Badass lesbian pirates and terrifying sea monsters! What more do you need?

THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS is the powerful, white-knuckled seastorm of a sequel to THE ABYSS SURROUNDS US. What a conclusion to the duology.

After reading the first book in the series, I was eager to read this one too. Thankfully, it didn't disappoint and was a wonderful continuation.

This book was my favorite read of the year. Pirates and sea monsters! What else do you possibly want?

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book and chose to review it. This in no way impacts my opinion on the novel.

Yikes. I generally don't write DNF reviews on here but this is one that I think y'all should see. Because I really liked THE ABYSS SURROUNDS US so this should have been a book I also really liked. But it was not. Where THE ABYSS SURROUNDS US had good worldbuilding, monsters, and charm, THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS felt like a whole other world and one that was devoid of joy.

The characters this time around were annoying to me. I thought that Cas and Swift's relationship was heading in the right direction before but this time around I was just frustrated. They were sorta happy, then fighting, then sorta happy again, then angsty just to add ~drama~ and at that point I realized this probably wasn't the book for me.

I rated this two stars on Goodreads so that my review would show up on the webpage, but man oh man. I feel as though if I had finished, I probably would have rated it one star. I did read some spoilers and there is a major character death that everyone said seemed forced so that would have probably docked a star for me.

I'm sure you're thinking: "But if you didn't finish, how can you talk about this book?" Well, I didn't finish because I thought the first 25% was terrible and I didn't want to even bother putting myself through the other 75%. So judge me and this review if you want, but I give zero cares except I don't mean cares.

This series never quite kicked into the high gear I wanted, but it's super fun, fast-paced, and energetic. Plus, f/f sci fi that features endless strong women is automatically pretty awesome. I recommend highly to readers who are just venturing into the waters of SFF, because this is a really friendly light sci fi novel.

This is my first time reading this author, but won't be the last! I love the world Emily Skrutskie created, and am excited to see what other stories she creates!

This series is such a delight. It's different from anything else I've read before. I love this universe, and our main characters. It's a shame how difficult it is to find good fiction featuring queer ladies, and this is a fantastic one that I recommend often.

It's as good as the first book, and my only complaint is that I could have read a hundred pages more, at least! I couldn't put the book down, and it was great to reunite with the characters I already loved from the first book.
The action was great! And what can I say about the main characters? Great development there.

~the backstory~
WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE ABYSS SURROUNDS US. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
I got this through NetGalley in exchange in exchange of an honest review.
I read and adored the first book THE ABYSS SURROUNDS US last year, so when I saw that THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS was up on NetGalley, I had to request it. You can probably imagine how loud I screamed when I got approved for it.
~the overall opinion~
This was such a strong sequel and ending. I honestly think that helped me get out of my reading slump. It was so action packed and had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Like THE ABYSS SURROUNDS US we're thrust straight into action and it doesn't let up until the end.
~the characters~
As with the first book, this is told entirely in our MC's POV. Cas has changed and grown so much since we first met her in THE ABYSS SURROUNDS US. Her struggles were so real and understandable - I love how Emily Skrutskie always hits the nail on the head with Cas' situation. In book one, it was how her relationship with Swift wasn't equal. In this, it's coming to terms with herself and her feelings after learning just what role played in Durga's death. There were so many times I was just cheering because how brutually honest this story was.
We also have Swift, Cas' love interest and my favourite character. I don't know if it's just because I see so much of myself in her. I love the different side we see to her in this book - the hungry, desperate side. The character development was incredible for everyone.
There's also Chuck, Varma and Lemon, who I wish we saw more of. No word of a lie, I would read a spinoff about these three. Especially Chuck and Varma because I want to see more of their relationship!
Santa Elena. Oh my God. I love to hate this woman. There are times I love her, times I hate her, times I want to be here, times I want to kill her. I think she's my second favourite character just because of how fleshed out and wonderfully complex and brutal she is.
I also loved the inclusion of Cas' family again. We still don't see much of them but it was nice for her to have that reconnecting moment. I was kind of worried she would never get it when I first started this book and I AM SO FREAKING HAPPY WITH HOW EVERYTHING PLANNED OUT.
~the plot and setting~
This book gave me all the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End feelings. No word of a lie. If Pirates of the Caribbean took place in a sci-fi futuristic setting instead of the 17th century, I swear, it would be this book.
As I mentioned earlier, this book is so action packed and fast paced. I loved every twist and turn. I would tell myself just one more chapter and it would end in such a way that I needed to have another one and another one.
I don't want to go into too much details because the two things that made me so! Freaking! Happy! are very spoilery. And I want you all to be as shocked and excited as I was when I read them. But holy shit, this entire thing delighted me so much.
I alos felt like this stakes were much higher in this book, which provided much more tension whilst reading. I had no idea what was going to happen next. The first one was a bit more predictable but this one? This one gave kept me second guessing and questioning everything.
Once again, I love the world of this duology. I love how it's similiar enough to our own, but different enough to make everything seem plausible. I sometimes feel like setting is something I don't notice a lot (probably because I suck at writing it so much) but this world was sometehing I adored. I would actually love a graphic novel spinoff about Cas and Swift's adventures afterwards.
~the final thoughts~
I recommend this duology completely. Sapphic romance with pirates, sea monsters, a biracial main character, kickass friendships and nail biting action? What more could you want?

I didn't understand most of it because it is a sequel

There was so much action in the conclusion of Emily Skrutskie's duology. I feel like no sooner did I open this book than I was blown away by everything happening in it.

Pirates! Ship fights! Fights against monsters! Hellbeasts!

Those were the parts that I did love. The parts that I didn't love quite so much were everything between Cas and Swift. And I had quite a lot of problems with the pacing of the novel itself, and the importance it put on some characters who were simply disposed of in a simple paragraph with no forewarning.

I think it was also the fact that all my favourite parts of the last book had to do with a life that Cas no longer has. Bao's presence did not make up for Durgo's loss in any way. I almost felt sorry for Bao's connection being to Cas rather than to the ship, because we really saw nothing like that intensity of feeling coming back from Cas.

And, at the end, it was so quickly all pieced together, I couldn't help but think that the words that were used for all of that angst between Swift and Cas would have been better used fleshing out that ending.

This is a duology that needs to be on everybody's radar! I started with The Abyss Surrounds Us last month, hooked on the promise of sea monsters (yep, that's all it takes to grab my attention) and fell in love with the characters and world.

Cas is a former Reckoner trainer. Basically she played with massive sea monsters that were bred to destroy ships. How cool is that?! And last time around her loyalties were seriously tested but she's chillin' with the pirates now and her maybe-girlfriend Swift.

In terms of the story, this one moved a bit slower than the last for me. There's a lot of action but it's segmented and I was jolted back and forth between those quicker scenes and the rest of the story building up the relationship between Cas and Swift, Cas and the crew, and Cas and her role in the grand scheme of the sea. I didn't get through this in one shot, putting it down during these slower parts. Yet I loved the story, and it wraps up neatly with potential for a future book if the author felt like writing one while also leaving me satisfied with each of the storylines. 

Cas has become one of my favorite characters. She's beautifully flawed and a lot of fun to follow from a reader's perspective. One of the things I loved about this book was how Cas didn't have to sacrifice vulnerability to be a strong heroine. I feel like, so often, the characters who are "strong" in books can't be anything else. That's the category they're thrown into and it limits their growth.

Skrutskie threw that out the window and wrote a character who was strong, resourceful, uncertain, stubborn, smart, passionate, vulnerable... the list goes on. You get all sides of Cas and I tried to think of other books where that stood out to me and I can't. It's crazy, because I love so many books and so many characters but when I starting thinking about it, I couldn't think of one that compared to Cas in multi-dimensional-ness. At least not in the span of two books.

Not to mention I ship Cas and Swift so hard, and Swift is another one of those intricately written characters I've fallen in love with. Their romance is so raw and real. The uncertainty of the future, the conflicting emotions and loyalties to themselves, each other, and the crew. Each part of their lives impacted their relationship in the way that these things do and I think it made it all the better. 

In short, a fantastic story of loyalty and personal strength about a girl who trains sea monsters and her life as a pirate. Awesome futuristic world, F/F romance, (once more for the people in the back) SEA MONSTERS. Yeah, get excited. If that sounds like something you're interested in, grab yourself a copy of The Abyss Surrounds Us and The Edge of the Abyss!

I good follow-up! I love the world Skrutskie created and Cass and Swift are adorable!! Still something missing in terms of making me LOVE it but I did have a good time reading it.

This is even better than the first book!
The stakes were higher, Cas and Swift's romance was both more complicated and stronger, and everything about Cas' characters arc is amazing. I loved the story itself. I also both love and hate Santa Elena at the same time for doing that to my girls.
I had a minor issue with the ending, thinking it could have been more explored and given more time -- maybe a bigger battle and just pacing it out more evenly so we could gather the magnificency of the thing.
ANYWAY THIS IS AN EXCELLENT DUOLOGY, AND Y'ALL TRIPPING IF YOU DON'T PICK IT UP.

The sequel to 2016’s The Abyss Surrounds Us, it is as thrilling and awesome as one would hope. Set only three weeks after the end of book one, tension still hangs in the air, and questions keep piling up. No big spoilers here, but I gotta tell you, the chemistry between the MC and the love interest is so darn palpable it physically hurts. And oh my oh my, was this an angsty read. I gotta say though, I love angst.

We learn so much more about Reckoners here; we see them interact, fight, be in a place they weren’t designed to live in. The world and the characters are so well built, and you are guaranteed to swoon.

