Calling all those swashbuckling, pirate-loving, daring adventurers out there. Have I got a delicious book for you today!

Back when my sweet friends Sarah Rodecker and Helena George said they were co-writing a swashbuckling book, I may have squealed. (I mean, who doesn’t love daring seafaring adventures and pirates???) And then when they said THEY WERE PUBLISHING IT the squealing was vamped up x10000.

Well, at last I have gotten my greedy hands on their gorgeous tale and now I must flail about it to the world!

Synopsis

An assassin trainee fleeing his profession.

A princess risking her reputation.

A talking ship with a mad captain.

Ravin should be dead. No one forsakes the assassin profession and lives. Attempting to evade capture and certain death, Ravin hides on a ship as part of the crew. Then his name is announced on Selection Day for the annual Scaera Dumeda, despite him never taking the entry test, declaring to the entire world—and the assassins hunting him for revenge—that he is alive.

Princess Adima Radi Kashinda dreams of more than someday ruling Antovan. She desires to make a true difference for her people. When her name is called on Selection Day, she throws away her title, despite the uncertain future ahead. This may be the opportunity she hoped for.

When some of the other selectees are murdered, Ravin and Adi are among the suspects. With the help of Ravin’s captain and crew, they sail away to hunt down the killer and clear their names. Can they catch the murderer when he always seems to be at least one step ahead?

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THE PLOT

Assassins, pirates, A TALKING SHIP—there was seriously so much goodness in this novel.

We begin by being introduced to Ravin, an ex-assassin seeking refuge with a band of sailors as he hides from his blood-thirsty father who would, well, not be happy to know his son ran away from the assassin life. But Ravin’s plan of vanishing from the world kind of explode when his name is called for the Scaera Dumeda. Except he didn’t even apply to enter the grand competition.

Adi, on the other hand, very much hopes to be entered into the Scaera Dumeda. She wants to help people, change the world. Her life as a princess keeps her hands tied. But the Scaera Dumeda, a competition to choose new ambassadors for the Alliance of Kingdoms, would provide her ample amounts of opportunity to make a difference.

Well, turns out, the Scaera Dumeda does not go as planned when murder is discovered…and Ravin and Adi are the prime suspects.

With the aid of Captain Jay Hill and his unusual crew, Ravin and Adi escape on his ship, hoping to solve the mystery of the murders and clear their names. But a strange ship, sea dragons, pirates, and lots and lots of secrets await them. And maybe some unexpected friends…

THE CHARACTERS

AAAAHHHHH THESE CHARACTERS. *hugs them all for eternity*

The most important thing you should know: This is a found family book which is MY FAVORITE. A motley crew coming together and forming their own strange little family? HECK YES I AM THERE EVERY TIME. I went into this book not even realizing this would be such a precious found family read, so you can imagine my ecstasy (there was a lot of squealing and hugging of the book).

This is such a fun, diverse ensemble cast, and I fell in love with every. single. one of them!

Though there are quite a lot of characters, the book goes back and forth from the points-of-view of Ravin and Adi.

RAVIN – Ah, my sweet silent boy of fluff and knives. Ravin may have been my favorite but I DON’T KNOW. They were all great! THIS BOY THOUGH. He brought tears to my eyes! His was definitely the most emotional role as he grew and came to see people as friends, not enemies and just AKLJLDJF MY HEART.

Ravin comes from a long line of assassins, which is a very tight-knit, serious profession. Deserting it is a big no-no. But our sweet boy, despite being trained to kill his whole life, couldn’t go through with his First Kill and instead fled from his father. Now he’s forever plagued with fear that his father will find him. The scars and fear this boy held were just… *clutches heart* IT HURT. After living his entire life raised by a bloodthirsty assassin, it’s really hard for him to trust and open up to people, and pretty much his entire thought-process goes through the filter of his assassin training. Living a Normal Life is seemingly out of the question.

He had such an amazing arc. Did I mention I CRIED? So many Ravin Emotions. So many.

ADI – Princess Adima Radi Kashinda is not running from something, but to something. I loved her drive to want to make a difference for the kingdoms. Hers was such an inspiring role! Her willingness to go above and beyond to help people, even when they’re not her responsible, was a beautiful thing. I loved her arc too, of how sometimes the things we think we want and our real dreams may be entirely different things. It really made me think.

I love how Adi took charge, but without ever being haughty about it. In fact, mostly when she took charge, it wasn’t even intentional. She just had a good head on her shoulders and is a natural-born leader. She rallies people up, inspires them, and will be the first to protect or offer a kind word.

Her journey of discovering who she really was and where she belonged was so poignant.

AND ALL THE OTHER CHARACTERS. My word, I could just sit here forever and squeal about every single one of them.

Captain Jay Hill himself was definitely one of my absolute FAVORITES. This strange ship captain is the most cheery, charismatic soul you will ever meet…and maybe just a touch mad. I love how he was almost this mythical being himself. There was this enigmatic air to him that I adored. Literally, if for nothing else read this story for Jay alone.

