I was very much loving the premise of this book, but it caught the doldrums, wavering in the middle with too much stuff and not enough action. ( )

I absolutely loved this story of young Nix who lives aboard a pirate ship that can travel not only through space and time, but also through myth and imagination. The prose was elegant and flowing, the dialogue was both natural and oh-so-sparkly, and the scenery was simply incredible. Wherever the boat is docked, Heilig has a complete command of what she’s describing. Her research and attention to detail, her use of myths and history from around the globe - all of this comes together to weave a compelling story that is impressively evocative of fascinating times and places, even as it embraces the fantastic with beauty and charm. ( )

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

This was a truly great read! I absolutely loved the concept of a time-travelling ship, and the way it was executed... wow! This book takes us around the world and for a stroll down history avenue, with spectacular times and places seen. I couldn't get enough of them!

I adored the relationships between various characters, particularly Nix and her father. It was clear from the start that the Captain was a very tormented man, struggling to reach a past where the love of his life was still alive, willing to risk everything for her. I really liked how his character and his relationship with his daughter developed throughout the book. Initially, Nix really doesn't understand her father's obsession but still keeps helping him to reach his objective even though she fears his success may mean her destruction. I love books that feature a good father-daughter relation, and this was definitely one of them!

I also fell completely mildly in love with the rest of the crew. The diversity of the other characters was amazing, both in terms of nationalities and sexualities portrayed! I really enjoyed all the scenes where the other "pirates" were active, and their banter and unconditional support really made all the difference in showing the way in which life on the Temptation was really just that of a big family of misfits. And the romance was absolutely adorable! I am a big fan of the friends-turned-lovers trope, so this is definitely a couple I was shipping hard!

Overall, a great read and an amazing start to a new series. I can't wait to read the sequel! ( )

The plot sounded super interesting but the characters were 2D and never jumped off the page. ( )

So there are some really strong points to this book: I thought the coming of age was really well done, with a very nuanced protagonist. I thought Nix was a very realistic teenager, who despite her challenges being very particular to the fantasy setting, dealt with them in a way and had an emotional development arc that really spoke to adolescence. I really liked the evolution of the relationship between Nix and Slate - and a paternal relationship as the central relationship to a story is new and interesting. The Hawaiian setting is gorgeous, lush and ethically gray.

I really liked the concept of the Temptation -- a ship that could travel to anywhere where there was a map. I thought the idea that the past is mutable, and the "true past" that they go to is whatever the map drawer believed to be true. What does it mean for the past to be "real" versus "fantasy" and who gets to decide? I wish the rules were drawn a little more clearly (what's to stop them from drawing their own maps whenever they wanted to return somewhere?)

But the book was imperfect. They circled around the central plot again and again without bringing any new information to it and without every resolving it. Which I think I took harder from a debut novelist -- how can I trust her to resolve it in the sequel? I would have totally read a historical fantasy set in 19th century independent Hawaii, but that was not the book I was billed: I was billed time traveling tall ships. So I was disappointed that they spend way less than 10 percent of the book in any other locale at all, and I was also disappointed that the map illustrations didn't match the maps in the narrative. I also thought that the romance arcs were lackluster. People are so into Kash, but I found him very bland and generic love interest. Blake was a little better in that he actually had character development and a strong perspective, but, yeah.

I'll probably read the second book in the series, but I gave this one a lot of credit for being a debut; I'm expecting the sequel to be substantially better. ( )