DNF at 41%

While The Sunken City seemed like my cup of tea, it ended up being a disappointment.
The writing style is nice and I actually enjoyed because it was able to engross me from the very beginning. However, when the setting shifted to the actual Sunken City, things didn’t go as I expected. The MC became more and more insufferable, and her interactions with the new characters felt cringy at times! The way her and Finn acted towards each other was unbearable because it felt like the author wanted to push in our faces how much they despised each other from the moment they met, but for some reason it didn’t feel genuine at all. They had no reason to hate each other that much. I also found the explanation the author gave us for the underwater people being more technologically advanced than regular humans a bit ridiculous.

After reading almost half of the book I realized I wasn’t really that interested in Amara’s story.

I have to say, this story was definitely unique. It was a bit jarring to go from nineteenth century pirates to a twenty-first century underwater world, but that didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying the story. On a personal note, I hate love triangles - so that was annoying to me. I can't wait to see what the next book brings.

First of everything in this book is something I would love it gave fairy-tale aesthetics however this book just did not jell with me. I loved the writing and tone however the plot lost me. I'm generally a fast reader when I'm not busy this book took me forever to get through and that saddens me.
I don't mind love triangles however I could not see why either Lukas or Finn liked Amare, I just don't understand. I don't mind unlikeable narrators but Amare was just to unlikable, Her personality changed half way through. I didn't care about her and for me I can excuse a bad or boring plot and terrible world building IF I like the characters but I didn't like Amare, Lukas and Finn wasn't as unlikeable but I still didn't care.
The author cared and that comes through I have nothing against her and I will keep an eye on her future releases, I'm sad I didn't love as much as I wanted.

Note - I read this in august and had this saved where I write stuff and forgot to post sorry.

I didn't finish this one, deciding to DNF at the 10 percent mark. I was constantly mixed-up by the back-and-forth timeline that didn't seem to have any transition to explain we were in the past or future, so I kept getting confused about how old the characters were supposed to be. It felt like a lot of explanation and not a lot of character interaction and dialogue so I'm afraid I just lost interest long before the story really got going. I think I would have been more interested if the setting had at least been a made-up fantasy world and not just historic Earth, also.

*thank you to Netgalley and Emma V. R. Noyes for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*


2 stars.

*sigh* Ohh where do I start. This book was such a disappointment. Not right away. Right away I really really liked it. It was interesting, entertaining, captive, fun, original and so forth. I was pleased to have found a great fantasy story that was a bit different to a lot I have come across in my Reading lifetime.

But.....then the story plummeted just like the main character literally did. It lost its magic. It's specialness. It's excitement. It's adventure. And you know what, it went from being fun to read to a real struggle. It was like reading two different books that had accidentally be stuck together.

The issue for me, other than what I just stated, was the whole romance theme that basically seemed to take over the whole story. This happened about the very middle of the book and didn't end. So yeah, it was a struggle to get through.

I think these kinds of book, the ones that start out super good and have you hooked and wanting more and wanting to know what happens next, only then to become the complete opposite, are really hard to cope with. Because of feeling that disappointment.

The author clearly has talent (I'm most definitely speaking only to the first half of this book). So I am interested in trying another in the future but I'm also going to be super hesitant about it.

The Sunken City is the first book in a new YA fantasy adventure series by Emma V. R. Noyes. Released 29th Dec 2021, it's 376 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is an exciting young adult fantasy novel with generous helpings of pirates, treasure, magic, and an extensive and intricate world bursting with danger and adventure. I really enjoyed the settings and flora and fauna and back stories for the different characters.

There is a strong subplot with an enemies-to-lovers trope which I didn't need, but the novel also has quite a lot of substantial story otherwise, and I never found my interest waning. Readers who enjoy that sort of thing will be in raptures, because it is quite well written and it is admittedly integral to the story.

Four and a half stars for me rounded up for the interesting and intricate world building. There are now three books extant in the series, making it a good candidate for a long weekend binge read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, even more than I thought I would!

Amare has been raised with pirates. Ever since her parents died, her "uncle" Omar, captain of the Moonshadow, has tried to protect her from... well, everything. But when Amare opens their latest treasure haul and touches what's inside, things begin to change, and she can suddenly not resist the pull of the water. In the midst of a storm, she discovers that there is an whole other world waiting beneath the surface.

