[ARC Review] A Ship of Bones and Teeth by Karina Halle
Ten years ago she sold her soul to the sea witch Edonia, giving up a life underwater in exchange for the love of Prince Aerik on land. But after a decade of abuse and misery inflicted by the cruel prince, Maren wants nothing more than to leave him and her royal role behind and find Edonia to reverse the spell.
An opportunity for escape presents itself when the prince and princess are traveling overseas and are taken hostage by a band of notorious pirates, led by the fearsome Captain Ramsay "Bones" Battista. Maren has heard the sordid stories about the infamous pirate--not only is his ship supposedly haunted and crewed by the damned, but that no prisoners ever survive.
Fortunately for Maren, she learns that the captain also has a score to settle with the sea witch. With any luck, Maren may be able to get her old life back, even if it's being held in the captain's wicked hands.
But Ramsay gets more than he bargained for when he learns who--and what--Maren is, and that her appetite for revenge, freedom, and bloodlust rivals his.
Meanwhile Maren finds herself falling for the pirate's dark nature, even as she discovers that Ramsay has a secret more deadly than her own.
When it comes to the high seas, not all monsters lurk beneath the surface.
My thoughts: Whew, A Ship of Bones and Teeth was definitely a gritty, whirlwind fantasy from Karina Halle - and I devoured this Little Mermaid retelling featuring sirens, pirates, sea witches, and plenty of other supernatural elements.
Maren was an interesting character, and I'll admit that I really didn't love her in the beginning. It was only as she grew as a person and truly started to accept the monster below the surface that I started to like her. Ramsay, however, I loved from the moment he stepped into Maren's life and onto the page. He was the debonair swashbuckler that anyone could easily fall for, made even more enticing by his total acceptance of his monstrous and villainous ways.
This story might have been partially inspired by fairy tale, but Halle takes the story in so many new directions and makes readers rethink everything they thought they knew about mermaids and pirates. With plenty of spice, I was not expecting such wonderful commentary on the very thin line between monster and villain. All of the characters in this book were one of those, all with the potential to easily become both, and it was beyond interesting to watch Maren and Ramsay walk between both statuses and ultimately choose who they wanted to be.
A Ship of Bones and Teeth was dark and gritty, but also fun and spicy. It combined and reimagined lores and tales in ways I would have never thought to do, and gave readers some intriguing characters to fall in love with. Halle once again proves that being a monster and being a villain are two completely different things, and I loved seeing those questions of morality play out on the high seas.
[I read an advanced review copy of this title, provided by the author. All opinions are my own.]
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Release date: 5/25/23
Format: eARC
eARC obtained via: the Reckless Readers Society
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