Name: Raven’s Books's review of These Divided Shores by Sara Raasch
Item: These Divided Shores
Rating: 5
Author: Raven’s Books

Sara Raasch

A thrilling sequel to These Rebel Waves--full of deadly magic, double crosses, and a revolution--from Sara Raasch, the New York Times bestselling author of the Snow Like Ashes series. Perfect for fans of Shannon Hale, Leigh Bardugo, and Marissa Meyer. As a child, she committed unforgivable acts to free Grace Loray from King Elazar of Argrid. Now Elazar's plan to retake the island has surpassed Lu's darkest fears: He's holding her and his son, Ben, captive in an endlessly shifting prison, forcing them to make a weapon that will guarantee Elazar's success. Escape is impossible--unless Lu becomes the ruthless soldier she hoped never to be again. Vex failed to save Lu and Ben--and that torments him as much as his Shaking Sickness. With the disease worsening, Vex throws himself into the rebellion against Argrid. The remaining free armies are allied with the stream raider syndicates--and getting them to cooperate will take a strength Vex thought burned on a pyre six years ago. Imprisoned, betrayed, and heartbroken, Ben is determined to end his father's rampage. Watching Elazar sway the minds of Grace Loray as he did those of Argrid, Ben knows he has to play his father's game of devotion to win this war. But how can a heretic prince defeat the Pious God? As armies clash and magic rises, Lu, Vex, and Ben will confront their pasts . . . or lose their futures forever.

These Divided Shores

Raven’s Books

A thrilling sequel to These Rebel Waves—full of deadly magic, double crosses, and a revolution—from Sara Raasch, the New York Times bestselling author of the Snow Like Ashes series. Perfect for fans of Shannon Hale, Leigh Bardugo, and Marissa Meyer. As a child, she committed unforgivable acts to free Grace Loray from King Elazar of Argrid. Now Elazar’s plan to retake the island has surpassed Lu’s darkest fears: He’s holding her and his son, Ben, captive in an endlessly shifting prison, forcing them to make a weapon that will guarantee Elazar’s success. Escape is impossible—unless Lu becomes the ruthless soldier she hoped never to be again. Vex failed to save Lu and Ben—and that torments him as much as his Shaking Sickness. With the disease worsening, Vex throws himself into the rebellion against Argrid. The remaining free armies are allied with the stream raider syndicates—and getting them to cooperate will take a strength Vex thought burned on a pyre six years ago. Imprisoned, betrayed, and heartbroken, Ben is determined to end his father’s rampage. Watching Elazar sway the minds of Grace Loray as he did those of Argrid, Ben knows he has to play his father’s game of devotion to win this war. But how can a heretic prince defeat the Pious God? As armies clash and magic rises, Lu, Vex, and Ben will confront their pasts . . . or lose their futures forever.

Toni Turner

Wow I loved this. All of these characters are so fun and sad haha. I did have to hold back tears at work today tbh. But yeah I really enjoyed this duo and I love all of these idiot kids who got stuck in a war

Story Eater

These Divided Shores is basically a SciFi novel about rebellion and insurgency with magical plants in place of technology and frigates, schooners, and steam-powered ships instead of space ships. It is, at heart, a recycled story of oppression of group of “less powerful” people by a tyrannical, rich, powerful leader or power. For the sake of this novel, the “power” looks remarkably like the Catholic Church, complete with a pope-like eminence/ruler, saints and their namesake places, and frequent eye-roll inducing references to sin and the judgment and damnation of sinners.

I could write volumes about what was wrong with this book, but I just don’t have the energy because I spent most of it trudging through the pages. It had too much going on for any of it to be compelling, and short spurts of stillness I got were peppered with sanctimonious drivel. Every bit of narration and dialogue is full of what the world should be like and what is currently wrong with it. It also had a remarkable amount of profanity and obscenities in it for a novel aimed at young adult audiences. 

**From previous pre-review**

While I usually shy away from pirate books because I have an aversion for seafaring adventures (Moby Dick has scarred me), I’ve put this one on my list because of the controversy surrounding the gayness (or the lack thereof) of the first book in the series and how all the hopes of readers were dashed because expectations were not met in regards to said gayness. 

It seems, in general, that the negative reviews for These Rebel Waves are retaliatory for the unmet expectations of gay content, which is just as bigoted as negatively rating a book for having lgbt content in it. Because I suspect this may be the case, I am going to read These Rebel Waves and the sequel (I have the ARC) to see for myself.

Narah Quinn

This. Book. Made. Me. So. HAPPY! 

When I read These Rebel Waves last year it kinda took me by surprise with how much I loved it. 

These Divided Shores has a different feel to it, there is a far more serious, and sinister, edge to it and the levels of betrayal are just something else. 
But it is full of all the feels, revelations I was not expecting, one I did not even see coming, and a part of my brain was thinking maybe I just missed a bit, but I really just did not put 2 and 2 together until it was spelt out on the page for me! 

Picking up barely a couple of weeks after the end events of These Rebel Waves (which we will not talk about because, still, how very dare you!) Grace Loray is more dangerous than it has ever been and Elazar (eeeugh!) is determined to rid Grace Loray of its evil. Between Elazar and Milo Ibarra I have rarely been more uncomfortable, they just leech off the page, and all you want to do, like Lu, is find a way to be free of them, to find safety and comfort in your mother, your friends, your skill with magic. 

I enjoyed the story a lot, I really loved the ways that the characters developed as a whole, as well as individually, I really liked the uniting against a common enemy and the figuring out new magics, and the way that each syndicate had something that was common knowledge to them but completely unknown to everyone else! 

I had missed Lu and Vex and Ben and Gunnar, and the emotion in this book was raw and real and, please, just read it and feel it too, it will all be worth it!

Cori McCarthy

Pirates. Politics. War. This book was an amazing conclusion to this duology! I loved every second of this book, and I couldn’t be happier on the ending! This book was incredibly fast-paced and I felt like there was never a dull moment! Getting to see all of these characters come together, push past their differences, and fight together was amazing to read. The world-building was fantastic and intricate(like all Sara Raasch books), and this is definitely a book I would reread in the future! I highly recommend checking this duology out, especially if you love pirates, political intrigue, and endless plot twists! 

“Lu had been afraid many times throughout her life. There was no name for what she felt now. Stronger than fear, more crippling than anger, she felt beyond herself, watching the monster of this loss rise and rise over her—“
Sara Raasch, These Divided Shores (Stream Raiders, #2)

Final Rating: 4/5 Stars⭐️

Manon van Heumen

I really need to reread books before diving into sequels. This would have been better.

Lisa Beasley

I really enjoyed this sequel. All the characters were just as wonderful as the first book and the plot moved forward well. There were twists and turns and while I called a couple of the main ones I still liked reading it. One slight thing I found was the resolution of the plot happened fairly quickly but it was only a minor thing. 

A solid 4.5 star read, I do love Sara Raasch and her writing style in this duology.

These Divided Shores is the second and final instalment to the Stream Riders duology by Sara Raasch

  

With where the previous book was left off, I expected all sorts of twists and turns and the author delivered.
Each character development added to another, their complexity and journey truly allowing the story to take an entirely new turn. Chapter after chapter the story builds towards the climax, swords clashing and drawn guns.
I enjoyed it throughoutly and the end left me smiling.
It was a very emotional journey as I related to the struggles of a character and understood both the pain and joy.
A well written and beautiful story about tolerance, acceptance and diversity.

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These Divided Shores by Sara Raasch

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