Seafire by Natalie C. Parker

So the first thing that I noticed about Seafire that I absolutely loved is the cover. I know, you aren’t supposed to judge a book by a cover or anything, but look at it! It’s gorgeous! Plus, that “Sisterhood is Survival” line going on the top of the book there? I knew it was going to be an amazing read before I even started it.

If you’re going to read this book, be prepared for an adventure that you won’t be able to quit until you’ve devoured the entire thing, and even then you’ll find yourself hungering for more.

Caledonia and her family have been sailing for years, knowing what to do and how to keep themselves alive and safe. However, after one horrible night when her and her best friend’s families are killed when Aric Athair’s (a horrible, vicious warlord with a hunger for destruction and control) army, known as Bullets, attack their ship, the two girls must turn their luck around. Caledonia vows to get her revenge on Aric, as well as the Bullet who stabbed her in the stomach with his knife – in fact, she keeps it with her for the time when she has a run in with them yet again.

“Her crew was loyal, and that loyalty was stitched together with rules and hard years of evasion and battle. To threaten a rule was to threaten the weave of their fabric.”

With a crew of girls who have come from similar situations and long to fight Aric and all that he stands for, they set off to find him and bring him down. All is going well until the ship is attacked and the girls find themselves pulling one of the Bullets on the attacking ship aboard. While at first Caledonia is against the idea and wants to throw him overboard, he confesses that her brother wasn’t killed that night, and is, in fact, very much alive. He also tells her that he is now a Bullet as well, and he knows how to find him, so Caledonia, against the wishes of most on board her ship, lets him stay as their prisoner.

“‘Loss is inevitable. Some losses will be harder than others. So remember this: Never risk more than you’re willing to lose.'”

After some time, though, she starts to find herself feeling friendship (and other feelings) toward this Bullet, and she must struggle to keep the important things, such as finding her brother, in front of her at all costs.

Seafire is one of the most exciting books that I’ve picked up in 2018. I loved the plot of the story, and I felt like it was really well written. Natalie C. Parker definitely has a knack for writing a captivating story that will make you feel as though you are sailing on the seas with the main characters.

I loved Caledonia’s character. She is strong, independent, and revenge driven. She wants to make Aric pay for what his armies have done to her family and friends. She wants to make one particular Bullet pay for what he had done to her. She struggles with trust and fights off feelings because she puts her revenge and her sisters that she is on the ship with above all else. She, as a teenager, has to captain an entire crew of other girls who have come to her with the same agenda in mind, and together, they form one powerful army.

I adore the whole sisterhood theme that Seafire has going on. It brings a bunch of strong young women together and shows how strong their bond can be, even when that bond and their emotions are tested, time and time again.

The world building in this novel is phenomenal. The way the author writes paints this gorgeous picture of what is going on, and with her words she crafts this entire world, on the seas and on the land, that draws you in and makes you feel as though you are a part of it. That’s my favorite kind of world building – the one where when I put the book down, I actually expect to still be in that world.

Seafire is a story about loss, a story about love, trust, and sisterhood. While it does have deep themes such as those, it’s also one heck of a action packed pirate adventure that I can’t recommend enough to those who are looking for something a little different. We don’t have enough books like Seafire!

Needless to say, I’m super looking forward to the next book in this trilogy, because I think I’ve found my new favorite fantasy!