I absolutely love the cover art. It looks so magical. The beginning started out really well, but the middle waned. Some of the text felt off, like the author's use of % instead of spelling out percent. I honestly skimmed a bit of this book waiting for the action to pick back up. I did really enjoy the detailed descriptions and can't wait to see where the story goes in the next book.

The Sunken City had an intriguing premise, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. I love movies about pirates but this wasn’t my thing.

I was quite busy when I read this and so I have only read the first few chapters before the title was archived. So I can't judge the whole book but what I did read made me want to buy the book to know what happens next :D

Who doesn't love a good pirate story? Following the story of Amare, born and raised on a pirate ship, we learn about magic, her secret past, and the lengths people will go to get answers. A quick, fun read.

I am a major fan of pirate story! I love a swashbuckling girl boss! I have to say that this novel did not disappoint! The story was very fast-paced and full of adventure! I’m excited to read the sequel! I recommend this novel for fans of Air and Ash, Midas’s Daughter, and Ahab’s Daughter!

This was an absolute pleasure to read and I loved every minute of reading the book. I loved the plot and the characters. The cover itself is gorgeous and the characters are absolutely well written. I think everyone should give this a read

Let me just start by saying I waited far too long to read this book! I absolutely loved everything about it. I fell in love with the characters especially Lukas. If you love pirates, magic, and a love triangle then this book is for you. After I finished this book I blew through the other two books in the trilogy and they are both as good as the first.

I've been wanting to read something like this, and I was pleasantly surprised by this fast-paced pirate adventure! I really loved the premise because of how unique it was, and a badass FMC! Wasn't a big fan of the love triangle, but I would still recommend for the fantasy alone!

I had a really hard time reading this. The writing did not flow at all for me. Maybe in time I will be able to read it.

Thank you for the opportunity to read an eARC of this title. Our organization uses language and content guidelines to select our annual book award lists, and upon a word search this book did not meet the language criteria for us. We do not finish books in this case. Thank you!

I LOVE pirate adventures so naturally I was invested in this one! The writing style felt a bit off, but other than that I enjoyed the story and the characters. The change in setting was also a bit weird, but it the actual underwater city itself was cool.

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.