Emily Skrutskie

Three weeks have passed since Cassandra Leung pledged her allegiance to ruthless pirate-queen Santa Elena and set free Bao, the sea monster Reckoner she'd been forced to train. Cas has big problems when she discovers Bao is not the only monster swimm

The Edge of the Abyss

Eighteen-year-old Cas Leung struggles with her morality and her romantic relationship with fellow pirate Swift as she and the Minnow crew work to take down wild sea monsters, dubbed Hellbeasts, who are attacking ships and destroying the ocean ecosystem.

Jamieson

Somewhere along the way, Swift slips her hand in mine. Somewhere farther along the way, I stop minding that it’s there.


I LOVE THIS SERIES SO MUCH while I didn't love this book as much as  book one I still really enjoyed it. This series has sea monsters, pirates, moral ambiguity, action and one of the cutest f/f couples ever which makes it honestly one of my favourite YA duologies ever. 

For me this book wasn't as good as book one for a few reasons. I felt at times it strayed a little from the point and some of the plot points got a little convoluted. I was confused at times about the power dynamics between Cas/Swift and Santa Elena although this might have been my fault for leaving so much time between reading book one and two. 

Cas and Swifts romance is at the centre of this series and I love them so much. While I think book 2 may have had a tad bit too much unnecessary angst, it also did a really good job at portraying the complication of their relationship and examining the complexities of both their characters and their bond together. 

But one thing that remained constant for me was my love for THE CHARACTERS. All the characters in this series are my loves. Cassandra is clever, witty and complex and I love how her arc had her learn the grey areas of life and start to work within them. I also adore Santa Elena who's just so smart, and hard. I love that she's such an accomplished, respected and brutal and always has a plan. I also really loved Varma in this, he was funny and cute and I loved his friendship with Cas so much. He went from being a character I had nothing to say about to one I LOVED

Even though this wasn't my favourite series ender ever (too open ended) it was still really good and this series overall is GREAT. It's such an entertaining series, I love how I fly through these and become so immersed in the world and the characters. I honestly think fantasy and sci-fi fans will love this one, plus its got The Gays TM which makes everything better.

Eighteen-year-old Cassandra Leung struggles with her morality and her romantic relationship with fellow pirate Swift Kent as she and the Minnow pirate crew work to take down wild sea monsters, dubbed Hellbeasts, who are attacking ships and destroying the ocean ecosystem.

4.5, rounded up because I can

I love this series. The first book knocked my socks off, so I read the sequel as soon as I could! This was a great continuation and conclusion for the series. The plot was engaging and there was a lot more Swift/Cas action, despite the ever-present back and forth of teenage angst. I will say that the ending seemed to come too soon...I wish she were writing a third book to make it a trilogy, as there's certainly more that can be explored. The ending wraps things up unexpectedly well but it still left me wanting more than just saying what they're going to do next.

Anyway, this series is so much fun, and I'm so glad I own hard copies so I can revisit them in the coming years :)

The Edge of the Abyss

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