No one's more sad than I am that I didn't love this!

Somehow, I think the premise is misleading... My understanding was that the witch was trapped on an actual island prison for something she'd done, rather than mostly raised in luxurious captivity because she has magic and so the men want to own them.... Further, it seemed like their escape would take place earlier in the book, rather than at the end? This was definitely more a 'court-intrigue' story than a pirate story.

Further, the woke agenda behind the actual plot was so blatant. The story's backbone is burning down a society where women with special abilities are property to men, which was just far too in-your-face for me. Also, the random cross-dressing side-character was jarring. All that aside, the villains were painfully caricatured, and I had a really hard time with the literal insta-love/soulmate element.

Still, very grateful to the author and Netgalley for the arc! I really did think I'd love this one!

(SCREAM) Oh my god the absolute wholesomeness of this book 😭 it's a very swoony, very witchy, very swashbuckling book with the loveliest fated mates romance and many friendships and found families <3 if you like fantasy romances, you must pick it up ❤️

This was a great magical read full of such culture and drama! Rich world building and characters helped make this story come alive through the pages. The romance was swoonworthy and the female empowerment was strong!

Okay this book was recommended by Rebecca Ross and man I loved it! It was fabulous! There was drama and tension and intrigue and magic and it was perfect!

4.5 stars

This was such a fun read! I deeply enjoyed the magic and the atmosphere of the setting. The side characters were really fun too, especially Santi. Santi is everything and must be protected at all costs.

A full Latine cast, a rich isle full of magical dangers and a beautiful story of coming to love the darkness in yourself. What a beautiful debut.

Sinner’s Isle is swoony, romantic, daring, adventurous, and addictive. It was a fast-paced read that I thoroughly enjoyed. I couldn’t get enough of Mariano and Santi, and the world-building was captivating.

First off this is a debut novel by author Angela Montoya so I will admit I was skeptical going in. But holy mother of peal! I thought this was a phenomenal first book by her! We have witches and pirates, blackmail, romance, adventure, ugh! Does one need anything else? I had an absolute blast with this book. It had all the things that make a great book in my opinion.

At the beginning of this book I was a little worried how much I would like the story. There was a bit of a slow start, with the magic being explained that had me iffy on some things. By halfway through the book I was in love. I wanted Mariano and Rosa to be together forever, I wanted Lord Morales to be gone, and the mistress to get what she deserves for everything she had done. Once I had a handle on the magic of the story I liked it, a lot. Each girl having a unique power or something they controlled. Rosa having a power that almost should have been evil but was being taken advantage of. There were many positives. I also enjoyed Mariano, his growth in understanding the larger world around him and starting to realize what he could do to change things. Also, who doesn't love a floppy haired pirate. I also really enjoyed the use of certain Spanish words and phrases throughout the text. Though I'm not sure if this is a stand alone or not, the ending is very satisfying, and I definitely felt like it was an end I could live with.

Rosa is a Majestic, a woman with a magical power - in her case, she can control shadows to do things for her, even to hurt people. Once magical powers appear, girls are stolen from their families to be raised on Sinner’s Isle and sold and Bound to wealthy and powerful men to control the people in the kingdom. When she tries to escape, she and her friend Juana are caught and Juana is used to keep Rosa in line. All seems lost until the arrival of the pirates Mariano and Santiago and,separately, King Sebastian. The destinies of all three men are tied to Rosa and helping her get free from Sinner’s Isle. It was a fun book, although I expected there to be more action and less insta-love.

This book is about Rosalinda, a young witch, called a Majestic, who is forced to live on an island with other Majestics until she can be sold off and bound to a rich man. As in, he would actually control her powers. Being a strong willed woman she does everything she can to avoid that fate, including blackmailing a handsome pirate. We've got: magic, pirates, queer representation, romance. This was a very fun read. The magic system and the world building was great. I really enjoyed this book.

This is a fun and fast paced read that includes Majestics (girls with magic), sirens, pirates, heartsongs, romance, and political intrigue. To keep power, moneyed men and the cardinals of a church conspire to re-write the story of young girls, shaping them into monsters, criminals, and villains. Rather than forming an inquisition, the church uses propaganda to vilify these girls. The church then runs an operation for “tithe.” The church has cazadores that capture girls with magic, imprisons them on Sinner’s Isle, and then sells them and binds them to the highest bidders.

In this corruption, a powerful majestic will participate in subjugating other girls rather than fighting for liberation. So it is up to the Rosalindas of the world to bring about social change. But she only has seven days to do so, or she will be forever bound to her buyer, and her magic will cease to be her own.

Spiders, sirens, and fireflies bring hints magical realism to the text.

Mariano is Rosalinda’s heartsong, so the sexual attraction becomes love within a one week period.

Mariano’s sidekick offer fun one-liners that will make you read, and then reread. The remaining characters have unresolved conflicts, so the door is open to a series to follow.

Overall verdict: A fun way to spend the day.

I received an e-arc through NetGalley and this is my honest opinion of the book.

I give the book like 4.25/5.

Intriguing, fast paced romance. The book has many elements going on and is a very captivating read with the world building and character development. It is a dual pov with the FMC and MMC and truly a favorite in ways of writing a romance seeing both pov of the interactions. The romance is well done and their few interactions kind of help build how quickly it comes together. I loved Rose's interactions with the side characters. The emotions given off by her are well developed and the exchange is with the mistress you can see the distaste for everything. It's not very adventurous or deadly book, but there is action and well made character interactions that it's a great read. If you like the first book of Serpent and Dove and pirates you'll probably enjoy this book.
*Spoiler tropes* it is a kind of insta love for the book takes place over the week of the offering so it happens very quickly. Which is a meh trope for me.
Overall loved the book. So many twists and turns and things I didn't really expect. Love this debut novel and look forward to more of her work!

A romantic adventure filled with lush settings, magic, and the struggles of power in all forms.

I'm a bit conflicted about this book. Ever since I saw the cover and read the blurb, this became one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I was so excited to read this story and meet all the characters. However, something about it fell flat for me. Not that the story wasn't enjoyable per se, but it felt like something was missing.

At the very beginning, I fell in love with both Rosalinda and Juana. Those two were so clearly the best of friends, their platonic chemistry jumped out of the story. It was beautiful to read. I was so sad when Doña Lucía took Juana, and we barely saw her until the very end. It would've been amazing to see more scenes between Rosalinda and Juana.

Enter Mariano, and I was hooked into the pirate side of the story. The fights on deck, el Draque dying and commanding his son to flee, the addition of Santiago were an incredible start to his arc. I was expecting so much more fire and adventure, but then it all kind of fell flat when Mariano and Santi made it to Sinner's Isle.

Another aspect of this story that had me scratching my head was the heartsong. I loved the name, loved how it meant having a soulmate, etc. However, I felt like if the story was gonna be revolved around this, adding in that romantasy aspect to the book, it should've been introduced and intertwined with the rest of the plot. Moreover, because of this, Mariano and Rosalinda felt too insta-lovey for my liking. As far as insta-love goes, I think it was handled fine, it's just that I don't tend to like these types of romance arcs *personally*. I felt like there could've been more use of a person's heartsong, especially after the reveal of Doña Lucía's.

One thing I did adore was the overall theme of wanting to be your own person, not an object for others. Seeing Rosalinda want to escape this isle so desperately and find freedom and autonomy filled me with both rage and sorrow for her, for the fact that she had to deal with all those disgusting displays and lower herself to these men who paid her tithes. A scene that impacted me further was when she was climbing on the outside of the building to get to Doña Lucía's room and got caught by another Majestic, and instead of reporting this incident, the Majestic showed a sign of solidarity and closed the curtains. This moment showed just how trapped they all were, and how they didn't know any other way to leave the isle if not for the binding ritual. It felt absolutely satisfying when I got to the end after everything Rosalinda and the other Majestics did to the isle.

Overall, this was a decent book with an interesting concept. I wish the romance had sparked more for me, but it wasn't that bad anyway.

3.5 rounded up!

