Title:
Inherited
(Curses of VIII #1)
Inherited
(Curses of VIII #1)
Author:
Freedom Mathews
Freedom Mathews
★★★☆☆
3.75 out of 5 stars
The Wilted Rose, of faery-tale and folklore, is a pirate ship filled with unfortunate souls-each forbidden to love. One such soul is Valencia 'Lennie' Roux. Raised in a brothel and an heir to a curse; Lennie never expected to pique the interest of any man. Yet with the arrival of vivid-eyed Nathaniel, she is torn between wanting to know him better and fearing what that knowledge would mean.
With Nathaniel bringing the crew's total to six, the Wilted Rose sets off in search of the remaining two heirs. They hope that in reuniting, they will convince the faery Sorceress responsible for the curse, to end it. However lurking beneath the water is a long-standing enemy of the Wilted Rose; who is determined to thwart their quest and bring down its leaders.
Together the eight heirs fight for survival, friendship and love.
With Nathaniel bringing the crew's total to six, the Wilted Rose sets off in search of the remaining two heirs. They hope that in reuniting, they will convince the faery Sorceress responsible for the curse, to end it. However lurking beneath the water is a long-standing enemy of the Wilted Rose; who is determined to thwart their quest and bring down its leaders.
Together the eight heirs fight for survival, friendship and love.
**ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**
Pirate books are not something I look for but Inherited's summary got my attention so I decided to apply for an ARC since I wanted to give the "genre" a try, also because it involved faeries and curses and that itself sounded pretty amazing.
The writing style was very fluid so it got me engaged since page 1, it was an easy read however, the rhythm was inconsistent throughout the whole book, sometimes it would slow down and feel as if nothing was happening then the next chapter it would pick up again making me want to skip a couple of pages every time this would happen. There was also lots of action every few chapters with sword fights because that is what pirates do.
The story itself was very appealing, the idea of a curse where you are forbidden to love let alone tell the person you love how you feel about them, which might not seem too drastic at the beginning but then it got me thinking this is not something easy to avoid when the feelings are too real, then why must such little word mean the death of the ones that are the source of your affection? As if love by itself wasn't hard enough already now add a little curse and complicate things further. I only wish there was a better world building, I felt things were a little too all over the place then I couldn't really get a hold of how the magic system worked and why weren't there witches on earth too.
The pirate crew was very likable, especially because of their dynamics with Lennie -the main character- they all accept her past and respect her because they know that what she did does not define who she is. Lennie is a very flawed character, she has a very dense past yet didn't let it dictate her life, and even though she has her moments of weakness she also fights to become her better self. I liked Lennie a lot since I don't get to read about characters overcoming what she did often, especially on the YA genre. She is a fighter.
The romance was too soon too fast for my taste, it felt a little bit forced and I just couldn't understand why Nathaniel -the newest crew member- and Lennie were so attracted to each other when they barely knew one another, however, they way Nathaniel respects Lennie flaws and all only demonstrates he actually loves her.
I will certainly be looking forward to read more of Freedom Mathew's work in the future.
Happy reading,
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About the author:
Freedom is a twenty-something book hoarder with a fondness for all things vintage. She lives in rural Hampshire, UK, with a hotchpotch of family members, ponies and wonky bookshelves. Creating stories has been a passion since before she can remember, and she has been consciously writing since she was 14 years old. An introverted and shy girl, Freedom found her voice in imaginary worlds and has continued to do so…
Website: http://freedomm.blog.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freedommwrites
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedommwrites
