Goodreads Summary:
Set in a kingdom where danger lurks beneath the sea, mermaids seek vengeance with song, and magic is a choice.
She will reign.
As princess of the island kingdom Visidia, Amora Montara has spent her entire life training to be High Animancer — the master of souls. The rest of the realm can choose their magic, but for Amora, it’s never been a choice. To secure her place as heir to the throne, she must prove her mastery of the monarchy’s dangerous soul magic.
When her demonstration goes awry, Amora is forced to flee. She strikes a deal with Bastian, a mysterious pirate: he’ll help her prove she’s fit to rule, if she’ll help him reclaim his stolen magic.
But sailing the kingdom holds more wonder — and more peril — than Amora anticipated. A destructive new magic is on the rise, and if Amora is to conquer it, she’ll need to face legendary monsters, cross paths with vengeful mermaids, and deal with a stow-away she never expected… or risk the fate of Visidia and lose the crown forever.
I am the right choice. The only choice. And I will protect my kingdom.
My Review:
Wow. I mean, WOW. I loved this book! I had very high expectations with it being an OwlCrate book, and it really delivered on those. First of all, I love the world-building. It was really complicated and rich, but at the same time easy to understand, which I really admired. Supporting characters actually had personalities that you could see being developed throughout the book. There was sort of a love triangle, but not at all in an annoying way, and overall it was pretty uncomplicated in the romance department. I certainly had my guesses on what would happen, but Adalyn Grace really made this unpredictable. I also loved how she developed the characters, specifically Amora. Amora didn’t know everything that was going on, but also didn’t read to me as naive. In addition to this, I loved that while Amora would murder someone if they deserved it, she was neither the innocent, basic girl, nor the sassy, conceited one that we see too much of when most authors right about empowering women. Finally, Bastian. I really do love his character, and not just because he’s like a better version of the love interests that a lot of mainstream authors love to write: smooth, handsome, but also caring. You really get a great look into Bastian’s backstory and while there was a LOT about him revealed, it fit with the plot and never seemed to be just for the drama.
I would recommend this book to anyone who would listen, but mainly people who like a lot of fantasy pirate books, fantasy in general, mermaids, etc. This really catered to a lot of different fantasy tropes and I really felt like Adalyn Grace did a good job doing so. I’m forcing all of my friends to read this book because I absolutely loved it.
I would give this book…
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
The Fiction Feature 