Amare was a great character! So sassy and witty. I laughed out loud so many times throughout this book. I love the friends she meets too, they're great. The twisty turny plot was so intriguing, and the amazing underwater world that Noyes described was breathtaking.
I will be buying the sequel for sure!

Pirates, lost royalty, magic, and romance...it's as if the author took all of my favorite themes and created the perfect story for me.

Although this book starts out as a seemingly typical high seas adventure, it turns into an almost sci-fi story once Amare (the main character) finds her way to the Sunken City. I loved reading all of the fantastical world-building details of life underwater and meeting the characters, especially Amare's new gal pals who are just the most fun. I also enjoyed the villain characters, both of whom can be classified as morally grey and whose motives are still shrouded in mystery by the end of the book. Lastly, I want to mention that the plot had so many twists and turns that I found myself reading "just one more chapter" until late into the night.

In sum, this book was so much fun to read that it was an instant 5-stars for me. If you're a fan of action-adventure stories with a good dose of romantic tension, move this book to the top of your list. You won't regret it!

Thank you for the ARC! This review will be cross-posted on Goodreads, Instagram, and Amazon.

Ratings 3.5 stars

*I received an ARC from NetGalley for my voluntary and honest review.

Amare is a pirate. Her parents were pirates who disappeared into the ocean. She was raised on their ship by their crew for 17 years. One day Amare finds a lost treasure that is taken on her ship and changes everything. In the chest she finds a conch shell that gives her visions and changes her. She is pulled to the ocean stronger than before, hearing voices calling her. Then there is a storm that sees Amare overboard. But then she awakens and finds herself on the ocean floor, surrounded by an underwater city and the underwater people - the seria. Among them, her father who is the King of this underground city. Word spreads quickly of the new princess and the prophecy she is tied to that will release an ancient evil.

I very much loved the premise of this book. An underwater city full of colorful human-like people. And by colorful I mean one of the side characters is described with beautiful blue skin and purplish freckles. Another yellow skin with stripes. There is a lot to learn but since we are learning alongside Amare it doesn't feel like too much. This book has so many twists and turns. I always tend to end up trying to predict stories as I read them, and with this one my predictions changed like every other chapter. Right up to the ending cliffhanger. I still am trying to guess some of the characters' motivations which means I need to finish this trilogy.

An incredible fantasy with underwater kingdom, pirates, an epic world building, incredible characters and an even swoonier romance.

I loved every word of this book. You can’t help but root for Amare. She is a wonderful character with so much spirit. I finished this book and immediately started the second book. A great read.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc, all views are my own.

This is a great fantasy read. I love a pirate tale and the mixture of that and fantasy was amazing. The writing is excellent, I felt fully immersed in the world below the water that she created. The twists, mystery, romance and friendships captivated me. Amare is a great MC to follow, and I cannot wait for the sequel.

This book started off rough. It had too many Pirates of the Caribbean vibes, as if the author only watched those movies and called it pirate research. But the writing was fun and whimsical so I stuck around and didn't DNF the book. As the story progressed I started to enjoy myself. I still skimmed bits of the story in the middle because it couldn't quite hold my attention. Towards the end I was incredibly curious where the author was going with this story. And then it was over... This book felt more like a really long introduction than a full book. But I did enjoy plenty parts of this so it's getting three stars from me.

wow, this book was amazing. Once you start reading it, you can't put it down.
I really loved the writing style of the author. She described the world of the story perfectly and It felt like I was there myself.
I liked the concept of this book, an underwater city and the author did not disappoint with it! Let's be honest, an underwater city sounds amazing, right?
I think the main character is beautifully written and I really liked her. There is also a morally grey character, what more do you need?
My only criticism is that the story may be a bit slow towards the middle, but that didn't really bother me.
Overall I think this book is amazing and I'm looking forward to the sequel! I need it right now because the ending shocked me!

The blurb sounded very promising, with its pirate component and fairy-tale-infused ambiance. At first, I was pleasantly surprised by the style (the author clearly put in some effort) and the quirky atmosphere, giving the plot extra points for its obvious originality. But I was quickly put off by the overall tone, certain dialogues had too much rawness, and some passages felt too modern and lacked the necessary magic to keep me interested. I wasn’t expecting the lead character to speak in a way that reminded me too much of a real life modern teenage girl, especially in such an otherwordly universe.

