This book was February's Sapphic Book Club read hosted by @sapphicliterature.



I... read this entire book and I honestly don't have much to say about it?

I enjoyed the relationship between the three protagonists (Aela and Brynne, who are two women in a sort-of-romantic relationship, and Del, who becomes friends with both of them). Looking back, the overall plot was also interesting - and yet, the execution felt lacking. I felt myself skimming through pages of descriptions instead of reading them. I can't really put my finger on it, but somehow the writing couldn't hold my attention despite the fact that I liked the characters and the plot.

Hence why it's a 3-star read - it didn't leave a lasting impression in either a positive or a negative direction. ( )

This book is February's Sapphic Book Club read hosted by @sapphicliterature.

Aela - a corsair trying to distance herself from her roots and her wild magic, Del - a soldier full of secrets, fiercely chasing the past, and Brynne - a seemingly simple girl thrown into the world of royalty. All of them are so much more than it firstly appears. All of them are tangled together. All of them help each other grow.

I loved that the characters have their distinctive voice and every POV reads differently. It felt like really getting into their heads and seeing every situation through their eyes.

Technically, one could say that the book includes a love triangle but it did not have the dynamics of any love triangle I've read about before as it was pretty much situational not emotional. There was no I like two people and can't decide. Everyone involved was sure of their feelings and the dilema was strictly connected to the plot.

The world is greatly developed from the mythology to the geography and all of this is done with no info-dumping. The mysterious monsters which Aela is blackmailed to hunt are not one-dimensional and everything is much deeper than it seems - figuratively and literally. Everything is connected and every bit of information becomes relevant later on.

The book is also rich in representation: there's three main characters and two of them are women, two of them are sapphic, two of them are people of colour, one is disabled, and one is plump.

My main issues were with a somewhat slow pace in the first half of the book and some parts would need a bit more editing. I also wanted more of Brynne's POV but I undersand than including it too early would reveal too much and the suspense was crutial. ( )