"You want my life for hers? Take it. I'll take it myself."
I'm not sure how to leave a review for this that isn't too spoiler-y or ramble-y. So here it goes. READ IT. IT'S GREAT. If that isn't enough to convince you, I will try a little bit harder below, but it really was one of my best reads for the whole year so far.
Starts off feeling a just the littlest bit confusing, but as you read, the world building/system becomes a lot more clear. It didn't take long. There was world glossary in the beginning, which I skimmed. I just jumped in with both feet pretty much blindly, and that was fine too.
On the note of the world building, I think it would really be enjoyable to have a future released prequel, where the author could bless us with the story of how some of the characters "fell" to the position they're in now and more of the family drama and dynamics from before this. I'd also love for that to elaborate on some of the side characters on Rhyland's side of things. I'd gobble that up, so much potential there. AFTER the sequel to this one though.. please.
You meet Avalon, who is NOT your *typical* super badass romantasy FMC that it's just a given she's going to kick butt and 'surprise' everyone. She is down on her luck just in general in her life and really just doing the best she can in all the things. I found it endearing and liked her character right away for that. It's clear she's a good person, but just doing the best she can and not always well. She's brave, but not a complete idiot. There's some mystery there, as to who and what she really is, she doesn't even seem to know everything herself. Definitely makes you want to learn more. Rhyland: He is morally grey, but you find out later it's probably not as grey as you think. I do wish there would have been some multiple POV or just more about his character's relationships with some of the other characters, we get to know him from Avalon's POV but his character is pretty deep and I think that could have been expanded upon more. Anyway, they're on the hunt for missing pieces of a magical object seperately, but their paths cross, and he essentially kidnaps her because she's not telling him everything he needs to know. I don't want to get into the plot too much, I feel like it's better to just go in without knowing too much detail. The more you read though, the better it gets!!
It's pirates, but not SO pirate heavy that you're just reading a pirate book, no super cringey pirate speak. I enjoyed the relationship pace, they didn't fall in love the moment he walked in the room and took one look at her, if you know what I mean, but their slow burn was exquisite. It turned into me really rooting for them. There are enough twists and turns and adventure to keep you reading, but not so much that you feel like you just want to get it over with already. I liked how descriptive the author was, you really did feel like you were standing on that ship with them..but not so heavily that it took 4 pages just to describe the sea. Everything felt well balanced in this novel. The ending was a doozy, with a decent plot twist that really wasn't super predictable. I guessed part of it early on but not the entire thing which was a nice surprise.
I would really like the second book to be out, say, tomorrow.
I had a great time reading this and getting to know and love all of the characters. I'm on the edge of my seat to know what happens to them all!