Absolutely loved the opening of this book. Full of interesting characters and drama that really pulled me into the story. I felt like it waned a bit toward the middle, and I began losing interest until the action picked back up. I wanted to see what might happen next and skimmed over some of the bits that were less interesting to me. I am curious to see where the characters might go from here, and the writing style is a perfect balance with detailed descriptions that reeled me into the story and characters who I wanted to see succeed. I have to say that Finn is probably my favorite overall.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not required to leave a positive review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Amare is an orphan who grew up on a pirate ship. When she finds sunken treasure that emits a thunderous sound heard far and wide, she begins to change. After, Amare is drawn in to the world of sereia as she learns more about her heritage.

Y'all, I loved this novel! I have always loved pirates, which this has a plethora of. Add to the underwater pirates and I was instantly sold! Amare is such an interesting character. I loved her rough and tumble nature and how she sticks to her values.

Honestly, every character is intriguing and multi faceted. Readers get an enemies to friends to potential lovers storyline where you feel for each person. We dive into this world of sereia with technology and foods much like ours (but a few hundred years ahead of humans in the novel).

The concept of magic and the mchawi was unique and well thought out. There's still a hint of mystery as Amare slowly learns about everything.

The ending keeps me invested. We get some rumors about Amare's mother and father that gripped me. So now I need the sequel!

I didn’t enjoy this book. But I’m sure lots of people will.
As someone who prefers adult fantasy, the dialogue in this was too childish for me. It felt like I was watching a teen movie with lots of adult themes. It seemed to me like the author was trying for a more New Adult feel but the dialogue just didn’t quite make it over the line of the younger side of Young Adult.
I also felt like nothing really happened during the entire middle of this book. The start was brilliant. The end was mostly enjoyable. But the middle was almost unbearable. In my opinion, this book works best when it’s characters are on a ship.
I think the ideas in the book are really fun. A sunken city, two brothers and one girl (very Damon and Stephan from the Vampire Diaries) our MFC “sinking”. But it feels like the author didn’t fully want to commit to those ideas. Having a city under the water comes with lots of questions. None of them get answered in a satisfying way in this book in my opinion. How are there trees and food being grown so far down under the water? How is this city so modern compared to the world above the water? How is there electricity? The author creates answers to these problems that make little sense, even in a fantasy setting. It feels more like she wanted the thrill of an underwater city, the thrill of Georgian era pirates, but also the fun of a modern world, the ease of characters existing as if they’re above water. Her creation of ‘thin’ and ‘thick’ water was so frustrating that it became hard to enjoy the fantasy world she created. The same can be said of the modern world that Amare finds under the water.
If you’re willing to look past some childish dialogue, some editing inconsistencies and a fantasy world that feels more urban contemporary, then you might enjoy this book. At times it was very enjoyable. The chemistry between one of the MMC’s was enjoyable and it ended on a cliffhanger that, if I had enjoyed the book a bit more, would have me racing to the next book. As I said. I didn’t enjoy this book. But I think many people will.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3. Thank you to Net galley for a free copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

This is a tough one for me. I like the concept of the story a lot, and I could see myself raving about this book if it were executed better. However, the writing just felt off and disjointed. It would jump randomly from place to place at times, seemingly for no reason. Amare is a complex character but she is one that is hard to really love - I liked the Amare on the ship at the beginning, but the Amare that woke up in the Sunken City seemed like a different girl. I think her dialogue was meant to be witty but it just came across as rude and crass. I love Finn, but I have a strong feeling that he is not going to end up with Amare- although he deserves better! Lukas is annoying as anything - I'm all for a complex character but this dude changes his tune like my dad trying to find a radio station in the middle of nowhere. So that live triangle is annoyingly awful. The abrupt change between colonial times above the water to nightclubs and electricity (under water?!?) at the Sunken City is just unnecessary and confusing.

Again, the story kept me reading this book, but its execution was way off. I had a sense that the author self published, which seems to be confirmed by goodreads, and I think the book would've really benefited from a through editing eye and a professional proofreader. All in all, I haven't decided yet if I will pick up the next two books in the series, just to see how the story ends.

I loved this fantasy novel! Magical mermaids are a perfect topic to rad about in summer, can’t wait for part 2!