Special thank you to Penguin Random House for gifting me this ARC in exchange for my honest review. I was sent this novel as a result of winning a BookishFirst giveaway.
“I was the ship’s captain. Now I’m its ghost.”
“I thought I will never be able to love anyone again. I thought I will kill the people who did this to you. And I thought I will do whatever it takes to stay alive.”
Although YA adventure and fantasy novels are not my favorite, my students have always been crazy over Ally Condie and her Matched series, so I was eager to get a chance to read this one before it hits shelves this month. I will say that even though this one is dubbed as a “YA Fantasy,” I feel like it’s pretty light on the fantasy and heavier on adventure.
In this novel, we follow the journey of Poe Blythe, seventeen-year-old captain of a gold-mining ship traveling the dangerous Serpentine River, as she avenges the death of her boyfriend Call. Call was killed two years prior by river raiders, also known as “drifters”. Fueled by grief and intense anger, Poe vows to seek revenge at all costs.
Poe is a sharp character -- smart, cautious, and leery of everyone and everything. She’s easy to love and root for, as readers will be eager to see her broken heart healed. Fans of Hunger Games and Divergent series will enjoy this one.
I did only rate this one as 3 stars, because I felt like the action got very stale towards the end. I found myself skimming the final pages, which is always such a bummer.
“I was the ship’s captain. Now I’m its ghost.”
“I thought I will never be able to love anyone again. I thought I will kill the people who did this to you. And I thought I will do whatever it takes to stay alive.”
Although YA adventure and fantasy novels are not my favorite, my students have always been crazy over Ally Condie and her Matched series, so I was eager to get a chance to read this one before it hits shelves this month. I will say that even though this one is dubbed as a “YA Fantasy,” I feel like it’s pretty light on the fantasy and heavier on adventure.
In this novel, we follow the journey of Poe Blythe, seventeen-year-old captain of a gold-mining ship traveling the dangerous Serpentine River, as she avenges the death of her boyfriend Call. Call was killed two years prior by river raiders, also known as “drifters”. Fueled by grief and intense anger, Poe vows to seek revenge at all costs.
Poe is a sharp character -- smart, cautious, and leery of everyone and everything. She’s easy to love and root for, as readers will be eager to see her broken heart healed. Fans of Hunger Games and Divergent series will enjoy this one.
I did only rate this one as 3 stars, because I felt like the action got very stale towards the end. I found myself skimming the final pages, which is always such a bummer.