These Rebel Waves (Stream Raiders, #1)
Sara Raasch
Adeluna is a soldier. Five years ago, she helped the magic-rich island of Grace Loray overthrow its oppressor, Argrid, a country ruled by religion. But adjusting to postwar life has not been easy. When an Argridian delegate vanishes during peace talks with Grace Loray’s new Council, Argrid demands brutal justice—but Lu suspects something more dangerous is at work. Devereux is a pirate. As one of the outlaws called stream raiders who run rampant on Grace Loray, he pirates the island’s magic plants and sells them on the black market. But after Argrid accuses raiders of the diplomat’s abduction, Vex becomes a target. An expert navigator, he agrees to help Lu find the Argridian—but the truth they uncover could be deadlier than any war. Benat is a heretic. The crown prince of Argrid, he harbors a secret obsession with Grace Loray’s forbidden magic. When Ben’s father, the king, gives him the shocking task of reversing Argrid’s fear of magic, Ben has to decide if one prince can change a devout country—or if he’s building his own pyre. As conspiracies arise, Lu, Vex, and Ben will have to decide who they really are . . . and what they are willing to become for peace.
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3.5
Okay, so I think everyone (including me) knew by the time this came out that there were no gay pirates, which is disappointing. (Someone give me gay pirates, damn it!)
Someone is gay and there ARE pirates, al I guess I see the confusion.
Despite that, I actually quite enjoyed this. I thought the magic system was unique (and I mean truly unique, like actually one of a kind). Magic appears to be completely contained in plants, and different plants have different magical properties. I thought that was cool, and again, you get a lot of the same stuff in YA fantasy, so I thought it was cool to get something different.
I liked the characters. Vex is a doll. He was that kind of sarcastic and dry and funny sort of bad boy without being an asshole, so as far as I'm concerned, he's pretty much the ideal version of the character archetype. Lu was a likable female protagonist, and I feel like a lot of times I dislike female protagonists because they're just so annoying. This book did the thing where Lu and Vex were off in one place and Ben was somewhere else and they didn't interact, which usually bugs me. It bugged me here, but the payoff was worth it.
I didn't LOVE the religious aspects of the book, and like, I should probably get back in the habit of reading the synopses before I read books because if I had, I would have at least known it was coming instead of being totally surprised. But it didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book or anything.
There's not a ton of romance in this book. Really, there's not much at all. Ben is already in a relationship with one of his guards, but even so, there is not a heavy romance there. I'm assuming Lu and Vex are going in that direction, and there were hints, but there's no instalove and no heavy romance. And there's no love triangle!!!!!! Let's hope the same goes for the next book...
I'm sure everyone else called Vex really being Paxben, but you know, I'm me and I guess nothing. Which I prefer because I love being surprised. And I'm upset my babies were separated because I want my new brotp!!!!
So yeah, I quite liked this, and I'm looking forward to picking up These Divided Shores now!
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Did somebody say gay pirates?
Where do I sign up?
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