It’s been almost a year and a half since I read The Abyss Surrounds Us, but within a few pages of The Edge of the Abyss, I was sucked back into Cas’s world of pirates and sea monsters. This was a fantastic conclusion to a well-written, action-packed sci-fi adventure in a world that’s easy to imagine.

Picking up shortly after where the first book ended, Cas has left her life as a Reckoner trainer and sworn allegiance to the totally badass pirate queen, Santa Elena. As one of Santa Elena’s chosen few, she’s in training to one day take over as captain of the Minnow. Her one advantage is an extensive knowledge of Reckoners, which puts her at the forefront when the crew discover the rogue Reckoners that are swimming free in the NeoPacific and could cause irreparable damage in many ways.

I loved how The Edge of the Abyss built on The Abyss Surrounds Us. In this book, we get to see more of the pirates themselves and learn about pirate politics, which was fascinating. We get to see more growth from Cas, and we also get to see more of the secondary characters, which I liked. They became real people for me in this book, a true supporting cast.

I have slightly mixed feelings about the romance in this one. On the one hand, I understand Cas’s hurt and anger and being unsure whether she can forgive Swift for the things that came to light at the end of the first book. She and Swift are finally on equal footing, but so much has happened that seems impossible to get past. Their relationship was always complex, and I appreciated the slow burn of it, but there was almost too much back and forth. Cas has a lot to deal with besides her feelings for Swift - guilt over leaving her life and family behind, uncertainty over her future, trying to figure out a plan to deal with the Reckoners - so while I would have easily understood the romance not being a main focus of the plot, the way it was handled makes the plot feel choppy at times. That being said, the emotions were realistic. Their romance was never hearts and rainbows, full of mushy sentiments and pledges of eternal love, and that made it more realistic than a lot of other YA romances because young love is often rocky and uncertain and confusing. I was ultimately satisfied and I appreciated how things ended, but the rocky ride was a bit tiresome at times.

The Edge of the Abyss is fast paced, engaging, and full of thrilling action and great characters. I’d love to see this duology turned into a movie or TV series.

nice follow up, though I did like the first one better

It’s been a few days since I actually finished reading The Edge of the Abyss and I’m just struggling with writing the review. This sequel/finale was so satisfying. I haven’t finished a series in a good amount of time and as such I’m currently unfamiliar with this feeling: I loved the story, I love how it ended, I loved having my questions answered, and I miss the characters and want more anyway.

Skrutskie really amped up the romantic angst in book 2. I mean, there was a lot of push and pull in The Abyss Surrounds Us but if you thought that was broody and dramatic, just wait until you read this one. Swift and Cas are even more at odds with one another while still growing ever closer at the same time. They were pitted against one another but pushed into close quarters for the majority of the book. It made for quite the amount of frustration; but the good kind, the kind that makes you wanna bash their faces together and make them kiss. I loved where their romance sat when the final page drew to a close. I thought it was brave and I’d love to see more of it.

The best parts of book 1 were turned up to an eleven for book 2. Sea monsters!! And not just one sea monster as a companion to the Minnow, but an entire PACK of SEA MONSTERS. Like 50!! There was even more action and more thrills and more enormous, terrifying sea monsters in The Edge of the Abyss. This whole world is something I think this series does so well and getting to see more of it was great. The epic battle at the end was everything I was hoping for, with the exception of a single trope. It’s nothing offensive or anything I’d rant about, but it’s something I thought was on its way out the door and I was sad to see it here. I just hate when a character blacks out and then the most difficult things have been dealt with while they were gone. Like the end of the Hunger Games trilogy. « Hide Spoiler

The way a certain death went down just had me reeling. I didn’t even know what to feel, and it was over in the blink of an eye. I mean, I wanted to laugh, I wanted to cry. The whole thing was amazingly absurd but also perfectly hilarious. I wasn’t expecting it at all and I literally laughed out loud when it happened.

What lacked for me in this book was a sense of purpose. I understood that Cas was grappling with that, but I didn’t appreciate that the book and its plot were also grappling with that same issue. In the first book, the goal was clear: get the hell away from these crazy pirates and make it back home to safety. But this time, the whole future seemed like an amorphous black blob, and not just in the “what will I do now?” way that Cas was struggling with. There was no real solution to the problems that Cas faced, and honestly, they didn’t spend a whole lot of time working to find those solutions either. I don’t know how to explain this well, but I just feel like the plot wasn’t structured very well.

In the end, I thought this was a great conclusion. Structurally and technically maybe not the best book around. I wish the plot was stronger with more defined acts. But the characters were great, the romance was angsty and swoony and yay f/f sex!! I wish there were going to be more books but at the same time I’m left feeling wholly satisfied with where everything stands as it is.

Just as amazing as the first book! This one provided more action, pirates, and family dynamics that I loved. My only real complaint is I think there was too much back and forth on the romance, but I loved where the relationship was at by the end of the book.