Compass and Blade by Rachel GreenlawMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
An interesting idea weighed down by every YA trope ever.
This one actually started out okay - Mira and her island fellows wreck ships so they can survive on the spoils, but Mira is determined to save as many lives as possible when they do. She feels at home in the sea, and it's clear she's a little bit different to those she calls friends.
Nothing new in a YA protagonist being 'a little bit different' and feeling a 'calling' that pulls them away from tradition. There's also a strange boy who is ridiculously attractive that is the obvious love interest, and a bunch of teenagers running around doing things that are not usually done by teens.
From the get-go, this was far too predictable while trying far too hard to pretend it wasn't. I wish we didn't have to pretend we didn't know what was going on, because it just became awkward. I wanted Mira to see the obvious clues and work it out but she was super thick, refusing to see what was right in front of her face.
Even the romance was full of stars and heat and all the other common YA tropes that make scenes more cringe-y than heartwarming. The love is instant and all about appearances and kisses of fire and it just made me sad that it couldn't come up with something fresh and new. Definitely reminded me of the Court series by Sarah J. Maas but in a 'pale copy' sense rather than 'respectful nod of similarity'.
Ultimately, it was a frustrating read that I really wanted to like more than I did. If it wasn't trying so hard to be like every other YA book out there, this could have been so much more satisfying.
With thanks to Harper Collins for an ARC
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