Caution: SPOILERS!
Storyline: Selly has been working for months, trying to see her father again. She is currently a deckhand under the somewhat well-known captain, Rensa. Selly has been trying to leave the port of Kirkpool forever, and she may finally find her big break. This ends when her fool of a prince, Prince Leander of Alinor, must complete his overdue sacrifice. Five years ago, Prince Leander missed his sacrifice to the Gods, and their kingdom is on the brink of a war. The Queen has asked Rensa’s crew to smuggle Prince Leander to the Isle of the Gods, where he must sacrifice. While the Prince is being shipped away, a distracting boat supposedly ‘containing the prince’ is sailing to another port.
On the other side of Kirkpool, Laskia is working under her older sister, Ruby. Ruby is running an illicit organization whose primary goal currently is killing Prince Leander. The leading man doing the job is Leander’s friend from the past, Jude, who is under Ruby’s thumb. Ruby is keeping Jude’s mother safe, and Jude’s father left when he was young. Jude blames Leander for ruining his life.
Selly gets news that Leander’s ship, the people of Alinor thought he was on, is bombed. Selly soon notices that their ship is being followed…
Why is this book not cliché? Well, for the most part, this book is cliché in some ways. The buildup of love between Leander and Selly is unexpectedly fulfilling, and Selly seems to hate him at the beginning of the book. This is because Prince Leander’s arrival on her boat has delayed Selly’s layover to meet her father. I did not expect their love dynamic to be as delayed as it was, which made for an enticing rest of the book after their love was revealed. Laskia and Ruby’s hitmen attacked Selly’s ship, and Rensa told Selly to take Prince Leander and hide him in a cramped space on the ship. Rensa and her crew were murdered, and Prince Leander was comforting Selly while they were hiding in the tiny space. I initially thought that Prince Leander would ‘make a move’ soon after this tender moment, but he respected her mourning. Most books with scenarios like this would have had the male lead do something like this.
Nearing the end of the book, when Prince Leander is going to sacrifice to the Gods, the statue is destroyed. This surprised me, and I almost threw my book across the room. After everything that the two had endured, all their lives were taken. It was over. It was indescribably frustrating. This twist was a total loss of hope for me. This was the first time I had expected something like this in any other book. Any other book would have had them either put the statue back together or realize it was there in spirit, and they would have still made the sacrifice. But no. This book is divergent in how people think most books would typically end. Kudos to you, Amie Kaufman.