(ARC from NetGalley) First of all, my apologies to the group chat for bombarding you with my reactions. This story was the perfect blend of fantasy, romance, political intrigue and adventure— Pirates of the Caribbean and Circe. The story follows Rosalinda, a Majestic witch with the power of shadows, as she tries to escape Sinner’s Isle with her best friend before The Offering. In the other POV we have Mariano, the marooned Prince of Pirates, who’s just escaped a battle that took his father and his ship. These two must form an alliance if they want to escape and boyyyyy was it JUICY! The gowns, the sirens, the betrayal! Anyways pick this up and have the time of your life.

Sinner’s Isle is a romantic and adventurous tale of overcoming oppression. Rosalinda and her fellow Majestics are trapped on an island where their only chance of escaping is being bound to a man who will control their magical gifts. Then the handsome pirates show up and offer their assistance. Though Mariano is another POV in this story, Rosa is still definitely the main character and driver of the plot. Her transformation throughout the story is a beautiful thing to behold. The romance moved too quickly for my taste sometimes, but otherwise I found little that I disliked. Sinner’s Isle offers a diverse and entertaining cast of characters, fun and flirty romance, danger and high stakes, and a triumphant ending.

I adored this book. Some favorite gems I couldn't help but highlight:
'“What does a creature like you think of?” Punishment, her shadows whispered.'

"How could he fault a girl for using her wit to rescue herself?"

"Sometimes the more power one possesses, the less control they have over their own life."

"The majestic lived in a world of impossible things."

That last one though! It's true! What delightfully impossible things.
An incredible cast and infectious adventure.

There are spiders though. Not in a scary way, but to me, all spiders are scary. So be forewarned.

I knew going into this book that it was probably going to knock my socks off and boy was I right! Now only is this a romantasy based on Latinx culture, but it also has Pirates of The Caribbean vibes that just made my heart so happy! I absolutely adored Rosalinda. She is such a strong female character which I always love to see! And holy coy, Mariano is sooo swoon-worthy! This book was such a fun read and I absolutely loved it! A fantastic debut by Montoya! I highly recommend!

Such a fun and delightful fantasy adventure romance! I think readers will fall for Rosalinda and Mariano's dynamic and delight in Mariano's BFF Santi's comedic dialogue. I also believe this is a stand-alone with room for a sequel.

It’s no surprise that I adored Sinner’s Isle by Angela Montoya. A feminist romantasy based on Latinx culture and lore? Was this book written just for me? It probably was, and I’m choosing to believe this.
•
Rosalinda, a powerful witch held captive on an island built to imprison women like her, had my heart from the start. She’s so fierce, so determined, and so loyal to the people she loves that it’s impossible not to love her. Then there’s Mariano, the pirate Rosa blackmails to help her get off the island—I just know readers will love him (I did!!). Scrappy and cunning, Mariano is the pirate love interest dreams are made of. Rounded out by a superb cast of side characters (looking at you, Juana and Santiago), this book is so entertaining and fun that it’s impossible to put down.
•
One of the things I love about YA novels is that we hit the ground running and never stop. This is so true of Sinner’s Isle—the plot gets going right away and keeps it moving. If you never quite got over whoever you had a crush on in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies (like me, most of the cast), you will have a great time with this book. Packed full of action, romance, adventure, and intrigue, this is a book you should absolutely preorder ahead of its release on 10/31/23. ♥️

Thank you to the author, #Netgalley, and the publisher for the ARC!

Sinner's Isle is a romantic fantasy (Pirates of the Caribbean meets Descendants) that centers on 18-year-old Rosalinda and other majestics as they prepare to be indentured into servitude with the elite and rich men of their world. Rosalinda has planned an escape with her best friend that of course goes awry almost immediately. Mariano, our second POV, is the son of a famous pirate and must make his mark separate from his father, especially in the world of piracy where everybody is always on the verge of mutiny and battling for power. Mariano and Rosalinda's world collide when Mariano finds his way to Sinner's isle on the eve of this year's offering.

What drew me to the story and what I feel makes this book unique are the diverse characters and the world that Montoya creates. I love that diversity is not the center of the story, but instead commonplace. Characters mirror our world and that to me is amazing.

The world is intriguing and leaves so much room for exploration. I'm excited to learn more about the characters as Montoya continues the series (this is a series, correct?). I want to learn how Sinner's Isle will transform and what will happen to those left behind!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book before it is released and I hope to see how the story progresses!