I received an ARC copy via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Actual rating is closer to 2.5, but I bumped it up for the star rating.

I started this book by reading the sample available on NetGalley and immediately I was hooked by Silverfish, formerly known as Amaya. Fortunately, I was given a copy so I could continue reading! So, Silverfish is working on a fishing vessel to pay off her late father’s debt. She has only a few days left before she is free. However, the captain can add time onto her debt if she does something that he doesn’t like. Like sneeze…only she doesn’t sneeze, but rather ignores a direct order and saves a man from drowning at sea. She gets two weeks added on for this. She didn't do it by the goodness of her own heart. No. She was hoping he was rich. lol

The story then hops over to Cayo Mercado. Cayo is…bad news? He’s working for his father on the docks as a result of using all his money to pay off a massive debt he owed to some shady characters. This is his father’s attempt to straighten his son out while giving him a chance to earn the right to inherit the family business. So when a mysterious, rumored to be very wealthy, countess Yama comes to town, his father demands he gets close to her.

Meanwhile Amaya and Boon strike a deal, Boon will help Amaya get revenge on the horrid captain, in exchange for her wiping out his own personal enemy, Kamon Mercado (Cayo’s father). Boon is “Landless” which basically means he been exiled. This means he’s just as interested in personal vengeance as Amaya is. And this is why many people call this book a remake of The Count of Monty Cristo. So, of course, it stands to reason the Kamon is basically the bad guy for anyone in the book. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel like this was carried off to a Monty Cristo level of epic.

So, there were a few things I struggled with a bit with this book. The world building. We are given the names of all this places and empires (Moray, Lede Islands, the Sun Empire, Rain Empire…some other ones), but we’re not really told how they are all related. It’s mostly so and so are on and off warring with each other with the one kingdom/country stuck in the middle playing neutral ground (trying really hard not to make a Star Wars reference here). But no real information is given. We’re not even given a very good layout of Moray. You are kind of left to make it up in your head as you go…minus things like there is a jungle like area long part of the border. However, if you want a good description of a teahouse or a great description of the food. This book does that. But, don’t expect to learn the name of the prince of Moray.

Things were also referenced to different time periods made up for the purpose of being a time period in the book, but we have no idea what any of it means or what it actually looks like because the time period is make believe. So, while you can randomly choose your own real time period you think it can equate to, you don’t actually know for sure if it’s what the author had in mind.
The bad guys are very one dimensional though. They fall into the trap of being evil through and through simply for the sake of plot. They don’t seem to have multiple facets to their personality. In fact, one is willing to let his own flesh and blood relative die…

Characters are vaguely described at the beginning of the book, leaving the reader some wiggle room as to how they picture the characters in their own mind. However, as you go on you get more detail which may change how you picture them. What was great is that the characters are each flawed in their own way. Cayo is a playboy alcoholic addicted to gambling who is trying to straighten out his life. Amaya is a vengeful young lady who does not trust easily and would totally be a killer if the opportunity presented itself. Their relationship is slower than slow to blossom, which is refreshing after reading so many books where insta-love seems to be a thing.

This book is refreshing in other ways as well. There are characters that represent bisexual and asexual preferences. There is some diversity, by which I mean most of the characters are a shade of brown which is cool. Over all the story is very well written and does have a few twist and turns for readers.

So while it is over all a solid book, there was some areas I thought had room for improvement. I also would recommend that people stop comparing it to Count of Monty Cristo. Monty Cristo is a heavy hitting classic. This book is not in its weight class. That said, I would definitely recommend this in future to anyone I think would enjoy it.