After her family is killed by corrupt warlord Aric Athair and his bloodthirsty army of Bullets, Caledonia Styx is left to chart her own course on the dangerous and deadly seas. She captains her ship, the Mors Navis, with a crew of girls and women just like her, who have lost their families and homes because of Aric and his men. The crew has one mission: stay alive, and take down Aric's armed and armored fleet.
But when Caledonia's best friend and second-in-command barely survives an attack thanks to help from a Bullet looking to defect, Caledonia finds herself questioning whether to let him join their crew. Is this boy the key to taking down Aric Athair once and for all...or will he threaten everything the women of the Mors Navis have worked for?
Overall Thoughts
5/5 stars
Move over Jack Sparrow, there’s a new captain in town and her name is Caledonia Styx!
This book was AH-mazing. From the very beginning it was obvious that Natalie Parker has an effortless writing style that was able to transport you to a word where a cruel war lord combs the high seas for victims and a crew of an all female ship is the only thing standing in his way. The prose was lovely, the characters and their motivations were all fleshed out, and the visuals of the story are utterly heart pounding.
When you read this novel, the world around you disappears as Caledonia and her badass crew of ladies battle for survival and try to bring down a corrupt warlord’s malicious control over the high seas. The unforgettable characters, the suspenseful action, and the effortless writing makes Seafire a great book. But this book is more than just great. It transcends greatness and becomes utterly transformative, because at the heart of this novel is a theme of unwavering sisterhood and a devout resolve to defend those who are unable to defend themselves. I rarely give books five-stars, in fact out of all the hundreds of books I’ve read over the years I have only given one other book a five star rating.
But Seafire is definitely five star worthy.
For the group of tough as nail women “hell-bent on toppling the patriarchy”, for the unflinching and rich sisterhood that the women of the Mors Navis share, and because of the way my heart longed to be apart of Caledonia’s crew I give this book a 5 star rating. No hesitation, no second thoughts. This book is a gem of a novel, whose praise deserves to be shouted from the rooftops.
If you pre-order one book this year, for the love of everything holy let it be Seafire. You will not be dissapointed.
Plot
This book is PACKED with action, from high stakes battles on the sea to racing through tenous trade cities, Seafire reads like a hollywood blockbuster movie (and honestly if I heard that this book going to be translated to the silver screen I would not be surprised). I read this book in one day. That’s how thoroughly this book had me in it’s grips. The worldbuilding is well executed and there’s a vibrancy to Caledonia’s world that is intriguing and heart rending all at once. But I have to admit, I was a bit confused at first with some elements of the world building. There’s an element of technology that has Seafire toeing the line between fantasy and dystopian as the presence of such tech hints at a former world ravaged by modern man’s destructive ways.
At first, it was strange to reconcile my idea of what pirates were, with Natalie Parker’s tech infused take on pirates. But once I did I was hooked. The plot was well paced and gripping. The only complaint I have is about the ending. It wasn’t completely satisfying and I would have loved one more scene to really wrap up the novel and prep me for the next book. But overall, it didn’t detract from the story much.
Characters
WOW. The characters in Seafire really make this story. There’s good representation in this book and of course the theme of female empowerment is AMAZING and had me internally cheering throughout the novel. Caledonia is a badass girl who has to deal with the pitfalls of being a leader and she must toe the line between the desire of revenge and being better than those who took everything from her. But even when she falters and strays from that line, her crew and best friend Pisces is there to guide her back to the right path. Her motivations are well developed and as are the characters of each of the girls on the Mors Navis.
Despite being “side characters” each of Caledonia's crew makes a deep and lasting impression. Circumstance tries to tarnish the sisterhood of the Mors Navis crew, yet that bond remains despite all. There is a smidge of romance in this book, and while I always love a hearty dose of romance in my YA books I thought the way that it was done in this book was perfect. Any more romance in the novel would feel forced and honestly it didn’t even really need it in order to keep my attention. There are also some character deaths that hurt my heart SO much, but from a writer stance I have to pat Natalie Parker on the back because they were expertly timed and tore my heart to SHREDS.
Concluding Thoughts
PRE. ORDER. THIS. BOOK. PLEASEEEEEEEE
Click here to pre-order Seafire