

Review of Saltcrop by Yume Kitasei
Kitasei's stark dystopian science fiction sets sisters adrift in a future world where oceans have risen and consumed much of the earth. Leaving a stressful daily life of scarcity, two sisters embark on a far-fetched rescue mission for the third in this messy, danger-filled journey that tests each of their mettle. In a near-future world reeling from environmental catastrophe, oceans have risen and destroyed the cities along the world's coasts. Skipper and Carmen are sisters ge
Mar 12


Review of The Sea Child by Linda Wilgus
I really liked the magical realism, details of life in 1800s England, the young widow main character, the ocean voyage scenes, and the romance, but I had trouble pinning down the tone and the heart of the story, which followed a somewhat predictable path. In early 1800s England, Isabel is a young widow who is suddenly poor and plagued by destructive rumors after the Napoleonic Wars. She must flee her London home, and she heads for the Cornish coast where she was once mysterio
Mar 10


Review of Break Wide the Sea (Break Wide the Sea #1) by Sara Holland
The first in Holland's ocean-focused young adult fantasy series leaves much of the story for later books, and I was left wanting more. I was intrigued by the curse, the ocean quest, and the explorations of moral quandaries around the use of the ocean's resources, but I was less interested in the extensive swooning over a likely enemy. The people of Kirkrell have always hunted magical whales--it's the only way to protect themselves from the finfolk, water fae who threaten thei
Jan 6


Review of Isola by Allegra Goodman
Isola , based upon the story of a real-life sixteenth-century woman, shifts between details of a life of moneyed ease and an abandonment...
Feb 5, 2025


Review of The Night Ship by Jess Kidd
Kidd's dual-timeline historical fiction, based on actual events, shines in its vivid settings, richly imagined characters, sea voyage...
Mar 8, 2023
