Welcome to my spot on the blogtour for

the ship of shadows

by Mria Kuziniar

Aleja whiles away her days in her family's dusty tavern in Seville, dreaming of distant lands and believing in the kind of magic that she's only ever read about in books. After all, she's always being told that girls can't be explorers.

But her life is changed forever when adventure comes for her in the form of a fabled vessel called the Ship of Shadows. Crewed by a band of ruthless women, with cabin walls dripping with secrets, the ship has sailed right out of a legend. And it wants Aleja.

Once on board its shadowy deck, she begins to realize that the sea holds more secrets than she ever could have imagined. The crew are desperately seeking something, and their path will take them through treacherous waters and force them to confront nightmare creatures and pitch-dark magic. It will take all of Aleja's strength and courage to gain the trust of her fellow pirates - and discover what they are risking everything to find.

GOODREADS

My Review

Pirates, ghosts, kraken, and treasures - a sea adventure alluring with thrills, sure to sweep young readers off their seats and into mysterious, exotic lands laced with secrets to explore and captivate.

Aleja has always dreamed of adventure. When she spends time on the rooftops of Seville, Spain looking over the market and out onto the horizon over the ocean, she imagines traveling to far and distant lands, something girls don't ever get to do.

“Poor Aleja, she’d captain a ship in a heartbeat if she could! her father said chortling.”

One day, Aleja overhears the conversation of sailors about two ships gone down in flames and she becomes swept up into the entanglement.

“…and the Fury is the worst of the lot,’ the first man grumbled. ‘He’d decimate half the seas if he had the chance.’

…I hear it’s crewed by woman,’ the first man was saying, while the other guffawed. ‘Imagine.’ ‘It’s bad luck to have a woman on a ship,’ It is,’ the other added seriously.”

Her dreams may finally come true after all, as she finds herself on said ship surrounded by ghosts and among an all-female crew. Her ability to read and translate texts of different languages makes her an essential person after just a little while. While she becomes good friends with her mates, she is also beginning sword training and learning the ropes of the ship. As she learns of the secrets and ghosts that travel among them, the crew will prepare to unearth missing secrets to complete the mission of the captain.

As the adventure takes them from Spain to Africa and they encounter dangers along the way, readers will be swept from secret doors and rooms on the ship to dangerous creatures by the sea and hair raising adventure through markets and temples on land.

An exotic read deeply seared in roots of piracy and historical elements, the scope of their travels takes on amazing heights, sights, and mystery. Clever and culminating in a bombshell in the final moments of the plot, this novel projects a smart and strong main female protagonist with high values on bonds of friendship.

A beautiful book that will captivate young dreamers and imagineers, guaranteed.

I received a copy of this novel from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review, with thanks to the publisher.

All opinions are my own.

*Quotes taken from an advanced reader copy, subject to change.