So if you’ve literally ever been on my blog or on my bookstagram, you’re probably pretty well aware that I seriously love Song of the Current by Sarah Tolcser (if you haven’t read my full review of that book yet, click here to check it out). And I mean love. I love the characters, the plot, the adventure, the overall badass female vibe happening—all of it. So I was pretty stoked when I found out she was releasing a sequel, Whisper of the Tide, in June of this. year.
I received this book as an e-ARC in exchange for a review, and as y’all know, I never let that influence my opinions—I’ll always be upfront and honest with you!
So this being the sequel, you’ll of course want to read Song of the Current first (which if you haven’t, why not? What have you been doing? Get on it!). Whisper of the Tide picks up shortly after Song of the Current left off, which is perfect for readers like me who were hungry for more. In this book, Caro is now the captain of her own ship (her stolen pirate ship, of course), Victorianos, but spends most of her time with the ship in the harbor as she spends time with Markos and tries to protect his life from some too-close-for-comfort brushes with potential assassins. Meanwhile, Markos is working tirelessly to stake his claim to the throne after everyone in his family except his little sister, Daria, was assassinated.
When a powerful Arkon offers Markos the one thing he really needs to secure his position—an army—in exchange for taking his daughter’s hand in marriage, Markos and Caro find themselves at odds with not just one another, but with their own desires as well. Caro sets off on her own journey to meet this Arkon and deliver the new bride back to Markos (and you thought your relationships were awkward), but of course…the God of the Sea has her own plans.
By far the best part of a sequel is getting to dive back in and spend more time with the characters you fell in love with in the first book, so I was so, so excited to get more of Caro and Kente and Markos and Diric Melanos! As you know from my review of Song of the Current, Caro and Kente are easily two of my newest favorite badass female characters (AKA one of my favorite types of characters), and Caro really comes into her own in this one. While in the first book she is struggling a lot with finding herself and finding her path and accepting her “fate”, in Whisper of the Tide we get to see her more in her element. She is much more accepting of having been chosen by the sea god, even when the sea god is kind of screwing up her life. And though I wasn’t sure if it could happen, Caro is actually more of a badass in this book, strolling around with her twin gold-handled pistols tucked into her belt, captaining Victorianos like a boss, and literally throwing knives at a pirate in an underground pirate bar on the pirate isle.
I absolutely loved seeing her take on this role of being even more awesome and self-assured as she faced down the changes in her life, and let’s be serious, we need more female characters like this in YA fiction. Speaking of things we need more of in YA fiction—I loved that even though she has a significant other in this book, she still has a lot of other stuff going on, too. She still is the captain of her own boat, she is still trying to make sure she doesn’t lose herself and is concerned about staying true to her destiny and her own dreams, and these are things she takes into consideration when the idea of Markos marrying another woman comes up. She’s pretty openly in acknowledgement of the fact that they are both young and she may not be with this one guy forever, and that’s pretty cool to see in YA. The relationship does play into the story a lot, so there definitely is some romance, but it also plays into it in a more of a political intrigue type of way rather than an “omg let me throw away my life for you because you’re the only thing that matters” type of way. She’s very conscious of the fact that she shouldn’t lose herself in a boyfriend and that she needs to stay true to who she is, as well.
“When I was with Markos, I felt myself teetering on the edge of a great chasm, terrified of what might happen if I tumbled over the precipice.”
And since I mentioned the sea god, I did like seeing her return in this book and continue to play a role in Caro’s life and the things that happen to her. She was such a huge factor in the first book and played into Caro’s thoughts and choices and so much her inner turmoil that it would have been really strange to see that thread get dropped in the sequel. Luckily, Tolcser definitely continued that thread in a way that felt natural and appropriate to the story, and was also really exciting (as you can imagine, the sea god can wreak some serious havoc).
I enjoyed seeing that kind of mythical/spiritual aspect being woven in among the more tangible, relatable aspects of the novel, and seeing how much she can shake up a plot that was already really exciting from the get go. The overall plot of this sequel was super interesting, and there was always a lot going on, so it never got boring or dragged even a little bit! It felt like it was really fast paced, but not so much that it was hard to keep up with. Most of you already know that I think Sarah Tolcser is an extremely accomplished writer, and she proves it again in Whisper of the Tide as she demonstrates her ability to handle a fast-paced plot where there’s quite a few things going on at once in a way that doesn’t overwhelm the reader and goes down smoother than that first cup of coffee in the morning.
