Saturday 29 August 2020

All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace

US Cover                                  UK Cover
As princess of the island kingdom Visidia, Amora Montara has spent her entire life training to be High Animancer - the master of souls. The rest of the realm can choose their magic, but for Amora, it's never been a choice. To secure her place as heir to the throne, she must prove her mastery of the monarchy's dangerous soul magic.

When her demonstration goes awry, Amora is forced to flee. She strikes a deal with Bastian, a mysterious pirate: he'll help her prove she's fit to rule, if she'll help him reclaim his stolen magic.

But sailing the kingdom holds more wonder - and more peril - than Amora anticipated. A destructive new magic is on the rise, and if Amora is to conquer it, she'll need to face legendary monsters, cross paths with vengeful mermaids, and deal with a stow-away she never expected... or risk the fate of Visidia and lose the crown forever.
Look at those covers, people. Drink them in.

Before I started reading this, I thought I was over the 'odd couple forced together by circumstance oh and also they fall in love' trope. I can now happily say that while that might be true in general, it's not true in this specific instance. This book had far more things that I liked.

There's a map! And a list of which island is which type of magic! That list is exactly the kind of note I often make for myself when I'm reading this kind of book, so I'm very happy that it was ready for me here. It's all explained in the text as well, of course. I love the idea of different islands being represented by different colours/gems.

Amora is a great character. I love this trend of female leaders who are in it because they really want to protect their people, not for power or wealth or anything else. I also really like Ferrick, who was completely unsuited for going on any kind of adventure but sucked it up and went along anyway, because he was needed. Bastian was exactly as a love interest should be.

The twists and turns along the way were amazing and I loved how we learned the history right alongside Amora. Information came at just the right pace and the descriptions along the way were brilliant. I'm looking forward to reading the second book and seeing how things work out.

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