Name: The Girl Who Belonged to the Sea
ISBN: 9781648980718

Katherine  Quinn

The Girl Who Belonged to the Sea

Okay I thoroughly enjoyed this. High fantasy with a dash of swashbuckling and featuring one truly head-over-heels love interest.

Annie Beth

Katherine Quinn

One woman chosen by the God of the Sea. A king hellbent on saving his mysterious island home. And a forbidden romance that could destroy them all. Trapped in a society ruled by men, Margrete, daughter of a nefarious sea captain, accepts that the only way to escape her power-hungry father's cruel hand is to marry the wealthy Count Casbian. Cunning in her own right, Margrete yearns to craft her own fate, to flee to the sea, and to lose herself to the aquamarine waves that have called to her since birth. Bash, a devilishly handsome warrior seeking revenge, believes the beautiful daughter of his greatest enemy is the key to breaking a curse inflicted upon his people. On the day of Margrete's nuptials, Bash kidnaps the bride, whisking her away to an island where he reigns as king. Shielded from the mortal realm, Margrete finds herself on the fabled shores of Azantian-the birthplace of impossible magic... and a keeper of monstrous secrets. But secrets are not the only thing Margrete finds on the island, and Bash isn't the heartless rogue she once believed. Unable to hide her feelings, Margrete must choose between a forbidden love and a destiny spun for her by the God of the Sea himself-A god that has set his sights on Margrete... and the potent magic awakening inside of her soul. The first book of this exciting fantasy trilogy is perfect for readers who love high-seas adventures, swashbuckling heroes, and forbidden, steamy romance. Fans of Clare Sager's Beneath Black Sails and Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses will be enthralled.

Elizabeth Waybright

(Real Rating: 3.5 stars)

I guess I should’ve expected pirates. True to form, though, I wasn’t expecting pirates. This matters, because I usually don’t read pirate books. I have a lot of unresolved feelings about pirates that I’ve never been able to shake, even as a fantasy reader, and it makes it hard for me to give myself completely over to fantasy novels that have pirate-heavy themes. 

Well, “The Girl Who Belonged to the Sea” definitely leans into the pirate theme; but, it’s like if the atmosphere, wit, and wonder of “A Court of Mist and Fury” and “A Court of Wings and Ruin” had a run in with a pirate fantasy novel with the spice level somewhere between “A Court of Mist and Fury” and “A Court of Silver Flame”. (For those who have never read Sarah J Maas’ ACOTAR series, that means I would put the spice level ranging from heavy steam to lower-level spice). 

It’s not a stretch to compare this book to the ACOTAR series. Even in the blurb for this book online it suggests if you liked ACOTAR you’ll like this book. And it DOES have heavy ACOTAR vibes, but imagine if Velaris had been a city everyone only thought was a myth you’d read about all your life, and then you were taken there by boat and you saw it for the first time from the sea? 

Margrete Wood isn’t Feyre Archeron. Definitely not. Our FMC is one of the huge differences between this book and ACOTAR. Is she plucky? Yes. She definitely isn’t a doormat. But she definitely longs to be rescued by someone else at the beginning of this book than she claws to fight for survival and make her own way, like Feyre did. But we do have three incredibly handsome and not-entirely human men who might as well be brothers who are in charge on the island of Azantia (hence the title of the trilogy: The Azantian Trilogy), and none of them have wings. There’s Bash, who’s King of Azantia (and no, he doesn’t have black hair and blue eyes, gasp!) who is our male protagonist, Adrian (Bash’s commander), and Bay (who trains Bash’s soldiers, is Adrian’s husband, and is my contender for cinnamon-roll-in-charge). Adrian is wry and plays the straight man to Bay’s sweet and sometimes overeager puppy-like behavior. Don’t get me wrong: when things gets serious, so do these two, but when matters don’t seem so dire, these two seem to try to enjoy the peace while they can. 

And Bash? Well, Bash is mercurial, but doesn’t seem prone to overextended bouts of brooding. It seems to help that he not only has Adrian and Bay, but he also has other friends and councilors that he can talk to and that he will seek out. 

I’m not going to say the plot of this book, being the first in the series, was surprising. It wasn’t. It was predictable and I could break it down. At this point I can’t tell if it’s because I read so much fantasy it just happens or if it’s because I did really well in literary analysis in college and I just know how to break down plot. Other readers may find themselves being surprised. And that is what I hope for, because even though I wasn’t surprised by this book and it was predictable, I don’t regret reading it, and I’d read it again. I’m even looking forward very much to the next book. I want to see where Ms. Quinn goes with this. I want to see where Margrete and Bash go and I want to see more of Adrian, Bay, and the rest of the supporting cast in this series. I just… want to see more. And that’ll only happen if I keep reading. And that’s what I intend to do.

The Girl Who Belonged to the Sea

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