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A review by crofteereader
Steel Tide by Natalie C. Parker
5.0
This is a high 4.5 - so high that I debated making it a 5. But it's a 4.5 because I wasn't absolutely 100% certain that it's a 5.
This is the continuation of Caledonia's story that I have yearned for since I read and loved Seafire last year. It dug so deep into her psyche that it drew blood, leaving raw wounds behind. Along with this much deeper picture of Caledonia, we also get more bloody battles, more adventure, and more tumultuous seas. We get to see Caledonia isolated (both by her own choices and by circumstances outside of her control) and we get to see the beautiful web of her support system.
However, because we're so firmly anchored in Caledonia's head, the other characters remain a bit of an enigma - particularly Pisces, Pine, and, above all, Oran. There's a romance building here and I can't quite find the foundation for it (at least not until the very end of this book when everything finally starts to make sense). I will say this, though, it's not insta-love. And this book is so heavily rooted in deep friendships that I honestly don't care that romance is probably the endgame.
Between casual touches between friends, to a very clear and decisive need for consent in interactions, to the inevitability of same sex relationships, this book brings to light so many ways people can interact in a small and confined space. (We also get an amazing picture of how those relationships can crumble and fester if left wounded.)
One facet of this story that suffered is pacing. There are two main plot arcs here that each could have held up its own book. This left us with new characters who aren't entirely clear and old characters who have changed in ways we can't quite grasp. Though I have to say I definitely appreciate that we stayed firmly rooted work Caledonia throughout and didn't drift into another character's head beyond the prologue.
Unlike Seafire, Steel Tide brought us away from the ocean and gave us images of the greater world. Stark images that are clear in the land, the people, and Caledonia's reactions. Honestly, highly recommend.
This is the continuation of Caledonia's story that I have yearned for since I read and loved Seafire last year. It dug so deep into her psyche that it drew blood, leaving raw wounds behind. Along with this much deeper picture of Caledonia, we also get more bloody battles, more adventure, and more tumultuous seas. We get to see Caledonia isolated (both by her own choices and by circumstances outside of her control) and we get to see the beautiful web of her support system.
However, because we're so firmly anchored in Caledonia's head, the other characters remain a bit of an enigma - particularly Pisces, Pine, and, above all, Oran. There's a romance building here and I can't quite find the foundation for it (at least not until the very end of this book when everything finally starts to make sense). I will say this, though, it's not insta-love. And this book is so heavily rooted in deep friendships that I honestly don't care that romance is probably the endgame.
Between casual touches between friends, to a very clear and decisive need for consent in interactions, to the inevitability of same sex relationships, this book brings to light so many ways people can interact in a small and confined space. (We also get an amazing picture of how those relationships can crumble and fester if left wounded.)
One facet of this story that suffered is pacing. There are two main plot arcs here that each could have held up its own book. This left us with new characters who aren't entirely clear and old characters who have changed in ways we can't quite grasp. Though I have to say I definitely appreciate that we stayed firmly rooted work Caledonia throughout and didn't drift into another character's head beyond the prologue.
Unlike Seafire, Steel Tide brought us away from the ocean and gave us images of the greater world. Stark images that are clear in the land, the people, and Caledonia's reactions. Honestly, highly recommend.