While I enjoyed aspects of this, including the premise and main character's personality, overall the tone felt all over the place, like it wasn't sure what to take seriously and what to play as a joke. I couldn't buy into the romance, and the ending left a lot up in the air. I'm glad I read it, because there were parts I really enjoyed, but it didn't stick the landing for me.

••• review •••
✨ Magic, murder, and mystery rolled into one with side of humor.

✨ Wow! This was such a fun read. It took a bit for me to get into it since it has a completely new concept (at least to me), but after about 1/4 through, I was hooked.

✨ The main character, Dee, was hilarious and relatable. Many of the characters were relatable in different aspects. I laughed so many times and my heart ached for Dee. Grasshopper reminded me of my own children, for better or worse!

✨ I loved the magic concept. You learn more about it as you read on and once it was all clear, I really thought there was so much beauty in how the Blessing (magic) appeared.

✨ I also loved how there were deep topics, specifically self-worth and depression, woven throughout the story. It really made the characters more relatable and well rounded.

✨ My only dislikes were the ending…seemed very sudden, and the redemption of a specific character (just felt really off to me).

✨ There were so many twists that I did not expect, keeping me engaged through the end. The character development was also amazing. This was a great read if you like mystery in a fantasy world!

••• quotes •••
💬 My father always says: 'You can't run from your responsibilities,' but he lacks imagination. Besides, I'm not running. I'm sidestepping. Crossing the road so me and my responsibilities don't make eye contact and aren't forced into awkward small talk both of us know isn't going anywhere.

💬 “You see the world in a way nobody else does. You’re better than all of them. Because you don’t need a Blessing to be a miracle.”

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ½
✏️✏️✏️✏️
🌶️🌶️

Thank you @NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really, really wanted to like this book, but the main character's tone just grated on my nerves :(

I liked this one, it was a fun read, nothing too serious. I agree that this doesn't really read as Adult, but I liked the diverseness of characters and representation.

The narration was an interesting vibe for me, sometimes I enjoyed it, sometimes I didn't - I'll let you make up your own judgement on this.

Enthralling blend of fantasy and mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat! Set in the magical world of Concordia, the story follows Ganymedes Piscero, an unlikely hero who finds himself in the midst of a murder mystery aboard a ship filled with powerful heirs, each possessing unique magical abilities known as Blessings.

White’s writing is captivating, with a richly imagined setting and a plot full of twists and turns. Ganymedes, or Dee, is a wonderfully flawed and relatable protagonist whose journey from class clown to unexpected hero is both humorous and heartwarming. The ensemble cast of characters is vibrant and complex, each adding depth to the story and keeping you guessing until the very end.

This is a book with a big cast that you have to keep track of. It's a locked room on top of a locked room. Only 12 people on a boat in space. It's like an old murder mystery show that happens on a cruise episode. I think the world building was okay. It's not too in depth but it gives you enough to understand what is going on. It has definite fantasy setting with magic, but it is squarely a murder mystery. This is an adult book with a tiny bit of spice towards the very end, but it does read a little closer to Young Adult than Adult to me. If you want Agatha Christie meets (not quite high) fantasy, this is the book for you!

✅ the 12 heirs of each of the Provinces of Corcordia embark on 12 day voyage (on a ship)
✅ each heir has a secret magical ability, except for Ganymedes who is generally known as a slacker
✅ when an heir is found dead, and then another, this becomes Agatha Christie x fantasy
🌈 LGBTQ rep!
🌶️: at the very end but this is not really a romantasy.

I like the idea of this book but it was a bit flat. I think it mostly needed better direction..it read much like a YA novel and probably would have been better if it stayed in that space.

I had such a good/fun time with this book. This is exactly what is described a locked room murder mystery set on a boat with each suspect having magically abilities. I really enjoyed the murder mystery aspect of this book. I've heard/seen some complaints that the magic isn't explained and to some extent that's true as it's not a hard magic system with rules and limitations. However, how each blessed get's their ability is explained and why they have them. The world building is lacking which is why I don't have this rated higher as I was intrigued by the world but had and continue to have questions about eh world. I enjoyed our MC, he has a distinct tone and voice which may not work for some readers. The book is 1st person so we only really get to know Dee, and I would have liked to know more about all the other characters. There are a couple different 'romances' in the book with various LGBTQIA+ representation throughout. I had a lot of fun with this book mostly because of the mystery as I was invested in what was happening. But if you are wanting more fantasy and a plot that isn't just a murder mystery than you will be disappointed with this book. This is predominantly a mystery with fantastical elements, not really a fantasy novel.

