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 their people and sink their ships.

Annie is nineteen and the heir to the Fairfax Whaling Company. But she has a secret: she's cursed. If they experience heartbreak, Fairfaxes are destined to slowly transform into seafaring, scaled monsters. And the devastating loss of her parents mean Annie's beginning to show signs of her future--possibly permanent--deadly form.

When she realizes that her fiance August--who she hoped would be her savior from heartbreak--actually has his eye on taking over her family's company rather than falling in love with Annie (and that he may be planning to kill her, whoops!) the teenaged orphan makes a questionable deal with a ship captain of questionable trustworthiness from her past. She hopes to travel to the home of the fae (making out with her fiance and would-be assassin all the way) and try to shake off her curse once and for all.

So many elements of this premise are favorites for me--a strong young female main protagonist, ship life, a quest, and magic.

I tired of Annie's frequent and extensive swooning over August, despite her suspicions that he is actually going to kill her. This nonsensical obsession was the most young-adult-feeling aspect of the book to me, and for me it undermined how Annie is coming into her own during the story. I loved Annie's burgeoning attraction to and trust in Cyrus, despite their rough early bond (along with her fiance August, Annie and Cyrus were in a boat that survived the attack that killed her parents). Late in the book, it becomes clear that Cyrus and his motivations are not what they seem, and a surprising new layer begins to shape the story (but too late to carry significant emotional impact; Holland is setting up book two).

Annie's reconsidering of the humaneness of the whaling that humans in her land have come to rely on is a powerful examination of hunting, resources, assumptions, scarcity, and new possibilities. She may so far be powerless to enact major change, and she is certainly dismissed by the men around her, but she is preparing to face difficult challenges (likely within later books in the series).

The finfolk are fascinating but by the end are hardly explored, and I found this unsatisfying.

Annie's frequent plucking out of scales that grow from her hands and arms is horrifying, but I was most interested in the monster-type transformation that threatens to overtake her in time. At the end of this book, that looming danger seems to be contained, which is good for Annie but tough for the need for conflict and tension in the book. Annie's heartbreaking bargain is by far the most poignant situation Holland has presented yet.

I was left wanting more regarding most aspects of the story, and it felt as though Holland was saving major developments for subsequent books in the series.

A very minor but distracting note: the smell of petrichor is mentioned thirteen times in the story. This felt like an odd detail and description to incorporate so frequently into the book.

I received a prepublication version of this title courtesy of NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.

More Fantasy Books

Sara Holland is also the author of the Everless and Havenfall series.

For other fantasy books I've reviewed, check out the titles at this link.