Author: Traci Chee
Series: Sea of Ink and Gold #2
Genre: YA Fantasy, Romance
Publication date: November 7, 2017
Book Description: Having barely escaped the clutches of the Guard, Sefia and Archer are back on the run, slipping into the safety of the forest to tend to their wounds and plan their next move. Haunted by painful memories, Archer struggles to overcome the trauma of his past with the impressors, whose cruelty plagues him whenever he closes his eyes. But when Sefia and Archer happen upon a crew of impressors in the wilderness, Archer finally finds a way to combat his nightmares: by hunting impressors and freeing the boys they hold captive.
With Sefia’s help, Archer travels across the kingdom of Deliene rescuing boys while she continues to investigate the mysterious Book and secrets it contains. But the more battles they fight, the more fights Archer craves, until his thirst for violence threatens to transform him from the gentle boy Sefia knows to a grim warrior with a cruel destiny. As Sefia begins to unravel the threads that connect Archer’s fate to her parents’ betrayal of the Guard so long ago, she and Archer must figure out a way to subvert the Guard’s plans before they are ensnared in a war that will pit kingdom against kingdom, leaving their future and the safety of the entire world hanging in the balance.
Thoughts:
I am not the target audience, let's make that clear. This picks up right after the first book left off, and reading them back to back is probably the best decision.
Sefia and Archer are still struggling with their own demons. Archer is plagued by nightmares about his life while incarcerated by the impresors. Sefia is learning to use her power and the book to aid them in their mission, they're still stuck on what to do next but while they make up their mind; they have started to track the impresors and will try to rescue the boys they have captured. Of course, we have the found family aspect coming into play. The boys they rescue and then join them in their quest, they start amassing fame as they are rescuing boys from their kidnappers.
We have a lot of character growth but overall we have the drama of a middle book.
There is a lot of guilt and self-reproach from Sefia and Archer. There is a lot of teenage angst, I personally don't enjoy it. In addition, we see the miscommunication troupe pop up. Sefia is discovering the book is not cut out magic to save themselves, the book shows you something but it might have a hidden agenda trying to force them in a path that leads to the fulfillment of the prophecy. What does she do? Look into the future of Archer and her as a couple. She doesn't like what it shows and she closes that around herself thinking their relationship is doomed. It's annoying really.
We explore a bit more of the magic, but I am still confused about how it works. This book was trying to explore more of the world. We see a bit more of the pirates and their attempts to build a society and make a united front against the upcoming war. It was okay, it just felt very unsatisfying.
I gave this
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