And trust me, there’s no shortage of things happening to keep your attention here. Tolcser sets it up to grab your attention right away, starting with a pivotal moment in the novel that is instantly exciting and gets the heart racing, and then takes us back three months, leaving us wondering how exactly we got to that point and dying to read as much as possible as soon as possible so we can figure it out! And from that moment, there’s never any shortage of awesomeness—this book has it all: pirates, political intrigue, backstabbing, double crossing, romance, new friendships, old friendships, deceit, mystery, and magic.
And speaking of magic…
I just have to dedicate a whole paragraph to the return of one of my favorite characters: Kente! As I first mentioned, Kente first returns only in the form of a letter, and even in this one letter that she writes to her cousin, Caro, her personality is just pouring off the page. Now that’s a strong character.
Kente writes to her cousin to warn her of a possible threat and provide her with a little talisman of magical protection (as all good cousins do, naturally), and some of the snippets of her letter speak straight to the soul:
“As it happens, I was lurking behind the parlor drapes. (Oh, all right. I was sneaking to the kitchen to get some cheese. The cheese is not the point of the story.)”
I mean…if you don’t feel those late night cravings on a soul-deep level…
Kente also writes that she has to skip the pleasantries, which she sums up as “the magic I’ve learned and the boys I’ve kissed and all other such intriguing topics”, and even as I read this the first time I made a note that was something along the lines of BUT I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT ALL THOSE THINGS!!! I also included a note that said something along the lines of, “I wish Kente had her own book.” Seriously, she’s an amazing sidekick, but I would read the heck out of a whole novel just about her and her magical escapades.
As it turns out…I’m not the only one who feels that way. (And I mean, duh, because how could people not fall in love with her?) Tolcser recently announced on social media that she will be releasing a digital short story about Kente and her time at the Shadow Academy as part of her pre-order package! I am so excited to read more about Kente and what she’s been up to! It’s not a full book about her, but hey—I’ll take anything I can get!
Was there anything I disliked about Whisper of the Tide? I’ll tell you what—only one thing. The only thing I disliked was that I had a certain ship (no, no…not like the Victorianos…the other kind of ship, AKA two people I really wished would get together) that did not sail. I won’t say who, as this review is spoiler-free, but if you know me literally at all, when you read this book you will instantly know who it is.
*wistful sigh*
But, realistically, all that really tells me is that Tolcser is just that excellent of a writer, that she is able to create such realistic and complex relationships and interactions between characters that it creates an ample amount of tension.
Then again, some people do tend to think some of my ships are crazy…so we’ll have to see if anyone agrees with me on this one. (DM me on Instagram if you want to know who it is!)
So, to wrap things up, there is no doubt in my mind that I give this book FIVE out of FIVE stars, and I highly recommend it!!!
Despite receiving an ARC of this book, I absolutely will go out and buy it when it releases in order to support the author, and I absolutely will read it again, and I absolutely will tell everyone I know to read it until they all listen to me (so, get ready for that).
Whisper of the Tide is available June 5th!!! That’s less than a month away so if you haven’t read Song of the Current yet, the time is nigh! If you’re interested in Sarah Tolcser’s pre-order deal, click here to read more about it and how you could get your hands on not just a Kente short story, but also a signed book plate, a coloring bookmark, and a sticker from the author!
I highly recommend this book if you love adventurous YA, tough, butt-kicking female characters, pirate shenanigans (so many pirate shenanigans), and generally really well-written books. I also think you’ll like this if you’re a fan of spiritual mythology and the idea of fate and destiny and how those concepts affect our choices and lives. I can’t say it enough—this book is sooo good.
Thank you so much to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this amazing novel, and thank you Sarah Tolcser for creating the sequel that I was dying for even before I finished the first book!
What do y’all think? Are you totally dying for the release of Whisper of the Tide? Are you going to buy it the day it comes out, like me? Have you read Song of the Current yet? Let me know in the comments! You know I’d love to talk. <3