It's time to hit the high-seas! Or at least, that's the impression I'm getting about today's read. The cover definitely embraces that direction. According to the blurb, this will slide into the adventure and romance direction for the young adult audience. It should pack tons of intrigue, battles for power, greed, secret agendas... Yep, all that power struggle goodness. And there should be a dash of romance, too. Supposedly.
So, let's pry this one open and sea how salty it gets.
THE SILENCE OF DECEIT
The Deceit Trilogy, #1
by Jillian Eagan
YA Fantasy
380 pages
The nation of Seity.
Four ruling families.
One merciless tyrant.
When Eldon Durane executes a noble family and extinguishes all magic, he ignites a war that spans generations.
Two decades later, Lady Rosalie Yorke and her best friend, Silence, are uprooted from their comfortable lives to escape the spreading war. But Rosalie's world shatters when ruthless raiders kidnap her—only for her fate to collide with Crowe, the notorious pirate captain of the Deceit.
Crowe wants nothing to do with Seity’s political turmoil, but the thirst for revenge leads him to Rosalie. Hoping to change his luck, he decides to extort Rosalie’s father for a ransom.
Rosalie refuses to be anyone’s pawn, and Crowe has no patience for nobility. As the two bicker and dodge danger, Seity’s long-buried secrets begin to emerge from the shadows.
With Eldon's deadly plan looming, Rosalie and Crowe must set aside their differences. Should they fail, Rosalie may lose everything.
Perfect for fans of Adrienne Young's Fable and Amie Kaufman's The Isles of the Gods, The Silence of Deceit is a seafaring tale of betrayal, friendship, and survival. A must-read for fans of pirate fantasy, enemies-to-lovers tension, and sweeping adventures filled with magic and rebellion.
Four ruling families.
One merciless tyrant.
When Eldon Durane executes a noble family and extinguishes all magic, he ignites a war that spans generations.
Two decades later, Lady Rosalie Yorke and her best friend, Silence, are uprooted from their comfortable lives to escape the spreading war. But Rosalie's world shatters when ruthless raiders kidnap her—only for her fate to collide with Crowe, the notorious pirate captain of the Deceit.
Crowe wants nothing to do with Seity’s political turmoil, but the thirst for revenge leads him to Rosalie. Hoping to change his luck, he decides to extort Rosalie’s father for a ransom.
Rosalie refuses to be anyone’s pawn, and Crowe has no patience for nobility. As the two bicker and dodge danger, Seity’s long-buried secrets begin to emerge from the shadows.
With Eldon's deadly plan looming, Rosalie and Crowe must set aside their differences. Should they fail, Rosalie may lose everything.
Perfect for fans of Adrienne Young's Fable and Amie Kaufman's The Isles of the Gods, The Silence of Deceit is a seafaring tale of betrayal, friendship, and survival. A must-read for fans of pirate fantasy, enemies-to-lovers tension, and sweeping adventures filled with magic and rebellion.
MY TIDBITS
Power struggles stretch-out their tendrils, leaving turmoil, secrets, struggles, and even the promise of love in their wake.
Rosalie's father is wrapped into a year-long war, and while her brothers are pulled into it, her weak constitution leaves everyone thinking she's incapable. When an attempt to keep her in a safe place far away from the struggles finds her kidnapped, she is anything but willing to play along with the captor's game. While not strong, she won't let anyone rest easily. That is Crowe's misery, too. As captain of a pirate ship, he's been sliding around and poking at the powerful war ships in his own way. When he accidentally runs into Rosalie on one of his attacks, he wants to use her to gain money from her father...no pirate could let that chance slide. She's not dangerous, but her constant attitude is driving him crazy. But then, she might be more important to his secret intentions than he's aware.
This is a tale of power tug-a-wars with two unsuspecting heroes. Rosalie is pampered and packs a temper, where Crowe is experienced and calculative. The two, obviously, mix like fire and water, which raises the tension right away and keeps it taunt the entire way through. The banter drives this one forward as the intrigue and secrets unfold right underneath. Add the adventure the sea offers as pirates and war ships collide, and there's an explosive world of possibilities.
Anyone who loves to dive deep into the characters will enjoy this read. It switches between Rosalie and Crowe with other perspectives tossed in as needed to keep tensions high. To help keep it clear which character a chapter hits, a correlating illustration is printed at the beginning of the chapter. For example, Rosalie gets a fox. This adds a nice touch and did help more than I thought it might, since the eyes glide over the image in a way, which doesn't interrupt the flow of the plot but helps the mind switch gears. The plot is driven by the characters' thoughts and dialogue, letting their personalities create much of the mood. Rosalie is a bit hard to snuggle up with due to her sharper corners, but her character also packs arc and growth to drive her along. The world building is lighter but holds the scenes and atmosphere. Action takes a bit of a side-step, especially in the first section of the book. There, the characters drive the plot forward and do it well.
The ending rounds everything off to satisfy, and yet, there are promises of more to come. And with these two, it should be exciting.
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