Neri
Upon a Wicked Tide by Kate Craft
First of all, I want to thank Kate Craft for sending me an ARC of Upon a Wicked Tide in exchange for an honest review. Without further ado…
⭐⭐⭐⭐ /5
Before starting with my actual review, what is Upon a Wicked Tide about? “In a world of sirens, pirates and unspeakable danger, one might crave a quiet life on the Garden Isle…but not this blue-eyed girl. Upon the death of her guardians, Emerelda Mirabel comes to inherit three curious things: a book, a desire and a heartless prince”. Will she keep her promises or temptation will make her fall?
So, my non-spoilery review is that I ADORED this book. I was feeling stuck with my reading pile and this has helped me get hooked up with reading again. I loved the character of Emerelda from the very first page and Kate’s writing style is awesome. The only thing I hated was not being able to keep physical tabs – although with the number of scenes that I liked it’s probably best.
Emerelda’s farewells to the sisters were very intense and emotional. Kate’s description was so spot on, I felt I was in those rooms where Death lured. On the contrary, the way she describes Queen Cinder is outstanding, she makes the character feel alive and real. Besides, it is quite refreshing to see kind royalty instead of cruel ones.
And what about the first interaction between Emerelda and the prince?! It’s everything I could have asked for, is it short? Yes. Did it leave me yearning for more? Absolutely. I was already in with this encounter but Ryder having green eyes (more specifically, emerald) and black hair, totally sold it for me.
SPOILERS AHEAD, BEWARE!
Emerelda seemed like a badass woman from the very beginning – although her not suspecting the sisters to be witches felt a bit weird. It is great to see a woman as a captain of a ship and knowing how to handle her weapons. But she shows her strong personality on the ship and it is great to see her as a captain.
On the other hand, I found it really interesting to see the relationship between Ryder and Emery build up. Sometimes, these connections tend to be too sudden and you can’t relate to the characters; but this wasn’t the case, little by little, you get to see these little moments together and how they become close as a natural and organic thing. Something else I liked was how Ryder is the healer. Girls are often the healers, even if they are fighters too. And it was refreshing seeing a man take this role rather than falling to the woman. And by the way, I can’t wait to see this love triangle developed, well triangle or square… she seems to have a lot of prospects as Winnie puts it.
Also, I really liked the overall story but I did think there were too many things happening at once that I would have wanted to know more about the sirens or the Beggars’ King, for example. I wish we could have learned more about these plotlines since I think it would have made it less confusing.
Finally, what was that cliffhanger?! I have no words and I truly can’t wait for the next book. Kate has me hooked. Who is that woman and how do they know her?
Goodreads: goodreads.com/book/show/62905597-upon-a-wicked-tide
Instagram: @book.cove