But I adored everyone! Justin Case and his ridiculous love for tea. Strong, motherly Heather. Josiah, Arrow, and Hawthorn and their upbeat, energetic selves. Ash the stubborn little thief. Shade the Grumpmaster™. Sandaline and her fabulous poofy hair (*grins*). Another character who shall remain unnamed because #spoilers but totally took me by surprise in the best way. E V E R Y B O D Y.

OH. And we can’t forget another favorite character: THE TALKING SHIP. Sassy, stubborn, but so, so loyal, the talking ship was one of the most delightful, fascinating bits of the entire book! Oh, and she was totally shipping a certain couple of somebodies. Yes, a ship shipping. It was my favorite. XD

I love how everyone was so different and came from so many different backgrounds and walks of life. It made the dynamics and growing relationships an absolute BLAST.

I just adored this crazy crew of pirate hunters!

OTHER THOUGHTS

This was just a FUN book! It really brings to life that swashbuckling flare with so much sea-lore and sailing and pirate hunting. And did I mention SEA DRAGONS? Because YES. That’s a thing!

One of my favorite things, as mentioned, is that the ship TALKED. But what I really loved about it was that it didn’t exactly feel like magic, per se. Though it’s in a different world with sea dragons, this book almost feels historical fiction-y, with just the slightest traces of magic. It has this magical realism flavor, where the “magic” is so subtle, so perfectly integrated into the world, it doesn’t even quite feel like magic. It’s best to just experience it for yourself, so I don’t want to say too much, but the whole talking ship bit was brilliant. (Seriously, can we all just acknowledge that the idea of a talking ship is THE BEST IDEA EVER???)

I do wish there had been more of the talking ship bits in the first half of the book. We really don’t get too deep into that until the second half. But it was worth the wait! ALL my favorite parts involved the talking ship.

Honestly, I felt like the second half of the story was much stronger than the first half. There was a slight disconnect with the narrative at first; I felt like the emotion was lacking. And the stakes also seemed kind of low. The characters kept getting out of trouble really easily, it felt like to me. BUT. I mention all this to say: stick with it! Though the first half was still a lot of fun, it’s the second half that kept me riveted. The emotion, the stakes, the PLOT TWISTS, the character dynamics—it all gets ramped up x100, and I fell completely in love with the story.

Also can we all appreciate how there was basically no romance??? I do suspect it’s leading up to some romantic subplots for later books, which I am fine with! But I am SO HAPPY this book first focused on the characters learning to trust each other and become friends before they’re, ya know, making out. It’s rare we ever get that, and it was so very refreshing.

And this is such a random thing to love, but the amount of weapons in this book was just awe-inspiring. I mean, Ravin alone was like a weapons vending machine. The boy carried so. many. knives. It was great. The other characters, too, were armed to the teeth, and even the ship seemed to just have weapons stashed e v e r y w h e r e. I loved it. It was hilarious. I approve. XD

Another favorite thing was the “found documents” at the beginning of each chapter. Every chapter opened with a short paragraph that was a story-within-the-story, talking of the legends of the Red Wind. I LOVED how it progressed and brought things to light. It was truly brilliant.

And while we’re talking about chapter beginnings: there were also adorable illustrations at each chapter heading! Yes, yes, I am a total shallow bookworm, and pretty formatting completely enhances my overall enjoyment of a story. But GUYS. ILLUSTRATIONS. They were a TREAT.

Also that cover. The cover is drool-worthy. #shallowbookworm

Clearly there is just a lot to love! I really enjoyed how it was both fun and humorous, but also had some thought-provoking and emotional moments, all wrapped up in a slightly magical, oh-so exciting seafaring adventure. I truly had such a delightful time with this story!

CONTENT CAUTIONS

Despite assassins and bloodthirsty pirates heavily being involved, this is a very family-friendly book!

Any “swearing” was always omitted, there’s no actual swear words on the page.

There were a few mentions of rape or intentions of rape BUT it was so subtly woven in some younger readers might not even pickup on it. I appreciated how it was handled—woven in to realistically portray the ruthlessness of pirates, but subtle enough to still keep this family-friendly.

There is definitely some death and injuries, but nothing was ever graphically described. I’d say the most graphic bits were the sea dragon fights, as they got impaled with spikes and hacked with swords. Plus sea dragon blood has special properties and the characters collected it. So if you’re squeamish about blood, do be aware.

Overall though, this was just a fun, family-friendly swashbuckling tale!

CONCLUSION

A found family, a talking ship, delightful characters, moving themes, and a high-action seafaring tale—literally what more could you ask for in a book? I love how this was just a good old fashioned adventure read, with touches of humor but a whole lot of heart as well. It’s not all fun and games and murder—there are plenty of poignant moments as well. The balance of edge-of-your-seat action coupled with quiet moments to get to know the character and see their relationships grow was a beautiful thing. I grew to absolute love this motley crew and it was a true joy being swept away across the seas with them. (Now where is book #2???)

If you need a good swashbuckling, seafaring, family-friendly venture with dynamic characters and a touch of magic, I can’t recommend Ships, Secrets, and Survivors enough!

. . . 4 out of 5 Stars . . .

LET’S TALK!

What say you? Does this sound up your alley? Or have you read it yet??? (Because you NEED IT.) And show of hands: Who loves a good swashbuckling tale?