Description
A young prince must rely on a mysterious stranger to save him when he is kidnapped during his coming-of-age tour in this swoony adventure that is The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue meets Pirates of the Caribbean. Prince Tal has long awaited his coming-of-age tour. After spending most of his life cloistered behind palace walls as he learns to keep his forbidden magic secret, he can finally see his family’s kingdom for the first time.
His first taste of adventure comes just two days into the journey, when their crew discovers a mysterious prisoner on a burning derelict vessel. Tasked with watching over the prisoner, Tal is surprised to feel an intense connection with the roguish Athlen. So when Athlen leaps overboard and disappears, Tal feels responsible and heartbroken, knowing Athlen could not have survived in the open ocean.
That is, until Tal runs into Athlen days later on dry land, very much alive, and as charming-and secretive-as ever. But before they can pursue anything further, Tal is kidnapped by pirates and held ransom in a plot to reveal his rumored powers and instigate a war. Tal must escape if he hopes to save his family and the kingdom.
And Athlen might just be his only hope…
thislostrose (verified owner) –
In Deeper Waters is well paced, has a sprinkle of politics and adorable characters. Even the side-characters, who literally wish death upon the protagonist, are great in my opinion.
I could have easily demolished this in one sitting but had time constraints so divided the book into thirds. Was very easy to get back into though. Felt there was a good balance between active scenes, such as the kidnapping ordeal, and the calmer scenes, such as recovering from said kidnapping.
The characters are overwhelmingly supportive of one another and it’s just feels all snug. The characters being gay? Not an issue, never made an issue to anyone and it’s such a breath of fresh air to read that. Not a single character, even villains, question it.
The politics mentioned are pretty simple to grasp so it’s a nice entry-level royal affairs book.
Not going to spoil any more. It’s too wholesome to ruin. Go read!