This was a book that I really didn’t expect to enjoy nearly as much as I did. The direction that this book went in was also very different from how I thought it would go before I started, and as I was reading, this book.

From the title and the blurb I had thought that this would be about pirates. Which the stream raiders technically are but feel like they aren’t fully. They also aren’t called pirates in the book. I also expected them to use more traditional pirate boats/ships but instead they had steamboats. Which took a bit for me to get my head around ’cause I’ve never read a book before about pirate-like characters using steamboats. It made sense but it was also a “wait-what?” kind of moment.

Also, because the three POV characters are all kind of unreliable narrators they don’t know the full extent of what’s going on, ignoring things while trying to block out anything to do with their past and their involvement in the revolution, and because they have secrets that they are trying to hide from other characters. All of this really just made the plot twists so much more shocking. Because these twists and revelations are just as shocking for them as it is for the reader.

For me it really made it up the ante in the last hundred or so pages. It made me feel very tense at times and really kept me on the edge of my seat. I also had to stop reading and pace for a bit. Just so that I could process it bit more. The end felt very fast paced and I really enjoyed just how high staked it felt in the final few chapters and right until the end of this book.

I really loved that every thing wasn’t all laid out and as I was reading I got to learn more alongside the characters, mainly Ben and Lu. I would say that Lu, or Adeluna, is the main character. I really liked her character and thought that she had some really great character development. Because she begins to realise during in this book that she can’t just shed off her past as a soldier and spy during the revolution and move on to a peaceful live because Grace Loray isn’t as peaceful as she has made herself believe. Her decision to become a politician and leave her past behind made her turn a blind eye to just how bad everything still is on the island. It’s not as perfect or peaceful as she had believed.

I also think that Ben and Lu are pretty similar in that they have both grown up as being used as a pawn in the war and have had secrets kept from them. And that they learn the truth behind theses lie during this book. They both have to come to terms with how messed up their countries are. Lu also has to come to terms with just how messed up it was that she was used a child soldier during the war and that her father isn’t who she thought he was.

I thought that the magic system was very simple, as magic comes from plants found on Grace Loray. In a historical sense the magic found on the island is relatively new. So, the full extent of the plants magic hasn’t been reached yet and the newer ways that these plants can be used aren’t known by everyone. There is a book about botanical magic, but it was written about two hundred years ago so it’s a bit out of date and it would seem that no one’s bothered to update it since.

I really liked how dark and scary the Argrid religion is. It’s definitely very dark and controlling, willing to do and eradicate anything and anyone that might try to speak or work against it’s teachings or weaken it’s power and control over the country. Especially as the head of the church is also the king. Their religious might has always been strong enough to control the population without the need of a strong or large military. Which both helped and hindered them when Argrid took control and during the war. But now after loosing Grace Loray they are trying to make it so that their military will be unstoppable

The only thing that I didn’t like about this book was Ben’s earlier chapters were so slow and dull that I was internally shouting “no” because just nothing seemed to happen. His chapters did help to set up the religion and politcal landscape in Argrid, but I felt like his chapters didn’t really move the story forwards until later on in the story. Which is why this is just 0.1 stars off from 5 stars.

One thing that I also really loved was that this book felt very character driven to me. There was a strong plot but it felt very character driven overall. I love books that are more character driven but also have a strong plot which is probably why I loved reading this book so much.

Overall, I really loved this book. I think it will be one of my favourites that I’ve read this year. I am really looking forward to reading the next book, especially after that ending, but it sadly doesn’t come out in the UK until September. But I am really looking forward to seeing what happens next.