Suz Duvall
Stolen at Sea was my first read of the year and I'm still thinking about it.
Real talk, historical romance is not even in my top 5 sub genres of romance. It's often hard to connect to the characters which makes it hard for me to connect with the book. Summer is obviously a witch, because I could NOT put this book down.
Sloane is not your damsel in distress heroine. She doesn't want to be married off to some uppity man, she just wants the chance to run her fathers business without having to hide behind a curtain. So when her father promises her hand in marriage she takes fate into her own hands and runs with it, literally.
O captain! My captain!
Started the book before I researched the author.
Wab Kinew is both sides-ing the genocide of Palestinians and supported Israel's “right to self defense” big ew
I have trouble with 1st person pov and it feeling super cringe a lot of times. This also felt super slow paced to me. I made it 44% and basically nothing had happened
Started out silly and fun but wound up being abusive and enraging. I'll never find out if bonny apologizes to Valentine because I cannot listen to another minute of this so I'll just write my own ending.
Utterly disappointing
i honestly dont know why i didn't dnf this sooner. it's very unlike me to push through books and i should have known that this book wouldn't be for me since one of the MCs was retiring from the military.
other issues:
- i like a dads best friend as much as the next person but i dont like when the the best friend has known them since they were a child. i could have overlooked this EXCEPT he kept mentioning things about brighton as a child. FOR WHAT REASON. Zander also changed the spelling of his name based on how child brighton spelled it. wtf. i'm so uncomfy
- ablist lanuage. gross. 0/10
- lost of inconsistencies.
DNF at 68% (i think?)
i am once again DNFing a book in this collective over a child (or someone who is being perceived as a child in this case) being sexualized. someone please sedate me
Possible Spoilers ahead
TLDR MC 1 thinks that MC 2 is a CHILD when they first meet. (the worst meet cute i've ever read) MC 1 then thinks about how handsome MC 2 is while he still thinks MC 2 is a child. Consistency isn't a thing. neither is relationship growth.
direct quotes and my notes as i was reading. :)
HIGHLIGHT • PAGE 30
“Hey, kid. Where are your parents? The kitchen isn't a place to play,” I said to his back. The boy turned off the stove— thank fuck-before spinning around on his stool to face me. The first things I noticed were his bright green eyes that glittered as beautifully as gemstones.
His eyes shone even brighter as his features twisted into a frown as he crossed his arms. The next things I noticed were his handsome features with a dark, five o'clock shadow that seemed too mature for a kid, but I brushed it off considering I knew nothing about the human aging process.
I'd heard from the circus-goers that children these days looked almost too mature for their age”
I'm sorry is this supposed to make want them to get together?? Am I supposed to root for the guy who's sexualizing someone he is perceiving as a child????
HIGHLIGHT • PAGE 31
The action was so exaggerated that he lost his center of balance and toppled forward. Fortunately, I was tall enough to lean over the counters and catch the kid under his armpits before he fell and cracked his head open.
WHAT
HIGHLIGHT • PAGE 31
The boy was so light that I knew he had to be lying about being an adult. I was a tad bit stronger than normal humans from the Vermilion Bird blood, but I definitely wasn't strong enough to hold an adult human man up like I was holding a puppy.
WTF. literally. what. is. happening??
HIGHLIGHT • PAGE 31
The boy-man—
HIGHLIGHT • PAGE 32
the kid—man—
2nd time thinking of him as a CHILD after having to be shown proof that he's an adult (literally, Rhett had to show him his ID before he would believe him????)
HIGHLIGHT • PAGE 33
Maybe it was because I thought he was a kid moments earlier, but he had an innocence about him that told me he'd only found this situation hilarious and wasn't making fun of me.
That feels very icky
HIGHLIGHT • PAGE 35
“It's good, right? Told you I wasn't playing around,” he teased. His bright eyes glistened as they focused on me. A strangled sound came from my throat, and the chains I'd tightly bolted around my core loosened. Nothing about his actions should have caused me to lose control over myself, but they had anyway.
I'm uncomfy. 3 pages ago you thought he was a child
HIGHLIGHT • PAGE 64
Neither of them seemed to care about the fact that Eli was dating a man, but it felt like a huge bomb had been dropped on me. A pleasant and eye-opening bomb. I wondered if Conall was part of the rainbow as well.
Confusion??? Are we trying to add a fear of homophobia plot after calling the man who thought you were a child, “mysterious and hot” to his face? Consistency?
HIGHLIGHT • PAGE 103
We hadn't known each other long, but I was falling hard for this man. I may not have known everything about him
Where's the tension???
“May not have known everything” do you know anything???? When did that happen? Off page???
HIGHLIGHT • PAGE 104
A loud bang had me pulling back slightly to look toward the sky. Our foreheads were still pressed together and the bright lights we'd come to watch exploded over us.
Logistics?????
PAGE 108 – no quote attached to this as it was a smut scene
They're both virgins and there's no talk of kissing or sex before it just happens???
What happened to verbal communication and consent?
HIGHLIGHT • PAGE 116
Rhett stayed the night. At first, I had trouble sleeping, worried that my flames would go out of control in my sleep—it wouldn't be the first time that happened.
But with Rhett calmingly patting my back, I'd eventually dozed off.
Weird he's worried about his flames when he sleeps but didn't have any concerns when his emotions were high from orgasms
HIGHLIGHT • PAGE 116
“I think it looks good on you. You look very manly.” He laughed hard. “Are you saying I don't usually look manly?”
“What? No! That's not what I meant. I just mean...”
Ick. this was the last straw for me. was i reading too much into this? maybe. but the fact that Coal was talking about how Rhett was handsome while also thinking he was a child combined with this was really just too much.
If you love Shakespeare you'll probably like this.
I couldn't deal with the pretentious kids and predictablness of it anymore
Pros:
- James Fouhey is the narrator and he's great at his job
- At 72% there had been very little (almost none) character growth.
- 99.9% sure I know the big secret (and have know for half the book) I'll be checking spoiler reviews and reporting back. Update: I was right
- Maybe a spoiler? So...they show up to a resistance base and are basically immediately trusted??? The general just gives them information about their plans as a show of good will???? Make it make sense????
- I'm hoping the author had authenticity or sensitivity readers but the MC (who is POC) fighting for the empress who killed his people plot line felt poorly done IMO
The Unbroken by C.L. Clark
