Title: Dark Water Daughter
Author: H.M. Long
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Titan Books
Pages: 464
Release Date: 11 July 2023
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Hello fellow booklovers! Today I'm sharing my review for Dark Water Daughter by H.M. Long. A swashbuckling and vividly immersive, piratical fantasy that weaves an intricate tale of treachery, redemption and family in this Jacobean-set, high seas adventure that's perfect for fans of Pirates of The Caribbean.
Synopsis
A stormsinger and pirate hunter join forces against a deathless pirate lord in this swashbuckling Jacobean adventure on the high-seas.
Mary Firth is a Stormsinger: a woman whose voice can still hurricanes and shatter armadas. Faced with servitude to pirate lord Silvanus Lirr, Mary offers her skills to his arch-rival in exchange for protection - and, more importantly, his help sending Lirr to a watery grave. But her new ally has a vendetta of his own, and Mary's dreams are dark and full of ghistings, spectral creatures who inhabit the ancient forests of her homeland and the figureheads of ships.
Samuel Rosser is a disgraced naval officer serving aboard The Hart, an infamous privateer commissioned to bring Lirr to justice. He will stop at nothing to capture Lirr, restore his good name and reclaim the only thing that stands between himself and madness: a talisman stolen by Mary.
Finally, driven into the eternal ice at the limits of their world, Mary and Samuel must choose their loyalties and battle forces older and more powerful than the pirates who would make them slaves.
Review
I loved every second of this! The world building was intricately crafted and the descriptions detailed and atmospherically immersive. The lore surrounding magic (stormsingers, sooths, magni) and Ghisting was soo cleverly woven into the plot (via text book style excerpts) that I was able to fully immerse myself without it becoming too info dumpy.
Even the tension when we first meet Mary (staring down the gallows) is soo nerve-wrackingly high that it’s impossible not to be on the edge of your seat. It also has one of the most shocking openings I’ve read to date and definitely got my attention.
I really enjoyed the alternating, dual POVs of Mary and Samuel which definitely helped to keep track of both characters and their journey across the high seas.
Mary, our resident stormsinger and protagonist starts as a rather timid character, trying to survive in world where her powers a make her a valuable commodity—one that a lot of people would kill or commit treachery for. But as the story progresses, and her confidence grows (along with her abilities and forgotten memories) we see the beginnings of a woman who will risk anything to protect the ones she loves most.
However, Mary’s character didn’t feel as in depth and fleshed out as some of the other characters (specifically Samuel) and though I enjoyed watching her emotional journey (searching for her mother), I would’ve liked to have seen a little more of her beyond that single minded focus. Though I did enjoy the flashback scenes we get in later chapters of the book.
Samuel, in contrast was incredibly well developed with a nuanced and compelling backstory that made him quite endearing. I really loved delving into how someone as devoted and faithful as Samuel could end up in disgrace (as a privateer no less), and found his complicated relationship with twin brother Benedict both intriguing and rather heartbreaking (for Samuel, I absolutely despised Ben.)
The supporting characters were also incredibly fascinating in a complex, morally grey kind of way—even if I wasn’t a fan of all of them (*cough* Benedict and Lirr *cough* .) I did really like Captain Demerys, our morally ambiguous pirate captain who helps Mary at a time when she needs it the most.
I can’t say much else without spoiling the plot but, if you’re a fan of heart poundingly high stakes action, and pirate based, high seas fantasy then you definitely need to check this out!
Also a massive thank you to Also Kabriya and Titan Books for the finished copy.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5
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