bennysbooks's Reviews (668)

Loved the rep, and thought this had some great ideas, but ultimately the execution fell flat for me. Character depth was lacking, relationships formed too easily, pacing was off, magic system barely developed. It was all kind of disjointed. I think the book would have benefited from either a tighter plot and fewer pages, or more pages to allow things to develop more naturally.

If you're a plot-based reader looking for queer pirate vibes, and you enjoy YA, this will likely work better for you than it did for me. 

The writing was captivating, the characters decently crafted for such a short book, and I loved how the themes were essential to the plot without completely overtaking them. I do wish, however, that the last few chapters hadn't felt so rushed. I also hoped for more in the way of...vengeance. In the end, the interpersonal tensions and the white ignorance were more disturbing than the actual horror elements (which was fine by me, but might not work for staunch horror readers).  

Mostly just not meeting my expectations. Might return to it one day. This is the second time I've started a GGK book, only to learn it might not be reflective of his best work (the first was Ysabel). Going to do my research and try something else by him next. 

2023: re-read aloud with my partner. Loved it as much as ever - maybe more, since we got to debrief in real time.