Chloe Neill brings her trademark wit and wild sense of adventure to a stunning seafaring fantasy starring a dauntless heroine in a world of magic and treachery.
Kit Brightling, rescued as a foundling and raised in a home for talented girls, has worked hard to rise through the ranks of the Isles’ Crown Command and become one of the few female captains in Queen Charlotte’s fleet. Her ship is small, but she’s fast–in part because of Kit’s magical affinity to the sea. But the waters become perilous when the queen sends Kit on a special mission with a partner she never asked for.
Rian Grant, Viscount Queenscliffe, may be a veteran of the Continental war, but Kit doesn’t know him or his motives–and she’s dealt with one too many members of the Beau Monde. But Kit has her orders, and the queen has commanded they journey to a dangerous pirate quay and rescue a spy who’s been gathering intelligence on the exiled emperor of Gallia.
Kit can lead her ship and clever crew on her own, but with the fate of queen and country at stake, Kit and Rian must learn to trust each other, or else the Isles will fall…
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An intriguing start to a brand new series by Chloe Neill full of sailors, captains, strange new magic, the sea, and roguish yet fancy love interests. Kit Brightly is a clever woman who is the captain of her own ship. She deals with misogyny from other captains with style, and is willing to go to the end of the world for her crew. She also has strong ties to the woman who raised her, along with her six other sisters. The Bright and Breaking Sea is set in an alternate reality in which women seem to have a lot more freedom and respect, though misogyny is not entirely gone. It is also a world full of magic, and Kit is very good at toeing the line between overusing the magic (which leads to catastrophe) and gently manipulating it. There is a lot being set up in The Bright and Breaking Sea, and if this is like Neill’s other series’ then we are in for the long haul. In TBABS we deal with traitors to the crown, a tyrant who wants his power back, the experimentation of magic (and its consequences), the oppression of the people who are aligned (can somehow feel the magic imbued in the sea, the air, or the earth, and sort of manipulate it), and the beginnings of a slow burn courtship. I think there is a lot to like here. At some parts the story is a bit slower than I would have liked. I want more chapters were the crew come together as an unlikely family. You do have a lot of adventure at sea, but it is a couple of small missions with not a lot of tension. I was missing that goal at the end of the book. I felt the revelation of the spy was also kind of anticlimactic, as I wasn’t hugely invested in the character that was revealed to be the culprit. Overall it is a great start to a new series! I look forward to the next installment. |
PS; I was provided a review copy in exchange for an honest review. Thanks go to the publisher!
For the Sake of Reading 