Spoiler Free Review: SEAFIRE by Natalie C. Parker

Title: SEAFIRE

Author:Natalie C. Parker

Pub. Date: August 28th. 2018

Genre: YA FANTASY

Publisher: Penguin/Razorbill

Pages: 384

Content Warnings: Violence, murder, death, drug addiction, loss of loved ones, and captivity

Buddy Read: Melanie from Meltotheany & Amy from ACourtofCrownsandQuills

🦋 ARC provided by Penguin in exchange for an honest review 🦋  

GOODREADS | BARNES AND NOBLE | AMAZON 

   

“Loss is inevitable. Some losses will be harder than others. So remember this: Never risk more than you’re willing to lose”

I have a fascination of all things Pirates & reading all of the YA pirate themed books this past year has been quite the fun adventure, none as pulse pounding as SEAFIRE though! We are introduced to a world with a villain by the name of Adric & his crew of boys he calls Bullets. Terrorizing both land and water, Adric takes young boys away from their families and puts them to work for him. Caledonia Styx grew up on a ship alongside her Captain parents and younger brother. The Ghost became a refuge ship for families trying to keep their sons safe and away from Adric’s grips. Catastrophe strikes and Cal’s family is killed while she is off the ship scouting for danger. Both Cal and her best friend Pisces are the only survivors and together they put together a crew of fifty two girls to navigate the Mors Navis. Loyal and fiercely protective of one another, this all female crew take no risks with their safety. This all changes when pisces rescues a Bullet who claims to have gone rogue and is in need of help. Cal is adamant on not helping this Bullet for personal reasons…she believes taking him in can only lead them straight to trouble. When Oran (Rogue Bullet) claims to have some very important knowledge about Adric, Cal has to decide whether she can put her reservations aside for the sake of taking Adric down once & for all. Fast paced and full of action, SEAFIRE had me rooting for the crew of the Mors Navis! I celebrated their victories and felt deeply for their losses.

It can’t be easy writing a large cast of characters and yet Parker gave us some stand-out crew members I’ll find very hard to forget. Our MC  Caledonia is just trying to be the very best Captain she can be by following in her mother’s footsteps. She’s learning from her mistakes and for that we can thank her best friend Pisces who isn’t afraid to check her BFF no matter that she is the Captain of the ship. It was interesting seeing some of their power struggles play out especially since Pisces clearly doesn’t want the responsibility, she just wants Cal to be the best she can be. Cal & pisces have their ups & downs but what pair of sisters doesn’t? 🖤 Then we have crew members that are more of a Sisterhood, each with their own voice/personality. Redtooth, Hime, Amina, Lace got the most page time and I LOVED each one of them for their loyalty to one another. This book may have made its rounds as being a Sapphic Pirate tale & although it isn’t one in the most forthcoming sense, a relationship is implied between two of the shipmates. I won’t say who for spoilers sake but I will say that I love these two characters to pieces & together they made me smile all the more 🖤

SEAFIRE had my adrenaline going for the majority of my time spent within it’s pages. When I wasn’t pumped up for this feminist pirate tale, I was wiping away tears for their losses. I love a good found family story & this year we’ve been blessed with so many good ones, SEAFIRE now joins those ranks. The only reason I docked this a star was because I wish the romance was a bit more convincing, I saw it coming but wasn’t really with it. Who knows, maybe they’ll win me over in the next one haha! Nevertheless, I LOVED all of these characters to pieces and seeing them handle some hard hitting issues made them feel all the more real. Grief and drug addiction are two of the darker themes we see the crew struggle with, making Adric in my book, one of the most vile villains in YA Fantasy I’ve come across. The abduction of young boys already being a major threat, we then see how Adric keeps them in his service through forced addiction to a drug he pushes. The scenes in which certain characters experience withdrawals were tough to read but also came across as a healing/fresh start for those who made it off the drug. Cal and her crew don’t have a history of giving up on people which is part of the reason I think Pisces was so hard on Cal for not coming around to Oran aka the Bullet who wants to defect. One thing is for certain, the crew of the Mors Navis is a Sisterhood! 🖤

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Happy Thursday Bookworms! I hope you’re all having a fantastic day! SEFAIRE has already hit the shelves & everyone is talking about this Feminist Pirate tale 🖤 I am in deep need of the sequel but for now I’ll settle for fan-girling with those who love it as much as I do! 🖤

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