Review: Sweet Black Waves

Author; Kristina Perez

Publisher; Imprint

Genres; YA fantasy

Pages; 448

Rating; 4/5 stars

Synopsis;

“Two proud kingdoms stand on opposite shores, with only a bloody history between them.

As best friend and lady-in-waiting to the princess, Branwen is guided by two principles: devotion to her homeland and hatred for the raiders who killed her parents. When she unknowingly saves the life of her enemy, he awakens her ancient healing magic and opens her heart. Branwen begins to dream of peace, but the princess she serves is not so easily convinced. Fighting for what’s right, even as her powers grow beyond her control, will set Branwen against both her best friend and the only man she’s ever loved. ”

Destroy my heart, why don’t you? This intriguing, dark and emotional fantasy found a way to grip me until the very end where it cuts off leaving me with a broken heart and the need to scream until the sequel comes out.

For a fantasy story this was surprisingly character and romance driven. Although I did love the protagonist Branwen I had less than pleasant feelings about her cousin Eseult. The entire time I couldn’t tell if she was written to be annoying or if she was a poorly written sweet girl. She was bratty, needy, selfish and always trying to get the world to revolve around her. I can understand SOME of her wants (like to not marry a man she doesn’t know) but the rest of the time I was rolling my eyes at her obnoxiousness. Branwen’s love interest, Tristan, felt not developed enough. He feels one step away from being completely developed but it felt like he didn’t open up all the way to Branwen so some of their interactions felt weird. I didn’t know Tristan, he felt more like a ghost of a character.

The romance between Branwen and Tristan was quick, which annoys me, but I can understand it. In this story the insta-love esc romance makes sense since that’s how it has to happen for the story to flow BUT I will never be okay with an insta-love romance in any book. It’s unrealistic and bothers me. Despite their romance happening fast they did have pretty good chemistry for such an unlikely couple which helped the subplot flow nicely.

One of the biggest flaws of this story was actually the marketing. Specifically how it marketed it as a book full of magic. Sure, there is magic yet it’s not as huge of a part of the story as it seemed it would be. There needs to be MORE magic. Branwen’s magic is not very developed (which was aggravating) since it didn’t feel like it had an exact reason for being there. It kinda felt a little underdeveloped. It was weird too because the rules always seemed to change; like how she would be affected by using her magic. I need more explanation from this in the future otherwise It’ll forever leave a sour taste in my mouth.

The reason this book didn’t get a perfect 5/5 stars from me (despite having adored it so much) was because it didn’t have the development it needed. The world lacked depth and complete exploration and the magic system was hazy and confusing. I have hope in this series that everything will be more fleshed out in the future, but the first book did lack some of the development that is easy to notice the lack of.

AND FINALLY… the ending. If you aren’t ready for a huge cliffhanger ending that will make you impatiently wait for the next book for another year then wait on reading this. The ending is brutal and left me angry that the next book hasn’t been published yet.

I know this review seems so negative but this story was SO GOOD. It’s a retelling that had me flying through the pages anxiously awaiting the next big thing. It was full of promise in a land full of magic that I cannot wait to explore in it’s sequel.