Kirkus Review
A girl tries to save her father and learn the truth about her own identity. Growing up on the isle of Rosevear, Mira has always felt called to the ocean in a way she suspects her fellow islanders aren't. Working as a wrecker with other villagers, her job is to save survivors from the ships they lure toward shore to illegally plunder. Mira can't help but feel suffocated by her life. Her father is loving but "a little too stifling"; he's especially protective since Mira's mother died doing the same work that she now does. But when the watch--the governing force of their region--set a trap to catch them, Mira's father is captured and sentenced to death. Mira, desperate to save him, finds herself seeking help from Seth, a survivor of one of her isle's own wrecks. Following a gut feeling and a set of coordinates found in her mother's belongings, Mira sets out to save her father. She's thrown together with the members of a ship's crew, all of whom, it seems, have their own secrets to keep. While the narrative initially lacks momentum, it eventually gains speed, delivering twist after satisfying twist. Some of the characterizations lack depth and the romance would have benefitted from being more fully developed, but beautiful imagery builds an engrossing world that's tough to leave behind. Mira is cued white; some secondary characters are brown-skinned. A slow-building but ultimately satisfying fantasy adventure. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The sea takes, and the sea gives. This is the credo that Mira has grown up with, and for her people, on the island of Rosevear, it is a way of life: to survive the harsh winters, they lure ships to their rocky coasts, wrecking them along their shores and plundering their holds. As one of the seven who swims out to the ships, Mira is responsible for saving what lives she can, and it's a responsibility she takes seriously; she lost her own mother, a wrecker before her, to the sea. When the city watch decides to no longer turn a blind eye to Rosevear and sentences Mira's father to hang, Mira enlists the services of a boy she once saved from drowning and hires herself a crew that could be her salvation or her doom. Armed with only a set of coordinates left to her by her mother, she heads for an open sea filled with pirates and monsters, praying for something that will help her on her quest. The high stakes and ticking clock make this propulsively readable, but it's the dreamy, confident writing that elevates this debut to the next level. A swashbuckler that metes out romance and vengeance in equal measure and with equal weight, this series starter is poised to make a significant splash.
