The Laughing Listener
December 2018
I was graciously given a free copy in exchange for an honest review
Format: Paperback & Audiobook
Narrator: Rebecca Soler
Length: 10 hours & 30 minutes

Story Rating: 3 Stars
Performance Rating: 5 Stars
Overall Rating: 3.5 Stars

This was such a fun book!! I won this ARC in a Goodreads giveaway, but got distracted with my need to finish Throne of Glass and The Dark Artifices before the last books came out. And now I regret waiting so long because this was a DELIGHT.



THE GOOD

The strong girl power vibes in this book are EVERYTHING and I won’t lie, they probably account for about 82% of my enjoyment. The #feminism comes in strong right from the very beginning and I loved it! It was so amazing seeing a group of smart, strong, sensitive women coming together to overcome adversity and lift each other up. YAS QUEENS.



There’s a core group of female characters that make this book really interesting and getting to know each one was really fun. The character arc for the main character Cala was my favorite to follow, but there’s also a character arc for the whole crew and it was super interesting to see how the two played off one another.

“Remember when they call you girl, they’re trying to tell you something. They’re trying to tell you that they’re more than you, that the body you’re in makes you less. But you know, and I know, that you’re exactly what you need to be.”

Plus, the main adventure and the action sequences in this are A+ and captured my attention from the very beginning. I’m so invested in these characters and their fate!! AND THAT ENDING!!!! Oh my god, I almost had a heart attack ya’ll. I was not prepared.

THE UGLY

I got so bored in the middle of this.



Cala and her best friend Pi get a lead on something they’ve been hoping and looking for for YEARS and I was so flipping excited to watch them set off on this quest to kick some ass. But they get pulled into some little side tasks that deflated my excitement balloon a little. I zoned out for long sections of audio and didn’t really miss anything. It all just felt like a way to prolong the ending. It REALLY picks up towards the end and makes it worth reading, but getting there was a bit of a snooze for me.

The romance felt like a second thought too. It was sort of just thrown in at the end and I’m torn between wishing it wasn’t part of the story at all and wanting more of it. Either would have made the book better I think. And there was a whole romance between two of the female crew members Hime and Amina that I was dying to see more of!!

I also was irrationally annoyed with Pisces??? Have you ever just read a character that annoys the crap out of you for no real reason? Because that’s what happened. Something about the way she was constantly defending the Bullet guy to Cala grated on me.

FINAL WORD

This was a SUPER fun book that made me explode with girl power!! If you’re looking for a fun pirate adventure, then this is a great one and I can’t wait for the next one!

#1 ↦ [b:Seafire|37822534|Seafire (Seafire, #1)|Natalie C. Parker|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1519742447s/37822534.jpg|55913489] ↦ ✦✦✦✦✧
#2 ↦ [b:Untitled|38892853|Untitled (Seafire, #2)|Natalie C. Parker|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|60438672] #2 ↦ ?????
#3 ↦ [b:Untitled|38892861|Untitled (Seafire, #3)|Natalie C. Parker|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|60438678] #3 ↦ ?????