I avoid pirate books and ship settings, I really don’t like them. And while, unfortunately, this wasn’t an exception to that… Robin Hobb is such a good writer that it was bearable for me.

Objectively, it’s a good book. I liked the addition of multiple POVs, the switch to third person, the different settings. The sentient ships was a really intriguing concept to me. The writing is good. The characters are what you expect of Hobb, you cheer for them, you yell at them, you cry for them.

But it’s still a pirate book. There are tidbits in there that interest me: the characters and the family dynamics (Wintrow is my mvp), the mysterious rain wilds, the liveships, Amber (or should I say the Fool? I’m still convinced they’re the same person), the serpent point of views, but it’s overshadowed by being in a setting I don’t care for at all. It didn’t capture me the way the Farseer trilogy did, and I probably wouldn’t have continued the series if it wasn’t made by Hobb and if I didn’t want to get back to Fitz and the Fool 🤷🏻‍♀️

3.75 ⭐️, rounded up cause it feels illegal to rate Hobb a 3.5 and it’s a me problem.

Brilliant and brutal.

I’d like to say something profound but I am left speechless

A beautiful tale, with the potential of being a 5 star read, if it hadn’t become so repetitive in the second half.

I love V.E Schwab, her writing is amazing, the characters she creates are intriguing. Her prose is very enjoyable to read, and the past and present, short chapters make for a dynamic, easy read that keeps you interested.

My only gripe with this was that I wanted more from the flashbacks. She meets a stranger, tries to leave a mark, they forget, and then oftentimes Luc is there and they enter their tug of war game. Rinse and repeat. I understand this is her curse, but I just wanted more. I wanted it to go deeper. A different angle. A more historical take. You have 300 years of history to dive into, but the flashbacks always came back to the same thing and stay pretty surface level. A brief mention of war, but we never really dive into what that actually means.

But even if I was left wanting more, it was still a very worthwhile, beautiful read. 4.25 ⭐️