Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea

I have been on a bada$$ lady pirate kick as of late. This story did not disappoint. What a life. We get to tag along and see how Shek Yeung fights for control in her life. Yay, women not being taken seriously- a timeless story. Other reviewers compare this story to The Poppy Wars series, I admit, I DNF'd with those, I just couldn't get into the narration and writing. This, to me anyway, is beautifully written and kept me engaged, even with a few slower moving parts. I love strong women, I love reading about strong women taking life by the horns, and strong women at sea? Yes please.

"In chaos, no one won."

I was expecting something entirely different than what this book delivered. I think there's something here for someone who wants a gendered discussion of a female pirate (co-)captain's life during the age of piracy in China, but that kind of wasn't what I was looking for when I picked this one up. There's no cool pirate captain action, no high seas battles, just a woman trying to keep her fleet together after the death of her pirate captain husband and philosophizing about a woman's lot in life.

Honestly, I thought it was quite a bit dry and boring. I never really came to sympathize with Shek Yeung, and honestly found what she thought of the people around her kind of depressing. I actually found Cheung Po way more sympathetic, (early book plot spoilers) because he clearly cared for Shek Yeung, but she actively avoided sharing those feelings.

There's something here if you're looking for something introspective, but nothing here if you're just looking for a cool pirate book.

This book was not marketed correctly, unfortunately. It reads much more like a literary fiction novel than I was expecting.