Title: The siren and the deep blue sea (Embraced by Magic #2).
Author: Kerrelyn Sparks.
Format: E-ARC (Thanks to NetGalley, all opinions are my own!)
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Page count: 268.
Release day: August 25th 2020.
Genre: Adult, fantasy, romance.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
What is it about? (Summary from GoodReads)
Four sisters have become queens, rulers of all that Aerthlan’s two moons embrace. The last sister will forge her own path . . .
Signs and Seals
Raised on the magic-seeped Isle of Moon, Maeve is used to unusual powers–and the way they fuel the politics of her world. But when she discovers an ability to shape-shift at will, she knows who she wants to share it with first. Brody, the enigmatic, infuriating shifter-spy has always made time for Maeve. But it’s been almost two months since she’s seen him. And though no one else believes Brody is in danger, Maeve is more than ready to rescue him herself.
The rumors Brody’s investigating are terrifying: a secret army of magic-users, in the service of the cruel Circle of Five. But when he uncovers the identity of one of the Five, the mission becomes personal. Cursed as a boy by the Sea Witch, Brody can spend only two hours a day in his human form, a restriction that limits his future and muzzles his heart. Plus Maeve teases him for being such a pretty doggy instead of appreciating his manly charms. To win his freedom, he must take on a terrible disguise. And when Maeve finds out, she’ll unleash a tempest like no other . . .
Rating:
Characters: 7/10
Atmosphere: 7/10
Writing: 7/10
Plot: 7/10
Intrigue: 6/10
Logic: 6/10
Enjoyment: 6/10
Average: 6.57 (which means 3 stars!)
My thoughts:
This is book two in a series, but you can definitely read this one without reading the first book! Like I did haha! I don’t feel like I missed anything at all!
In this book we follow Maeve who is the youngest of five ‘sisters’. The oldest four have all married a king, and are now queens. Maeve is now set on following her own path. We also follow Brody, a friend of Maeve and her sisters. Maeve has her reasons to be worried about his long disappearance. So now she is set on finding him. Along the way both Maeve and Brody discover lots of things about their pasts!
I’m not sure how to review this book.. I did enjoy it and the story felt quite unique, but for some reason I struggled picking this book back up. As in I didn’t really feel the need to continue reading once I put the book down.
I liked the world with all the islands, and all the different kings and queens, although I would have liked to get a bit more information about each island and their inhabitants. We just got introduced to them shortly, and most of them already knew and liked each other.
I also quite enjoyed the magic system. Not everyone has magic, and it is different for everyone. Although I did think it was a bit weird that some characters had quite a powerful and broad power, while others had a very specific and kinda useless power. It would have been interesting to learn why these differences were there!
I think I would have liked the book more if we would have gotten more background about basically everything! Mainly the world and the magic system! We did get quite some information about Maeve and Broday, since this book is mainly about them. And I’m pretty sure the other books follow the other sisters, so them we would probably et more background about them and their kings!
I do recommend this book, if you are looking for a quick fantasy read that is quite driven by romance!