Seafire by Natalie C. Parker | Review

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Rating: ★★★★★

Release Date: August 28th, 2018

Dates Read: September 13th, 2018 to September 18th, 2018

Trigger Warnings: murder, death of family, PTSD, drug addiction, mentions of withdrawal

Pages: 384

Publisher: Razorbill

Genre: young adult, romance, fantasy 

Goodreads blurb:

After her family is killed by corrupt warlord Aric Athair and his bloodthirsty army of Bullets, Caledonia Styx is left to chart her own course on the dangerous and deadly seas. She captains her ship, the Mors Navis, with a crew of girls and women just like her, whose lives have been turned upside down by Aric and his men. The crew has one misson: stay alive, and take down Aric’s armed and armored fleet.

But when Caledonia’s best friend and second-in-command just barely survives an attack thanks to help from a Bullet looking to defect, Caledonia finds herself questioning whether or not to let him join their crew. Is this boy the key to taking down Aric Athair once and for all…or will he threaten everything the women of the Mors Navis have worked for?

R E V I E W

I’m still not even sure how the audiobook of Seafire by Natalie C. Parker ended up on my phone. I picked it on a whim after I wasn’t enjoying the audio of The Poppy War and I am so glad I did. This book was something I wanted but didn’t even know. If you’ve been following me for any amount of time you know I hate Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings, if you want to see my review you can click here. If you’re new here I absolutely despised Zenith. Seafire was such a spectacular read and it really doesn’t even deserve to be compared to Zenith. This book deserves its own pedestal. This story is so damn complex and has such a ruthless main character that made me fall in love.

Honestly, before you even get any further in this review buy this book. This book is so fucking complex. It has so many layers and each character is so well developed. I listened to Seafire via audiobook and the audiobook narrator was absolutely spectacular. The way she read the story created such a strong atmosphere that really did make me fall in love with this story further.

Seafire follows Caledonia Styx, a girl who made a mistake at the age of fourteen that left her family dead. She is left alone with her best friend Pisces and together they build one of the most dangerous all-female pirate groups the seas have ever seen. The group sails around destroying Aric’s fleet known as Bullets as Caledonia harbours a secret that could lead to her crew turning on her. When Pisces’ is saved by a Bullet Caledonia is forced to question herself and what she knows. Especially as he gives her information that she never believed could be true.

This story is full of vengeance and sheer ferocity. This is the feminist pirate story that the world desperately needed. There are so many layers to this story. From the mental health aspects, including drug addiction, grief and PTSD, to the incredibly female supportive friendships in the book to the main plot that involved Caledonia’s hatred for Aric and the Bullets.

I think one of the most interesting things about Seafire by Natalie C Parker was the world building. The world is a lot different to the one that we live in today. For example, the land is mostly covered by water now. However, it is developed in a way that as the characters learnt more about the world you did as well. It is such an interesting concept and honestly, Natalie C Parker is such an incredibly talented author.

The characters are so damn strong. Each girl on Caledonia’s ship is someone who has experienced some kind of tragedy in her life or hardship. Learning their stories and personalities were so incredible, knowing how they ticked was just something that had me wishing my bus would break down on the way into work so I could listen to more.

The only thing that I could possibly say I didn’t like was the romance. It felt a bit iffy in some places like it came literally out of nowhere. Also, this would have been much more superior if the f/f romance was at the forefront rather than a side romance (which I needed more of). Anyway, despite the romance seeming like it hit me in the face unexpectedly I really did still like the characters together. I would have liked a little more development but that is what a series is for, right?

Overall, Seafire is an incredible story. More people need to be talking about it. It is so damn fleshed out and the characters just scream at you from the page (or audiobook). I really am desperate to read more of this authors writing because she is beyond talented. I am so desperate to see where this story goes, I wish someone had told me that it ended on a cliffhanger because I feel ripped off at the fact I have to wait a year for more!

 Happy reading everyone!

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