claireisbookish's Reviews (59)

3 💫

I think this was a solid debut by Kelsey Impicciche. The writing was good, the story had promise, and the characters were all interesting and well devloped. I do have some issues, however.

First is the pacing, which is something most reviews for this book mention. This book could have been 50-100 pages shorter and it would have benefited from a few more rounds of editing. The beginning was strong and then slowed around 40-50 pages in to the point I almost DNFed. The middle was good but dragged on, even though I enjoyed the scenes of the side characters and life on the ship. 

There were some inconsistencies as well in terms of the timeline. It was a minor thing but took me out of the story. Also a minor thing but the paragraphs were too long. Basically every single paragraph needed to be broken up. I’m not sure if that will be fixed in the final version or not.

The characters were really well done! The found family was great in this book and each side character felt unique and fleshed out.

The ending was action packed and leaves you wanting book two. 

I knew Kelsey was an excellent storyteller from watching her Sims let’s plays over the years and I’m really looking forward to seeing her craft develop and improve.

Overall this was a refreshing yet nostalgic take on “The Little Mermaid.” I loved Celeste’s perspective as she ventures into the human world, it was both humorous and terrifying. 

Thank you so much to the publisher for the ARC!

DNF @ 35%?

I am actually so devastated. I loved The Ever King by LJ Andrews and was really looking forward to her first traditionally published book. I feel like I’m missing something since this comes out in a month and there’s literally no negative reviews yet.

Here are my thoughts:

I’m confused. The magic system isn’t explained properly and left me confused about what exactly it is. Since the magic is a crucial aspect of the plot it left me confused about the overall story and what the stakes were. Similarly, it had me struggling to connect with Lyra because I wasn’t sure why she was in such danger since I didn’t understand her magic and why it was forbidden. Was it forbidden? I don’t even know.

The world building was lacking as well. The hierarchies weren’t explained, the setting was lackluster and not explained, and again the magic wasn’t properly explained so I couldn’t get a good sense of the world. 

Roark and Lyla have potential but I was confused about Roark’s character and motivations. He’s supposed to hate Lyra for some reason because of her magic? I think? Again, it wasn’t properly explained. Anyway, he was supposed to hate her but would comfort her at the same time and it was really confusing.

I desperately wanted to connect with Lyra but AGAIN her magic wasn’t explained properly so I was left confused about the stakes and conflict. 
 
Positives:

-I did appreciate the representation of sign language.
-I enjoyed Kael’s character

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC