Natalie C. Parker

This book was stupendous! Exciting and well paced with great writing and well developed characters! It made my heart race, it made my heart sing, it made me wish I could join Captain Caledonia’s crew. Female friendships make the heart of this book, and it was so refreshing to read a YA book that wasn’t focused on romance (though there’s a delicious shiver in there at some point ;) but instead fully focused on action and camaraderie. It reminded me a bit of the 90s movie Cutthroat show more Island (only the cool parts, ie: Geena Davis), but felt fresh and original. Cool characters, gnarly villains and badass girls who fight for freedom and for each other. The heroines struggle with the need for revenge and the desire to be better than those that wronged them, which is a feeling that resonates all too clearly for me in today’s world.
The cliff hanger ending was a doozy, and I am desperate for the next installment! It only took me so long to read because I didn’t want the story to end and took a break in the middle to make it last.
Set in a future world with a great blend of pirate tropes and steampunk tech, this book combines the best of the best. I haven’t read such a cool book in a while, it was an utter delight! show less

I'm so glad I picked up this ARC at BookCon. You have to love a good pirate adventure and this crew of badass, seafaring girls definitely delivers. The relationships between the girls in Caledonia's crew are complex and realistic, and you get a sense of how strong the ties are between every girl on board. I love that Caledonia doesn't let her emotions rule her actions, and she tries to make the best choices to protect all of the girls under her command rather than taking risks for the show more benefit of one or two. All in all, a fantastic start to a series and I cannot wait for the next book! show less

it's been far too long since a book sucked me right in and i sat down and devoured it in one sitting.

thank fuck for this book. i needed it. i needed it so badly. it gets five stars and a hug because of how badly I needed this book. (it's probably more of a 4/4.5-ish star, because I'm always hesitant to give out fivers for some reason, but fuck it, it gets 5 because it hit me when I needed it.)

it has all sorts of elements meant to entice me: southern setting, sibling relationships, show more fairy-tale feelings/atmosphere, realistic friendships (female at that) interesting, strong, well written female characters that don't feel unrealistic or have everything line up just so for them. and a romance that is sweet and doesn't cloud the actual story. young adult fantasy novels are so saturated with boy/girl romance it drives me up the wall, but I enjoyed this one. it's really not the forefront of this story. it's sweet.

this book feels like a ghost story you'd tell your friends over a campfire, or in your bedroom, trying to scare everyone with all the lights off.

it's about a girl, her brother, and a swamp.

it's about a girl finally finding the strength in herself to take care of herself.

it's about a girl finding her sister/making her own family.

it's about small towns, and how adults just seem to decide to agree upon things as truths, never questioning them.

it's about the wild, and how it can eat you up if you let it.

goddamn, i thoroughly enjoyed this. the writing was simple yet beautiful in places and felt realistic for a sixteen year old girl. the characters all felt fleshed out enough (some more than others) but there were great moments between nearly all of them. i'll definitely be on the lookout for more from this author in the future, if this is what she can crank out as a first novel, i can't wait to see what she delivers for a second. show less

"On the back of the sea, who do we trust? – Our Sisters.
When our ship falters, who do we trust? – Our Sisters.
In a storm of Bullets, who do we trust? – Our Sisters!"

I really really enjoyed this one. I have an unhealthy obsession with pirate books and anything sea-related so imagine how happy I was to have a complex, interesting, badass only female crew. 100000000000000% happiness level.
I feel like this one was more of an introduction (this is why it stops at 3.8% and not at full 5 show more stars) even though i truly feel this will become one of my favorite series.
I loved the bond between the crew, the sisterhood between Caledonia and Pisces, and Oran was a delight. Finally a slow burn in a series you get a hint but you don't have the whole "can't live without you" after two minutes they've known each other. These two are more like "you're really really hot and I want to jump your bones but I've got some shit to handle first. Wait for it." And I truly appreciated and loved that.
Lir is hella scary. He has that villain charm and complexity I adore.
Honestly I'm more scared of him than Aric- the supposed "big bad guy" - that I guess we'll meet in book 2.
Can't wait for more badass ladies and some sexy times, because why the hell not. show less