This book will be published on August 27, 2019. I read an advance reading copy and undoubtedly there will be differences between the version I read, and the published version.
This is book 2 in the Tower of Winds series. I reviewed the first book, Isle of Blood and Stone, HERE. I really liked the first book, and I think you would get more out of book 2 if you read book 1, but I kind of think you can read book 2 without reading book 1. Just accept the world as it is.....but really, read book 1 because it's also amazing.
An amazon summary, "They came in the night as she dreamt, in her berth, on a ship sailing home to del Mar. After, they would be all Reyna thought about: two carracks painted scorpion black. No emblem on either forecastle, no pennants flying above the mainmasts to hint at a kingdom of origin.
Never a good sign.
As the granddaughter of a famed navigator, seventeen-year-old Reyna has always lived life on her own terms, despite those who say a girl could never be an explorer for the royal house of St. John del Mar. She is determined to prove them wrong, and as she returns home after a year-long expedition, she knows her dream is within reach. No longer an apprentice, instead: Reyna, Master Explorer.
But when menacing raiders attack her ship, those dreams are pushed aside. Reyna's escape is both desperate and dangerous, and when next she sees her ship, a mystery rises from the deep. The sailors--her captain, her countrymen--have vanished. To find them, Reyna must use every resource at her disposal . . . including placing her trust in a handsome prince from a rival kingdom.
Together they uncover a disturbing truth. The attack was no isolated incident. Troubling signs point to a shadowy kingdom in the north, and for once, the rulers of the Sea of Magdalen agree: something must be done. But can Reyna be brave enough to find a way?" AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
As the granddaughter of a famed navigator, seventeen-year-old Reyna has always lived life on her own terms, despite those who say a girl could never be an explorer for the royal house of St. John del Mar. She is determined to prove them wrong, and as she returns home after a year-long expedition, she knows her dream is within reach. No longer an apprentice, instead: Reyna, Master Explorer.
But when menacing raiders attack her ship, those dreams are pushed aside. Reyna's escape is both desperate and dangerous, and when next she sees her ship, a mystery rises from the deep. The sailors--her captain, her countrymen--have vanished. To find them, Reyna must use every resource at her disposal . . . including placing her trust in a handsome prince from a rival kingdom.
Together they uncover a disturbing truth. The attack was no isolated incident. Troubling signs point to a shadowy kingdom in the north, and for once, the rulers of the Sea of Magdalen agree: something must be done. But can Reyna be brave enough to find a way?" AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
I would guesstimate this book roughly take place maybe 10 years or so (give or take a few due to my memory and math skills) after the first book. Reyna has grown up with aspirations of being an explorer for the kingdom of del Mar. She's returning from a yearlong voyage, when she's woken in the middle of the night by her bodyguard who says the ship is being commandeered. They quickly destroy all maps that would reveal del Mar's trade routes to the attackers. However, the bodyguard mentions the crew seemed to shuffle by without resisting the attackers, almost as if they were blank. The bodyguard cannot swim and escape with Reyna, so they end up shoving Reyna out of the window and into the treacherous sea below. The serpents might kill her before she reaches shore.
That's literally, just the first fifteen pages of the story. I was CAPTIVATED (pun intended, HAR). Everything from there starts an adventure of Reyna going home (and accidentally bumping into a prince of the neighboring kingdom after her escape), to trying to find out what happened to the ship she was on and the crew.
Literally, this is another one of those books where the less said, the better because there is so much intricate story telling that I don't want to lure readers off from the complete experience.
That being said, I LOVED Reyna. She's freaking awesome and everything I hope to find other female lead characters being. She has a great sense of self, determination, cleverness, and strength. It's just refreshing to read someone that also feels authentic. Good, this is good, good, stuff.
The world building was also on point, phenomenal. The first book did a wonderful job, and the second book only added more. The lore of the world simultaneously enhances the story and also gives the world a sense of being it's own character almost. It kind of reminded of the Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (which I reviewed HERE), but in that story, the island also took on it's own personality of sorts. The island became a character in a sense. I would say the world of this book almost becomes a character in a sense because of all the different wonders it holds. ...am I being vague enough? Hmmmm....
I also enjoyed so much of the relationships between all the characters. I do kind of wish we got to see a little more of del Mar, but only because I loved reading so much about del Mar in the first book. There were a few scenes on del Mar, and they were pretty great, but again, I mostly just wanted to see del Mar because of book 1. Book 2 did a very lovely job with it's various different parts of the world, but sometimes I just want to see ...home... I guess. Yeah I know, whatever. I'm a tough customer.
The story itself also had a lot of mystery elements to it, which was pretty excellent to see how all of it revealed in the end.
Would highly recommend. I stayed up late one night just to finish this book. It's that caliber of good.
Happy reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment