Interested in a detailed summary with read-alikes?? Check out my Annotation of this book.
Author: Maggie Tokuda-Hall
Category/Type: Young Adult Fiction
Genre: Fantasy
Subgenre(s): Historical Fantasy
Publication Date: May 5, 2020
Number of Pages: 357 pages of story text; plus a prologue, epilogue, and Acknowledgements
Geographical Setting: A fantasy kingdom as well as the high seas
Time Period: Not specified but likely the late Middle Ages in Japanese seas
Series (if applicable): This book is part of an unnamed series
Plot Summary: After struggling to survive their childhood, Florian, formerly Flora, has finally secured safety for themselves and their brother by murdering an abducted aristocrat. The murder allowed Florian to join the pirate ranks aboard the Dove, a ship that transports passengers around the Floating Islands, but more often than not, abducts the passengers and sells them into slavery to turn a better profit.
Florian needs to complete just another job or two and they’ll have enough money to support themselves and their brother on land, leaving the pirate life far behind. But Florian never could have imagined the next run would include a spy, mutiny, and the lovely and smart Lady Evelyn Hasegawa. Tasked with keeping Evelyn safe, Florian instead falls in love, leading to daring escapes, magical rescues, along with the help of mythical creatures and kind-hearted pirates.
This is a fantastic epic adventure with love guiding the way in a world where nothing is as it seems.
Content warnings (may contain SLIGHT SPOILERS): Child neglect, homophobia, sexism, violence, murder, discussions of slavery
Representation:
Well-developed BIPOC main and supporting characters
Queer romance
Characters across the gender spectrum
“The men of the Dove knew she was a girl. Or had been one. But after the captain had ordered her to kill — and she had, unflinchingly — she earned the respect to be something better than a girl. Something safe. From then on, the crew had only ever called her Florian. ”
PERSONAL THOUGHTS
WARNING: May contain spoilers
This was a fun and magical story (I know, obviously!). It was slow to start, taking about 100 to pages to pick up, but it was worth sticking it out and eventually the story becomes an action-packed race to the end with several unexpected turns.
There is definitely a lot packed into the book with multiple points-of-view and subplots including backstories for the main characters and some of the supporting cast. While this might sound confusing, it’s not difficult to follow and the backstory serves the additional purpose of building the world and magical system for the book.
I enjoyed the twist on fairytales/folklore and Tokuda-Hall managed to weave beauty and hope into the sadness and rough edges that surround the characters. Additionally, I loved the love story with the sea, which allowed for contemplation on the various types of love.
Although there is a sequel coming (The Siren, the Song, and the Spy), the story for Flora/Florian and Evelyn wraps up cleanly. I would say the couple gets a happy ending, but some might argue with that. Given that most major plot elements are wrapped up by the end of this book, I'm curious which characters and subplots the next book in the series will follow.
Final resting place: This book is on my shelf between The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan and The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings box set by J. R. R. Tolkien.
““My point is not about the physical merits of books. But about what they contain...”
”Secrets?”
”No, better. Stories. There’s freedom in stories, you know. We read them and we become something else. We imagine different lives, and while we turn the pages, we get to live them. To escape the lot we’ve been given.””
WHAT I’M READING NOW
My annotations and reviews are always running a bit (or more than a bit) behind what I’m actually reading so here’s a little bit of a teaser, if you will, for reviews to come.
A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean