The Isle in the Silver Sea’ by Tasha Suri Review
 
‘The Isle in the Silver Sea’ is unlike any book I’ve read before. Tasha Suri has created an imaginative magic system and world that is unique, interesting and immersive.
The Isle is dying… There is an assassin murdering incarnates… The knight and the witch are destined to love and destroy each other… Magic shapes the Isle and magic comes in the form of tales. We follow Simran, the witch, and Vina, the knight, through their tale of ‘The knight and the Witch’. ‘The knight and the Witch’ is a tragic tale where two people who fall in love are destined to lead to one another’s demise. Tasha Suri explores a twist on the classic ‘knight slays the witch’ and ‘good defeats evil’ folklore. The characters are normal(ish) people that would like to live out their lives without being an incarnate doomed to an early and tragic death and neither are inherently evil. I love the concept of twisted/fractured fairytales and Tasha Suri created fairytales within her novel by building on folklore and then proceeded to shatter them. Personally, I have not read a magic system like this before and I really appreciated the uniqueness.
 
The characters are well developed and were able to form beautiful relationships with one another. There were wonderful demonstrations of both romantic and platonic love throughout the novel.
“You keep throwing yourself away, erasing yourself, being what people need even if it kills you, and I won’t allow it.”
‘The Isle in the Silver Sea’ is full of sapphic yearning between the main characters and also features other queer characters and trans representation. The juxtaposing soulmates of a grumpy, hard to crack, Simran and the happy thoughtful Vina were really enjoyable. I loved that many details from the beginning of the novel were included in the end, which felt ‘full circle’. For example: “She’d never thought of herself as an artist, but perhaps that could change too.”
 
While not every detail is explained, particularly regarding the magic system, which some readers may not be satisfied with, I found that the plot was easy to follow and immersive. I did not find the story to be heart-shattering as described in the synopsis and although I really liked the characters, I wasn’t deeply invested because I didn’t feel like the characters were in real danger throughout the novel. The novel was set in a fantasy version of Britain, but personally, I would have preferred the world to be completely fictional. The time period of London/ Britain that the novel was set in was not clear since there was some technology such as a pistol but often felt set in medieval times. The location that the novel was set in was mostly referred to as the Isle and occasionally London city, thus I often forgot that it was set in Britain. I enjoyed both Part 1 and Part 2 of the novel but found Part 1 had better pacing and created greater tension compared to part 2.
 
‘The Isle in the Silver Sea’ was written with purpose and brilliantly explores the impacts of anti-immigration, discrimination, prejudice, and racism, which is particularly poignant in today’s climate. This was a story that was about breaking down social norms and a system that had been built on benefitting the monarchy at the expense of all others. Change was feared by those who possessed and hoarded power. This novel beautifully demonstrated the importance of change, growth, and acceptance of cultural differences. The novel was profoundly impactful due to its parallels to real life.

this was a fantastic and unique fantasy word with amazing characters, worldbuilding and mystery. i devoured it and can’t wait to recommend it. absolutely loved this, thank you so much!

The Isle In The Silver Sea follows the reincarnations of legends amongst a fantasy world that needs their tales to survive; our main characters are Simran (The Witch) and Vina (The Knight) and we follow their tale, The Knight and the The Witch. their tale dictates that they will fall in love but ultimately die together, for the good of the world around them. Simran and Vina are the latest incarnates and both understand their roles all too well, even if they wish it weren’t so. they will meet, fall in love, and die by the magic of the isle as countless incarnates before them. but when other incarnates start mysteriously dying - something that most thought impossible before - they must work together to unravel the threads that have been sewn into the world around them, despite the many challenges they will face along the way. there were about a hundred things i loved about this book, but i’ll try and tell you the most important ones:

the worldbuilding: a lot of times people expect fantasy novels to have incredibly detailed and complex world building that takes up tens of pages in order to encapsulate the world in it’s entirety. for me, i don’t need to know every single detail about a world if the world presented to me allows the story to flourish and thrive. and my god, did this world do that. the very commonly used Fictional-Fantasy-England was done in such a beautiful, unique and complex way. there was magic, witches, fae, kings and queens, lady knights and knives-to-throats, but the setting of the Isle itself was truly a standout for me. even acknowledging things such as the colonialism and racism within their seemingly perfect structures was done fantastically. the world itself is alive and breathing - it’s a character in and of itself, and it flows and ebbs like the tide (pun intended).

the characters: when i say every single character in this book mattered and was treated with reverence, i mean it. truly not a single person was wasted in this book or used for a throw away line. they were all incredibly important, involved, and fleshed out that when it came time for them to depart the story (or continue on in a different way), it was like there was no other option but the one they chose. it was truly beautiful to read such fantastic and vivid characters. the development of the characters we meet right at the beginning was just amazing!! Vina and Simran are like actually the loves of my life and i would kill for them. the yearning between these two is on astronomical levels and they were both hot af. Vina is a knight who knows her duty down to her bones, and Simran is a witch that the world has been unkind to. they both have their demons and it was an honour to read the journeys that they go on together to unravel them.

the romance (of course): this book shows how revered both romantic and platonic love should be. every single mention of love, whether it be between family, friends, enemies or indeed lovers, was written with the utmost care and affection. i loved alongside every character as well as loved them all. as previously mentioned, the yearning was diabolical. off the charts levels of ‘i would kill/die for you’ and i had so many outward reactions to particular lines that i had to stop myself from reading this in public to prevent the world from thinking i was crazy. found family was a massive theme in this book, as well as reconnecting to your place of birth and history even if the relationship with your family is complicated. and in a world where so many sapphic relationships are presented as naturally toxic or harmful, tasha suri’s devotion to these gorgeous and wonderful relationships is admirable. I LOVE LOVE!!!!

of course, no book will ever be truly truly perfect. however, this book comes incredibly close, and has been my favourite read of 2025. i cannot wait to read it again and discover more things that tasha suri has left behind for us readers to discover.

oh my goddddddd. This book was so perfect and made for me.

I loved the atmosphere, all the elements of folktales and myth mashed together in an anachronistic setting that’s medieval in some ways but more modern in others - perfect encapsulation of the themes of being stuck in the trappings of the past and stifling other cultures.
It’s very blatantly exploring the modern issues of how being stuck in a rigid colonial anti-immigrant past and against change and diversity is actively killing the people/country. Maybe a little heavy handedly? But I personally don’t mind that, as far as being the wider plot to a romance.

The first half I thought was little slow but I love the vibes, the second half - while I was initially unsure, absolutely pulled on my emotions in a way that had me fully invested!! The way the switch up affected each MCs personal journey, and also their relationships with the other characters - that’s the thing that Got me. the unexpected weird little family……the friendships….the cat…… thinking about them days later made made me cry again.

I’m generally not a fan of soulmatey or instant attraction kind of things, but this is both the core of the story and also the kind of characters/dynamic I like. I love both Simran and Vina individually, and the way their romance intertwined with each of their personal journeys really worked for me. And the question of whether there’s a true connection there or whether they’re just giving in to fate - as well as ‘what does it matter, lets enjoy ourselves in the moment’ - is explored in the narrative.

Very good book, I've already done fanart!

En una tierra alimentada por historias vivas, donde los cuentos crean el mundo físico y los rencarnados deben revivir sus papeles eternamente, The Isle in the Silver Sea nos presenta un fascinante enfrentamiento entre destino, magia y resistencia.

Simran Kaur Arora, una bruja nacida en Elsewhere, ha pasado años evitando su verdadero papel en una antigua historia de amor trágico: la de la bruja y el caballero. Pero cuando un encuentro con la caballero Lavinia, encarnación moderna del caballero destinado a matarla, reaviva un cuento que debería haber terminado, Simran se ve atrapada en un destino del que ha intentado huir durante toda su vida.

Mientras tanto, Lavinia (Vina), caballero al servicio de la Reina, lucha por reconciliar su deber con la repentina aparición de una mujer que no sólo parece conocerla desde otra vida, sino que también despierta en ella emociones peligrosamente familiares. Cuando una serie de asesinatos y desapariciones de otros encarnados comienza a emerger, ambas mujeres deben enfrentar el oscuro corazón de una nación que se sostiene sobre los cuentos que consume.

En un mundo donde las historias pueden matar y los finales son inevitables, ¿pueden Simran y Vina reescribir su destino… o están condenadas a repetirlo para siempre?

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest.

The Jasmine throne trilogy is one of my all time favourites so this was an incredibly exciting read!
I adored the world and magic system, it was such a cool and unique idea. I’d love to read more from this world.
The romance was tension filled and very well done. I was blushing at certain moments and just adored it.
I loved this book very much and cannot wait to see what Tasha Suri does next.!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of The Isle in the Silver Sea.

The Isle in the Silver Sea is an incredible queer fairy tale-inspired story with a lot to say about Britain. It's worth bearing in mind that it's very different from Tasha Suri's previous books (which I also adore!). It's less about armies and empire, and more about fairytales and folklore. It's also much more romance-forward. But I can't recommend it enough.

Suri has created this incredible world in which Britain is quite literally as it is in all the stories, all at the same time. You get Elizabethan courtly fashions, Victorian factories and mediaeval forests sharing the same shape-shifting land.

And then Suri's used that to not just craft an entertaining romantasy novel with delightful characters, but also make powerful points about British identity and culture. This book is about the myths we tell about British identity and how some of them are incredibly flimsy but also used to maintain the systems of power. It's about xenophobia and racism, and about how immigrants not only make the UK what it is but also make it so much better. It's about being at home in Britain while also being "from Elsewhere".

This book is a resounding rebuttal to people who just want "the good old days" back (even though they never existed!). But it also reads to me as a love story to Britain. There's so much folklore, mythology and history, and so many references to local traditions and figures. You can tell that Tasha Suri is either is a folklore geek or did a ton of research for this book.

This is also a very queer book, with lots of beautiful representation. Queer love, queer community and queer history are so important in this book, as are family, friendship, and choosing the life you want and choosing to fight for it.

honestly more like a 3.75 stars but i really enjoyed part one. it was so well-written (mind you the whole book is) with just the right amount of yearning, the lure of a fascinating new world, and the increasing high stakes for our characters. but something fell off in part two and the big battle at the end felt rushed, and over too quickly, the stakes reduced to nothing but burnt ground. idk, if it had the same momentum as the first half, then this would’ve easily been 5 stars.

thanking the publishers for giving me an early copy in exchange for my thoughts.

This is so so good. Fantasy sapphic love story with female knight, witches, magic and twists and turns over centuries. This was such an enjoyable read. Wonderful characters and world building. Thank you so much to the author. One of my favourites for 2025 so far. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC. If I could give more than 5 stars I would.

Thank you Hachette AUS & NZ and NetGalley for the ARC!

In a land powered by stories, Simran - The Witch, and Vina - The Knight, are part of a long line of incarnates destined to die to keep the Isle alive.
While searching for a way to break their cycle, other incarnates begin mysteriously being assassinated. To survive they will have to trust each other, and hopefully write themselves a new ending.

Anyone that has spoken to me about books for any amount of time knows that Tasha Suri is one of my all time favourite authors and her new book does not disappoint. Suri has a way of writing that’s just everything I love about fantasy: compelling characters, great prose, an engaging story, and an interesting magic system.

Tasha Suri also flawlessly weaves in commentary about the erasure of stories and how the people in power will attempt to shape stories into a tale they think is "right".

This had me tearing up on public transport and reading well into the night. I’m so excited to reread this when I can get my hands on a physical copy.