Review of Over Raging Tides by Jennifer Ellison
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
This copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
DESCRIPTION
The pirate crew of the Lady Luck lives by many rules, but chief among them is this: they do not allow men on board.
That’s a rule that quartermaster Grace Porter is willing to break when a shipwrecked young nobleman offers her information of an omniscient map, stolen from his warship by an enemy vessel. Until now, the map was only the stuff of legend… but with its help, Grace may finally be able to hunt down the Mordgris, the sea monsters who stole her mother away from her.
Unfortunately, some members of her crew have other plans…
To find the map and face the Mordgris, Grace will have to confront her past, put the Luck between warring nations, and uncover treachery aboard the ship. And ultimately, her revenge and the destruction of the Mordgris will come at a hefty price: the betrayal of her crew.
Grace promised them they wouldn’t regret this.
She just isn’t sure that she won’t.
REVIEW
Lady pirates! Secrets! Quests for treasure! Betrayal! Sea creatures!
When I first heard about Over Raging Tides, my first thought was: I need to read this and I immediately added it to my “to-read” shelf on Goodreads.
So, imagine my surprise when I was offered an opportunity by the author to read the book in exchange for an honest review. I could not pass it up and have been left with no regrets.
“Life at sea is not butterflies and daisies.
Her gift is freedom, but it’s not something she gives for free.”
Stories about pirates, mermaids, sirens, etc. have been all the rage lately and this book sated my desire for another sea-faring story wonderfully. It is a fast-paced adventure with Pirates of the Caribbean vibes, a mysterious backstory and it becomes a delectably interesting tale overall.
The main character – Grace – has spent most of her life aboard the pirate ship, Lady Luck and currently serves as her quartermaster. Unlike other ships sailing the Eleven Seas, the Luck is comprised of an entirely female crew and men are not allowed to step foot onboard. However, after a bending of the rules, a young man named Leo has found himself aboard the Luck and may be the key to finding a map most have believed to be a legend. For this map is enchanted with the ability to show the location of whatever you seek of it. The pirates aboard the Luck wish to use the map to find treasure. Gracie wishes to use the map to find the Mordgris, sea creatures who took her mother years before. To locate the map, the women aboard the Luck must set aside their rules and work beside Leo. However, not everyone on the crew is pleased with this arrangement.
“You have found yourself aboard a pirate ship. Female pirates, yes, but pirates nonetheless. There are many things in our code, but honor is not one of them.”
I was not expecting Gracie to be as ruthless and morally grey of a character as she was, but she is a pirate after all and she fit her profession well. Grace and Leo are both cunning in their ways and good counterparts for each other. I only wish their character development was deeper. We do not learn much about Leo, his family or even his story and are not given a strong grasp on Grace’s nature outside her interactions with other characters. To say the least, their depth of character is lacking in some ways. They are unique characters, without a doubt, but I’m not sure if they are memorable.
That said – the story overall is strong with a good air of mystery to it. I found myself fascinated by the Mordgris and constantly trying to picture what they look like and what they are. What is the story behind Gracie’s mother? What does the captain know? Why do the Mordgris constantly plague Gracie? This book has some fairly good plot twists I did not anticipate, keeping me caught up with the story and always wanting a little more. There are several plotlines running throughout the story and it closes with a cliffhanger ending that is enticing but not shocking or heartbreaking. You’ll be left wanting more, but you won’t be left in tears or frustration. Over Raging Tides is not a standalone and I am looking forward to seeing where the story takes us in the next installment.
If you want a fast-paced, fun, uncomplicated adventure, this is the book for you!
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