Dark Water Daughter

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I've loved pirates and just about anything to do with them since Pirates of the Caribbean came out way back in 2003. I saw that movie more times than I want to admit in theaters, and well........the obsession has stayed with me since then. I loved Black Sails, and am always on the lookout for unique takes on the subject. Upon hearing about Dark Water Daughter...I had high hopes. Extremely high hopes. It sounded like a blend of fantasy and history and just...yes. Yes, yes, yes. Unfortunately, this book didn't really do it for me.

Dark Water Daughter was a resounding meh. There are many characters, and I didn't care about any of them. Except for one — Captain James Demery. He's a side character at best, not on page all that much but he was THE ONLY ONE I remotely cared about. I didn't give two blinks about the main characters, Mary and Samuel. I didn't believe their weird romance-on-and-off-like thing they had going on. I wanted to like these characters, but they were so incredibly blank that there was nothing to like!! The only mildly interesting thing about Mary and Sam was that they could do magic! THAT'S IT. They didn't have hobbies, or cool personalities. They were literally just husks for magic.

That's not to say that the magic wasn't really cool, because it was. There are three different types — Stormsingers, Sooths, and Magni. Stormsingers do literally what it says on the tin — they can change the weather through song. Sooths can see the future. Magni can influence people without them knowing about it. The ideas behind the magic were unique, and cool. It doesn't, however, make me care about any of the characters, or their fates. Something drastic happens to one of them towards the end of the book and I swear to you that I originally thought it happened to a different character because I COULDN'T TELL THEM APART.

Not to mention the overarching plot was a tad bit confusing. They were going for a treasure hoard but also to rescue Mary's mom? But also kill a dangerous pirate and rescue tree spirits? Too many things going on, too much confusion. Needed some streamlining. I might be completely on my own by saying this, but I was disappointed by Dark Water Daughter. I wanted so much more.