Seafire by Natalie C. Parker is a good fit for readers who enjoy action-packed fantasy stories about a determined pirate captain and her all-female crew seeking revenge against a tyrannical warlord on the high seas.

Fun pirates! I loved this book, it is one I will recommend to my students for their summer reading. what a fun romp.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the Sneak Peek of this book. I enjoyed it so much I bought the full book so I could finish the story. My review is based on the full version. Caledonia is the Captain of her own ship. She is strong, but also flawed. I love the way the author developed her character, as well as the characters of her crew. I’m so anxious to read the rest of the series!

This was a pretty decent sneak peek! Overall, I liked the book but didn't love it, but always refreshing to see more mermaids in YA lit.

I lost my desire to read for a while which is why this review of a 3-chapter excerpt has taken forever.
With that said, I really enjoyed the beginning of this book. It made me want to go out and purchase a copy so that I could find out more about Caledonia, Pisces and the rest of these amazing women aboard the Mors Navis. There was the perfect amount of action to draw me in and desiring to see where every twist and turn took me as a reader.

*I received the first copy of this ebook for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

And when I realized it was only the first chapter, I waited until I could get the whole book from the library before I started reading it. Sorry. Or maybe not.

Somehow, this book was at the same time what I expected and not what I expected. Though I'm not sure what I expected, as the book description is pretty accurate. But I liked it, so that's what's important, right?

This is the first book I've read by Natalie C. Parker, and I found her to be a skilled author. She wrote in a way that was engaging and kept the book moving while not sacrificing needed description and character development. Each of the named characters had a distinct personality, even the ones that weren't major players (or in the book for long). Favorites: Oran, Caledonia, Nettle.

On the downside (and I know a lot of people will disagree that this is not a positive), I felt like this was very much a "girl power" book. I don't have a problem with strong females. I do have a problem with making men weak to make women look stronger, and I think this book occasionally did that. Most of the men in this book were either vile or timid. Ares and Oran might be the exceptions, but I honestly don't think they had enough opportunity to show either way. Maybe Oran, but he spent so much of the book gagged or trying not to rock the boat (haha) that he just seemed very timid. Even when he actually did things, he was so quiet about it. But maybe that's just him. (I can't help but wonder how he gained his former position as a Bullet, to be honest.) I hope he gets a chance to really shine in sequels.

I marked this as having a love story, but it's very slight. There are like two romantic kisses in the entire book, and the relationship is barely developing. Barely. But I really hope it continues and evolves. I will take this moment to comment on a complaint I've seen in several other reviews: that this "perfect opportunity" to make a ship full of girls in love with each other was wasted. Are there hints here and there that there are some romantic relationships among the crew of the Mors Navis? Yes, but they are mostly subtle. And honestly, since none of them involve the main character, I don't see why that's a problem. (I don't see why people think badly of a book if it doesn't represent every diverse person under the sun. One, it's a book. Two, it's a world/characters/plot/etc. created by someone who knows the story better than its readers. Three, not every book is written for every person. That's why some people love romance novels, some people love nonfiction, some people love mysteries, etc. Authors have no obligation whatsoever to please everyone. And this parenthetical insert has become quite long.) So that's my opinion on that.


Note: Maybe some swearing. Hints of girls liking each other.

Disclaimer: I received this copy from NetGalley and then bought my own copy. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book Series: Seafire Book 1

Rating: 5/5

Publication Date: August 28, 2018

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 17+ (violence, gore, slight romance, and pirates in futuristic quasi-waterworld!)

Publisher: Razorbill

Synopsis: 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, who have lost their families and homes because of Aric and his men. The crew has one mission: stay alive, and take down Aric's armed and armored fleet.

But when Caledonia's best friend and second-in-command barely survives an attack thanks to help from a Bullet looking to defect, Caledonia finds herself questioning whether 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?

Review: Holy cow this book was amazing! I loved the story, the characters were well done, the story was engaging and not reliant on the romance at all, and the book featured a ton of very tough and powerful women!

However, I do feel like the book could have advertised that the setting was like techno punk futuristic quasi-Waterworld because then I would have read it faster lol.

