably guess. Regardless, I’m excited for how this series handles the development of the plot, especially in such an original world.

TL;DR: I would recommend this book if you’re in the mood for an interesting revenge story and just want to dive into some messy drama. Excellent characters and non-stop plot twists keep the story compelling and hopefully you enjoy the book as much as I did.