Caraway of the Sea Review (ARC)
Caraway Auclair has devoted herself to protecting her brother, serving as the ship’s first mate and enforcer. Sacrificing nearly all she is to ensure that he becomes the most fearsome pirate Captain to ever sail the Carnelian Sea. She realizes too late, that the seas have only grown darker, and the waves more fearsome, they threaten to pull her under completely and mold her into something akin to a nightmare.
After Caraway's closest friend dies in a brutal storm, grief puts Caraway and her brother at odds more than ever before. When they dock on Isla Dalia after the devastating storm, Caraway is surrounded by both friend and foe, oftentimes unable to distinguish between the two. She must navigate a torrent of emotions unlike any she has weathered before. Seeking out any and all distractions, she begins to grow dangerously close to a rival Captain, despite her brother's warnings.
As another storm looms, ever encroaching upon her crew's uncertain future, her fears are laid bare for all to see. Caraway struggles to face the demons of her past...only to discover that they pale in comparison to the monster that she had a hand in creating.
As she drifts further away from all that she once knew, secrets slowly begin to surface, and the tides of her life as she knew it begins to shift...
A shift that just might destroy the life she's worked so hard to protect, and her future with it. (Description from Goodreads)
Keep in mind that everyone has their own opinion. This review is only my opinion, and you may have your own, different one. I would take into consideration what I say, but do not make a decision about the book solely based off of this review. Additionally, the author sent me this book as a free advanced reading copy; however, this did not influence my review. This is 100% my honest opinion. Let's begin:
Burget created an enjoyable read, though not one that sucked me in and kept me enthralled. I'll start with what could have been improved so that we can end on the happy note the author deserves.
I think it is important to note that this is a pirate novel that does not take place at sea for the vast majority of the time. The description of the novel does say that Caraway and her crew dock on an island, so while this was not a complete shock, it was a bit disappointing to learn that nearly the entire book takes place on the island. The parts that do take place out at sea were underwhelming; it is way too easy to forget that the characters are on a ship. I think a book about pirates should have had more inclusion of the sea with some very strong descriptors that, unfortunately, I feel this book was lacking.
The book lacked strong worldbuilding that you would normally desire in a fantasy novel. I mentioned a lack of descriptors in terms of the sea, but I feel that could be applied in a general sense as well. I do not feel like I had a good grasp on what the island and all of the main settings looked like or how the world functioned fully.
If you are looking for a fast-paced pirate novel, I think there are other options that would suit you better. This book is a bit slow. For a pirate novel, there are not a ton of scenes with a lot of action--more like little bursts of action every now and then with more toward the end. It felt like the author was dragging some things out unnecessarily. This led me to catch on to things faster than the characters, making it feel predictable. When Caraway is shocked by revelations, I had already known they were coming well in advanced. This felt like it took away from the book's impact.
I wish that we had some stronger characters and character development. There were some characters, such as Annecherie, Coen, and Zacharia, that could have been really great characters but fell flat because they weren't developed enough. I liked all of these characters and was interested in their story, and I feel like we didn't get enough of that. I think it is possible that giving Marcel more backstory and explanation for why he is the way he is would have made him a better "villain" and more believable. It was hard to get attached to any of the characters.
Caraway herself felt naïve to me; as I said before, the book felt predictable so it was very hard for me to believe that Caraway could so easily be blind to what was going on. However, I would like to note that Caraway is a victim of domestic abuse and, based on my knowledge, it can be very difficult for people who have experienced this to come to terms with what they are going/ have gone through. Caraway seemed to be trying to rationalize and diminish things that Marcel has done to her, another common thing domestic abuse survivors do especially when they are still dealing with their abuser. Therefore, I believe it was the author's intention to explore what being a victim of domestic abuse can be like through Caraway. I do believe, however, that a better balance is necessary. I like the exploration of mental health, but I think I would have enjoyed it more and been more understanding if the pacing of the book was better and the book was less predictable.
One last thing to note is that this book really could have used another round of proofreading and editing. I found a lot of mistakes that should be caught during proofreading, and I think a lot of the lacking areas discussed above could have been improved with more editing.
Those were the biggest negatives I noticed, so it's time to move into all of the good things about this novel.
I did appreciate that the book was trying to spotlight abusive domestic relationships between siblings because I think that is something that doesn't get discussed enough. Having a focus on Caraway's struggle with facing the reality of who her brother is is another nice aspect of the book that I appreciate. These two things tie in with the plot, which I found enjoyable. Another thing I appreciated was the focus on being a woman in a male-dominated field and everything that goes with that.
If you are looking for a book that has romance but no spice, this is a good option. The central romance and the sideline romance were both very cute to read, and I personally found the lack of spice refreshing. I think that the central romance was fairly well done and believable (though I would note that I felt Santoro fell a bit too fast--a little too love-at-first-sight on his end for me). I wish that the side romance had a bit more development, but I still found myself cheering the romance on easily. I also think that the author did a nice job in her attempts to portray a healthy romantic relationship. I loved how Santoro handled various aspects of the relationship and kept thinking about how that is how I would want m boyfriend to handle those situations. He was a great mix of sweet, protective, funny, and respectful of what Caraway wanted.
Overall, while this book definitely has a few areas that could use improvement, it was an enjoyable read and one worth looking into if you want to support an indie author. It is one I enjoyed well enough even though I do not feel like I'll have the urge to reread it. Just make sure that you don't go into it expecting a fast-paced pirate novel. It is much more about exploring an abusive domestic relationship and the inner turmoil that accompanies that. If you want a book focused on family dynamics and emotional/mental wellbeing interwoven with a not-spicy romance and some nice bursts of action, I'd check this out.
Thank you to the kind author, Madeline Burget, for giving me an advanced reading copy in exchange for this review!
Rating: 3/5 stars
Author: Madeline Burget
Genre: Fantasy, Fantasy, Queer
Series: Phoenix Rising (Book 1)
Publication Date: June 21, 2023
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