Would recommend to people who enjoy murder mysteries, want to dip into fantasy without a ton of worldbuilding, lots of queer representation, and a standalone.

This is a fun filled ride, with lots of twist and turns along the way. I really enjoyed getting to know these characters and travel on this journey with them and trying to figure out what was going to happen next.
Sure to be a popular new teen read.

Thanks NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC.

“My father always says: ‘You can’t run from your responsibilities,’ but he lacks imagination. Besides, I’m not running. ”
Here are reasons to read the Fantasy book:

Cruise - during a 12 day cruise to the sacred mountain
Blessed - 12 Blessed representatives from the 12 provinces
Magic - each bestowed with a magical ability
Murder - begin to be murder one by one

This book was on my anticipated list because it is both a fantasy and a mystery and I will tell you that it did not disappoint. We follow the point of view of Dee who is very much an underdog character. He is harboring a secret as well that kind of comes into play significantly in this book. But you will fall in love with the characters and be enthralled by the sleuthing that happens here. And the twists were very shocking as well. I am so happy that this book did not disappoint because I will definitely be reading it again!

This book does take quite a bit to get into.

That being said, I think it needed more world building and maybe a couple of less characters for a better in depth character build. Voyage of the Damned does remind me a bit of the game Clue so that was kind of fun.

The book itself has a good concept and is very different from my normal reads which was refreshing. And I like how much different representation there was.

All in all it's a good read.

This was good, however, this felt very YA for me.
There was a lot of good humor and romance. The book felt very quirky at times with the humor and I’m nit mad about it. The magic system was nothing that enamored me as it was very simple. The dialogue needed some work / editing. The saving grace was the found family aspect. It was spectacular.

Frances White’s VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED is a romp of a magical murder cruise.

Witty, whipsmart, romantic, infuriating, & laugh out loud funny, this fantasy mystery is a pure delight.

Highly recommended for fellow fans of Agatha Christie, GIDEON THE NINTH & Aiden Thomas.

I could not get into this book. Ganymedes is not a compelling character in the slightest. The world-building was confusing. I could not find enough reasons to care to continue reading this.

Mystery and Fantasy are two of my favourite genres and Francis White does an amazing job at mixing the two in Voyage of the Damned.

I found myself flying through the pages, trying to piece the clues together myself, and finding that the addition of magic lended to a whole other dimension to sleuthing, giving everything a freshness to it.

All that said, I'm still not sure how I feel about the main romance which ended up playing a bigger part than expected, and that's the main reason it's landing at a 4 stars for me instead of a 5. I think there needed to be a much bigger redemption arc for me to get behind where things landed and how quickly the main character accepted and got over certain facts and betrayals.

Such a great read! Highly recommend this one.

Many thanks to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

3.5

I saw murder mystery on a ship of magical passengers and knew I had to read this immediately. I have to admit, I struggled through the first 25% of this. The world building and magic are very surface level and I was getting bogged down in poking holes in what was happening, but once bodies started dropping I stopped caring so much about the world and let myself get pulled into the mystery which led to a much more successful reading experience. I should have known when I saw "TikTok sensation" that this wouldn't read as standard adult SFF and it didn't but I think going in with the expectation that it will read more New Adult helps.

I liked Ganymedes as a main character. He is flawed and has some serious issues (including but not limited to suicide ideation and disordered eating) but the way it was written felt relatable to me. I have seen other reviewers criticize this though so your mileage may vary. I also appreciated how casually diverse this cast of characters was and how White was able to make me care about them so quickly.

I am such a sucker for an isolated closed circle mystery and I found myself continuously compelled to keep reading so I think my high of finishing the book and solving the mystery is probably making me rate this higher than I would if I was rating purely on craft. But I had a really great time reading this so, I would highly recommend to anyone who loves a fantasy mystery blend and is willing to just go along for the ride.

All aboard with Ganymede of the fish province and the rest of the 12 “Blessed”, as they journey to the sacred temple for the traditional celebration. Each blessed chosen one is bestowed with special magical gifts unique to them, but a murderer is in the midst with a devious plan of revenge. The magical journey embarks and quickly turns to chaos, fear and mistrust. This story is a magical whodunnit Clue type mystery with a legend-infused storyline. I struggled with the movement of the plot for most of the book, the unexplained magical system, and some of the tropes/themes were not what I typically read, but I gain more interest in seeing how the story played out towards the end and finished it out. The premise was not terrible, but in the end it fell so short. I did feel the world-building could have used more work. I received an arc copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A mysterious, fantasy journey with magical characters. This story slowly unravels the events abroad a ship with 12 characters. The whimsical whodunnit reads more YA than adult fantasy.

Thank you, Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA