Compass and Blade by Rachel Greenlaw #bookreview #YA #fantasy #romance #magic #paranormal #pirates

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Title: Compass and Blade

Author: Rachel Greenlaw

Publisher: Inkyard Press

Publication Date: February 27, 2024

Page Count:  299

My rating: 3 stars

About the book:

For fans of Fable by Adrienne Young or To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo, this romantasy debut is filled with sirens and mysterious magic, swoony romance and cutthroat betrayal.

This world of sea and storm runs deep with bargains and blood.

On the remote isle of Rosevear, Mira, like her mother before her, is a wrecker, one of the seven on the rope who swim out to shipwrecks to plunder them. Mira’s job is to rescue survivors, if there are any. After all, she never feels the cold of the frigid ocean waters and the waves seem to sing to her soul. But the people of Rosevear never admit the truth: that they set the beacons themselves to lure ships into the rocks.

When the Council watch lays a trap to put an end to the wrecking, they arrest Mira’s father. Desperate to save him from the noose, Mira strikes a deal with an enigmatic wreck survivor guarding layers of secrets behind his captivating eyes, and sets off to find something her mother has left her, a family secret buried deep in the sea.

With just nine days to find what she needs to rescue her father, all Mira knows for certain is this: The sea gives. The sea takes. And it’s up to her to do what she must to save the ones she loves.

Compass and Blade by Rachel Greenlaw is a young adult fantasy novel. I believe this one may be just the beginning of a series but not totally certain on that as it’s listed like a standalone for now on most sites, there is mention of it being a trilogy though.

Mira has grown up on the remote island of Rosevear where she has learned to be just like her mother once was a powerful swimmer and one with the water. Mira is one of seven that are sent out to shipwrecks to plunder them but it’s Mira’s job to rescue any survivors.

One day however the Council set in motion a plan to stop the wrecking and obtain Mira’s father taking him away. Mira becomes determined to do whatever she can to rescue her father before he is executed so she teams up with a survivor of the latest shipwreck and set out to find her father before it’s too late.

Compass and Blade by Rachel Greenlaw was compared to a couple of other young adult fantasy novels that I really enjoyed and I’ve read this author before so I had to take a chance and try this one out. I’m always a bit hit or miss with young adult fantasy though and this one while not bad wasn’t a total hit for me either. I just felt the pacing on this story was a little slow for my taste which is one of my biggest drawbacks to a lot of fantasy, wanting more. Compass and Blade wasn’t a bad read by any means but for me just came in at average at three stars but I do seem to be in the minority so if it sounds good to you I’d suggest checking it out.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Rachel Greenlaw grew up in North Cornwall, surrounded by wild moorland and studied creative writing at university before moving to an island in the middle of the Atlantic, with all the allure of tropical palm trees in the summer and spine-tingling storms in the winter. When she’s not wandering the beaches and nature trails, she’s dreaming up her next story. She is the author of One Christmas Morning and the Compass and Blade trilogy.