Sisterhood is Survival
If you are even a little active in the Young Adult book community you will have heard of Seafire by Natalie C. Parker. Not in the least because of that absolutely stunning cover. I was very lucky to receive an arc of Seafire for participating in this blog tour. I am so excited. To share my excitement with you I am sharing three quotes and three reasons that will make you want to read Seafire.
Thank you to Razorbill and Penguin Random House for the review copy in exchange for my honest opinion, and for inviting me for this blog tour. The quotes below were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.
Three Quotes
‘It came as they bent their minds to the task of recovering their ship. It came one girl at a time. Caledonia and Pisces had stitched this ship and its crew together from odds and ends discarded by the world.’
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‘The sea carries us in life. It feeds us and rocks us and challenge us. And in death, it gives us peace.’
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‘Remember, when they call you girl, they’re trying to tell you something. They’re trying to tell you that they are more than you, that the body you’re in makes you less. But you know, and I know, that you’re exactly what you need to be.’
Three Reasons
1 An All Girls Crew.
The Mors Navis is completely crewed by girls and young ones at that. I think that is one of the first things that should pull you towards this book. How often do we see ship crews completely made up of girls and them being the main characters? Yeah not a lot. But it shows us, and most importantly young readers, that females and girls can do anything they put their mind to. Even when the odds are against them. The relationships between the various girls or rather sisterhood as they call it themselves are all great. From bonding, to bickering, to endless support and faith in each other, their bonds are real.
2 Realistic and Diverse Additions.
Not only do we get an all girls crew. One of the ladies of the crew can’t speak and uses sign language to communicate with the others. Something the other ladies have learned. They are a bit overprotective of her but Hime does speak up for herself on this subject more than once. Another important addition is the use of drugs amongst their enemy ships and drug addiction. In one case there is mention of having been addicted to drug in the past and in the other case we see a character having to go through withdrawel. There is also talk and suggestion of relapse here and there. These kind of topics are important to adress in and not just in contemporary fiction but also in fantasy.
3 Almost Everything Happens on Sea and Ship.
I think this is one of the things I’m most impressed with about this book. I’ve read other books with ship crews but never do they spend more than 50% of the time at sea and on a ship. Rarely do we get multiple sea battles. But in Seafire they only dock at Cloudbreak and are forced for a very short time to be ashore. Everything else takes place on the ship and at sea.
The Book
Book: Seafire (Seafire 1) by Natalie C. Parker
Release Date: August 28th 2018
ISBN: 9780451481290
Tags: Young Adult / Fantasy / Pirates / Ships / All Girls Crew / Sisterhood / Female Friendship / Disability / Not being able to talk / Sign Language/
Trigger Warnings: Drug Addiction / Violence
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.
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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?
(Dutch) Buy Links
Bol Hardcover / Bol Paperback / ABC Hardcover / ABC Paperback
I have this book on my TBR and after reading your review I can’t want to get my hands on Seafire! The all-girl-crew sounds very powerful and I’m curious about the setting.
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I hope you’ll love it. 😀
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This seems such a fantastic read Annemieke!!!
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It was a lot of fun.
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This is a neat list, Annemieke! I was sent this by the publisher too and I wasn’t totally sure if I wanted to read it, but the diverse elements you mentioned have really piqued my interest. Glad you liked it, and I hope you’re well! 🙂
~ Aimal @ Bookshelves & Paperbacks
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I’m glad I could convince you to give it a chance. I really hope you like it!
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I love that it’s an all girl crew. I’m definitely going to pick up a copy of this book!
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Me too. Yes do it. 😀
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So pretty! Maybe someday I try it. I’m just not that into seafaring stories. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. You did make it sound more appealing to me than the Goodreads summary. Pretty pretty pictures. 👍✨
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Yeah this has a lot of sea haha. Thanks 😀
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I have read the book and I really enjoy it. The book has to be one of my favorites.
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I’m glad you enjoyed it. I hope we will both enjoy the sequel as well.
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