Verdict: Read this now!

It took me a while to get to this book and I ended up buying a physical copy and was not disappointed.
Although taking place on the open seas, this book's twist of having female pirates was refreshing and handled in a unexpected ways. For one, fighting against Athair, the main antagonist of the novel who kidnaps people to work for him, was amazing in itself as the crew of Caledonia Styx, the female protagonist and captain of the ship, are all women who found refuge and a family through Caledonia. I had initially thought it was just going to be all female crew fighting the bad guys, so when a Bullet showed up and wasn't female, I was hesitant about continuing with the story, really hoping that it wasn't going to turn out into a romantic story focused solely on the two because I find those type of stories really boring and cliche nowadays. Just give me the adventurer and friendships without someone making out or confessing their romantic feelings please! I cheered for Caledonia and her crew throughout the whole story as they worked to stop the tyrant Athair and gain freedom and peace for everyone who has been harmed by him. Overall, a good story. I wish the author the best of luck in future writings and look forward to more pirate stories of this caliber in the future!

One of my new favorite books! This author has such a way with words the pages flew by in no time! I can’t wait to see the next work by this author! This was such a joy to read!

I'm very thankful to have been given the chance to read a sneak peek of Seafire. I had heard a lot about this book and was so excited to read it but when I did, I found that it wasn't really the book for me. The writing was wonderful but I think overall at the time I tried reading it, it just wasn't what I was looking for in a book. Maybe in the future I will try to pick it up again and see if it was just a wrong time sort of thing but for now I'm going to have to put this book in my did not finish pile.

This sneak peek was so good! I cannot wait to read the full story. I love pirate books and books about being at sea!

Thank you to the publisher, the author and Netgalley for permitting me to read an ARC in exchange for my candid review.

Actually, I was only given a preview of this book. But I liked it so much, I bought the rest of the book.

I loved this book. It is a story of a crew of all girls that are waging guerilla war on their evil enemies, the Bullets. It is kind of a cross between Waterworld and The Postman. They live in a time with some high tech items in a world that has gone back to an agrarian and seafaring lifestyle. These girls are mostly orphans who band together to fight the oppressor. They are one ship against an entire world wide fleet of highly trained, drug reliant boys called Bullets. The girls are led by a fearless and charsimatic girl by the name of Cassandra, who has devised a set of rules to keep them alive....and in order.

The only disappointment is that this is only book one in a three book series. AND THE OTHER TWO BOOKS ARE NOT AVAILABLE YET!

And I want to read the rest of the story. Right now!

Other than that, this is a well-written, engaging story that you will love. You will not be able to put it down!

Only got to read the excerpt. This is on my tbr and I can't wait to drive into it! So far it seems very fun and interesting.

Read this sneak peak provided by Netgalley and honestly made me run for the title...
it's already on my TBR at home and I can't wait to finally read it in its whole and get to know more about the characters!

First because the guy's name is Pisces and I'm pisces so I really loved it! <3
Can't wait to continue!

I was king of disapointed to only be aloud to have a sneak peak, it sounds like this book is going to be amazing.

A group that girls and women hellbent on taking down a warlord on the highseas? Yes please! This crew has seen heartache because of this warlord, now they'll do whatever it takes to take him down. Can we say, "GIRL POWER"! Though this was just a sneak peek I'm totally pumped for the rest of this story! Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this little snippet!

I'm an totally and helplessly in love with this family of pirates, especially all these fabulous female characters and the world of peril and adventure that awaits them!

I'm reading the book right now!

Totally have to get this one now! Loved the SP and can't wait to read more. Thanks for the preview!

Mary

A fascinating and intriguing teaser for Seafire. I loved the chance to "try before buying" such a beautiful looking book. I look forward to picking up the finished book!

Mini review:

DNF

Trigger warning: Murder. Up till the point I read.

I received this E-ARC sampler via Penguin Group and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to read this! It sounded so good! When I saw the sampler on Netgalley I requested it! Unfortunately I didn’t like it.

The beginning was so gripping! Though as that scene played out I started losing interest. I just wasn’t feeling it. And I was so disappointed by that!

Still recommend.