Across the Great Ocean: Redemption

by Virginia Mary

411 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 8, 2026

About the author

Meet Virginia Mary, author of trilogy Across the Great Ocean, lover of literature, photography, cats, & all things outdoors...

When she is not working on her fantasy adventure trilogy, you can find her somewhere in the sun, sipping her favorite tea & smelling the flowers. Her favorite series is Dune.

Reviews

[Steve]

Across the Great Ocean, the trip has been made there and back again. The fantasy trilogy that followed the arduous adventures and emotional road to growth of Nyla, a young woman in search of allies. These allies are needed to aid her war torn and occupied country, after it was already struck by a plague that left its citizens in bad shape.

Main Character Nyla is silently fierce and opinionated, you may not like her in the beginning. At first I didn't either, but I did enjoy the confronting conversations and interactions she had with her loved ones. That only became better, yet more intense, in the series finale. After the first few chapters she grew on me, like a cousin would: you argue, but you still protect each other. Nyla made choices that gave her arguments with the ones close to her, and this was especially painful since she already had felt heartbreak in book 1: Desolation (title says enough, no?) and book 2: Awakening.

Across the Great Ocean 3: Redemption is well-written. You don't only see the growth in our beloved MC, but also in the ones travelling with her. It was no smooth sailing, but at least she was not alone...for most of the time.
The villain was an interesting one: a prince who did bad stuff to become king and had a great understanding of how the world works, even if he hardly left his castle if ever. Smart, cunning but most of all just mean. A typical usurper with little to no remorse for his actions. Very few stood against him, but it's not like they had much of a chance.

I recommend this book for those who enjoy grounded fantasy with rich worlds, well-developed characters and intense internal conflict.

About the writer:
I have read 3 books and finished the fantasy series, as an avid reader would do. Virginia Mary wrote those 3 books! Let that sink in. She chose to go on this year-long journey with her characters: she suffered with them, shared joy & sorrow with them and then she shared all of that with us.

This book has made an impact on me and left dents. I am not easily moved and I don't identify with young women, but there is much more to her series than that personal growth. I've had lessons in politics and philosophy thanks to Virginia, and I am grateful for that. Some conversations between characters really made me think about my own and her worldbuilding inspired me. Since I am trying to finish my own novel, I will use those lessons to improve my own work.

Virginia, thank you for giving me the chance to read your books.

[Morgana Moth]

I am honored to be a recipient of an advanced reader copy of the thrilling finale to the Across the Great Ocean.

4 stars. Virginia Mary told a beautiful story, and this was a very good way to wrap up her trilogy. In this story, she introduced “dream weaving,” where Nyla, using her power as a Protector, can enter a trance and toe the line of a spirit world, seeing the past, present, and future. Every scene in which she weaves is absolutely stunning.

Prince Xan is an incredible antagonist. He has been so often referenced in the books that his presence “on screen” was very much hyped up, and Mary delivered on the hype. While I wish his character had more depth, his scenes were entertaining enough to forgo this.

I have some issues with the prose. Often there are repeated cadences in the narrative. Also, most of the characters speak in the same fashion; that said, I think this is very sweet for Nyla in particular because we can see throughout the course of the series that she picks up the extravagant language of Jon and Zarak, however it gets to a point where their voices are indistinguishable from one another, save an “aye” or two from Zarak.

There are also some heart-wrenching scenes where I think lengthening the narration would have provided more artistry.

Overall, this is a beautiful story ripe with creativity, beauteous imagery, and fantastic world-building and expansion. Nyla’s journey as a Protector was very well-paced, and once again, I love love love the dream-weaving scenes. Nyla also has a great arc in this book, one that comes full circle, and encourages the reader to lean on your loved ones for support when needed.

[M. K. Jacobs]

4.25 stars: I'm so glad I read this series! As a conclusion to the trilogy, I thought this book had similar tone and beats to the first two, so the books flow together well. I wished we got more closure at the ending, though, and there were some pacing concerns for my taste. I really was interested in seeing the parent-child relationship expand, so I was disappointed that that was very much in the background or sidelined, although of course that is just my personal preference. Still, there were some interesting developments here, and I really enjoyed this series. I think Mary is especially talented at showing the complications in sweeping decisions: how choices made by those in power ripple often in unpredictable ways.

Thank you to the author for the ARC; all opinions are my own.

[Robyn and the Merry Reads]

Virginia Mary has created a world I never want to leave, and somehow each book just keeps getting better. If you've already fallen in love with the Across the Great Ocean series, you're going to absolutely devour this one. Returning to Nyla's journey felt like coming home, even as the world around her grows bigger, harsher, and more uncertain. I loved seeing the story expand beyond what we already knew, with higher stakes, new challenges across the sea, political tension, and so many moments that had me holding my breath.

An easy five stars from me.

[Cherie Deck]

This story has detailed magical world building. I love Nyla‘s growing Arc in this book. This story is filled with political tension, new adventures and higher stakes. She realizes the world is harsher and larger. My favorite part was the dream weaving. It was so interesting. I loved all the characters except Prince Xan I feel he was lacking depth. All in all not a bad way to wrap up the series.