[Book Review] These Rebel Waves – Sara Raasch

These Rebel Waves
Sara Raasch

Genre: Fantasy

Rating:   

Adeluna is a soldier. Five years ago, she helped the magic-rich island of Grace Loray overthrow its oppressor, Argrid, a country ruled by religion. But adjusting to postwar life has not been easy. When an Argridian delegate vanishes during peace talks with Grace Loray’s new Council, Argrid demands brutal justice—but Lu suspects something more dangerous is at work.

Devereux is a pirate. As one of the outlaws called stream raiders who run rampant on Grace Loray, he pirates the island’s magic plants and sells them on the black market. But after Argrid accuses raiders of the diplomat’s abduction, Vex becomes a target. An expert navigator, he agrees to help Lu find the Argridian—but the truth they uncover could be deadlier than any war.

Benat is a heretic. The crown prince of Argrid, he harbors a secret obsession with Grace Loray’s forbidden magic. When Ben’s father, the king, gives him the shocking task of reversing Argrid’s fear of magic, Ben has to decide if one prince can change a devout country—or if he’s building his own pyre.

As conspiracies arise, Lu, Vex, and Ben will have to decide who they really are . . . and what they are willing to become for peace.

I should have loved These Rebel Waves. It has pirates, magic, politics, jail breaks; it ticks all the Dana boxes. Sadly, this one was possibly the most disappointing book of 2018 for me.

The Good:

• It’s in Third Person POV. First person POV seems to be the standard for many YA novels so it’s always refreshing when that’s not the case
• Every time Argrid was mentioned, my brain decided to pronounce it like Madame Maxime saying ‘Agrid’ in a French accent from Goblet of Fire. Made it slightly more entertaining

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The Not so Good:

• The first 200 pages were hard to connect with. I almost stopped reading multiple times
• The last 250 pages were just as hard to get through.  I ended up speed reading the last 150 pages just so I could get it over with
• I thought Grace Loray was a person not a place for a while there
• Everybody went by two or more names. All of which were used often and did nothing except confuse the hell outta me
• I couldn’t care about the characters and their struggles. They were just there.. existing on the page but never jumping off it
• There was a lot of talk pre-release about gay pirates (yay!). However, that’s really not true. So don’t go into this book expecting gay pirates
• Too much forced banter. It was almost as though the author thought that since there’s a ragtag group of characters it is law that they must bicker and have clever banter at every possible moment. Save some of that banter for Nando’s
• The worst part is that it wasn’t badly written, it wasn’t a bad plot, it was just.. dull. Dry. Boring.

I definitely won’t be continuing the series. But if this sounds like your type of book, give it a shot. You may end up loving it!

Thanks Harper360 for sending over a copy of These Rebel Waves! Sorry it didn’t work for me.

Book Links: Book Depository | Amazon US | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK