Unfortantlyey I couldn't connect with this novel, It just never grabbed me.

The writing was very smooth which made this read-able. What really through it off was that there are legit, prolly over 40 named characters in this story. With that many, very very few are fleshed out to where I could care about them. There's fantastical creatures like mermen and fae and sirens but there really isn't a plot. It's every 40 character's origin stories loosely linked together. All the LGBT variances and characters were great to read about, and I have zero complaints about any of that representation. It came down to too many irrelevant characters and not enough plot. Even though the writing was nice, it's unlikely I will continue with any sequels tbh.

I went into this story with only the description to guide me. I liked it because how often have I read a book with a female pirate, much less one that is the captain of her own ship? What I found was so much more than one strong female lead in the form of Captain Harriet "Harry" Roberts. I found an entire family, brought together by chance or by choice, that embraced who they were better than any fictional representation I've seen thus far.

At first I thought this was a novel, so I was a bit surprised when, after the first "chapter", it turned out that The Search for Aveline was actually a collection of interconnected stories about the characters about the Sappho. They are not told in a strictly linear fashion, but I did not find this to be a problem as the authors wrote in such a way that it was obvious quickly whom the current story was about and when in the grand scope of things it was taking place.

Each story had a purpose. It gave us backstory or motive for everyone we met, from Harry's relationship with the titular Aveline, to the voiceless siren Echo/Silence, and the other members of the crew.

There's also an interesting incorporation of mermaids and sirens that I've yet to read about elsewhere. These are not the sea dwelling creatures you've seen in Disney films, which I loved. They can be kindly, sure, but they can also commit terrible deeds and meddle in the affairs of others.

*Spoiler alert*

My favorite and most relatable story was that of Junia and Landon. Junia, from what I could tell, is a character on the asexual spectrum who was cast out of her home when her fiance could not handle her coming out to him. His reaction, to tell everyone that she preferred the company of women, led to her being ostracized. Over time she came to meet Landon, a man whom she came to trust and to love, who understood her and never pressured her for something she couldn't give.

*End Spoiler Alert*

Beyond Junia's representation, there was great rep for many other relationships along all ranges of the sexuality spectrum, as well as diversity in ethnicity as well. This was a pleasant surprise, as most pirate stories I've heard before have strictly white European crews which seems kind of odd?

Since this is volume one in the Sink or Swim series, I am eagerly anticipating more books about the crew of the Sappho. There might even be two more books if we're really lucky, according to Stephanie Rabig via Twitter!

Try as I might, I just can't get into this title. I'm constantly looking for pirate stories with diverse casts but for this one I just found the writing to be amateurish. It felt like the writing, particularly the dialogue, was done without thought or effort.

The Search for Aveline by Stephanie Rabig and Angie Bee

Star rating: ★★★★ ☆ 4/5 stars

Format: ebook galley

Summary: A series of vignettes about the crew of The Sappho, captained by Captain Harriet "Harry" Roberts, the ship searches for her lost sister Aveline.

Review: I received an advanced galley copy of this book for review via NetGalley.

This book is epically diverse. There are so many different characters with different races, religions, sexualities, disabilities, etc. The name of the ship made me excited from the beginning, The Sappho?, I knew we were in store for some good shit.

The story is told through a series of non-linear vignettes. I'm torn on how I feel about this style. On one hand, it was different and really well written but on the other it sometimes made it difficult to follow. We would see characters together and then the story of when they started giving into their feelings would come after which was not satisfying. Still, I do like the characters and the stories was something fresh from what I've read before.

I would be interested to read more of this world, there was a lot of great stuff. Mermaids, sirens, fae, and more. I was confused about what time period this was supposed to be because one character makes reference to Darwin but that's long after the golden age of piracy. I mean, obviously this is fantasy but it was so strange.

It's super fun to read, there are a lot of great moments in here. The only reason I took away one star is because the short stories style is strange enough I think it kept me from fully getting immersed into the world of the book.

Recommendation: This is a fun book that I think fans of pirates and fantasy would enjoy. It's a female heavy in characters which is amazing.

Hier kommt das Buch für alle die The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet mit Freude weginhaliert haben, ihre Füße aber auch gerne auf dem Erdball lassen wollen. Sink or Swim – The Search for Aveline mag in der Gliederung und Ausarbeitung nicht ganz so perfekt geschliffen sein, aber ich muss sagen, es hat mir dafür in anderen Bereichen noch besser gefallen als die Weltraum Utopie. Es gibt gewisse Parallelen was die Diversität, Gleichberechtigung und die Beziehungen zwischen Menschen aller Art, aber auch mit anderen Spezies angeht, nur dass wir uns diesmal nicht mit Aliens verbandeln, sondern mit klassischen Mythen- und Sagengestalten.

Wer sich ein bisschen mit den antiken Griechen auskennt, dem wird der Name Sappho ein Glöckchen im Hinterkopf erklingen lassen. Sappho war eine Dichterin, die auf der Insel Lesbos lebte und nun kann man sich schon denken, dass die Besatzung der Sappho nicht gerade den konventionellen Normen folgt. Es wäre allerdings auch falsch anzunehmen, dass sie nur aus lesbischen Frauen bestünde, denn dieses Schiff beherbergt so ziemlich alles, was nicht nur die menschliche Spezies zu bieten hat. Auf der Sappho ist für alle Platz. Für die noch unbetitelten Feministinnen, für die Armen wie die Reichen, für die Heterosexuellen, Homosexuellen, Bisexuellen, Transsexuellen und Asexuellen, für die Dunkelhäutigen, Hellhäutigen, und alle Nuancen dazwischen, für Menschen-Männer, Meermänner und kürzlich noch Mensch Gewesene, für die körperlich Beeinträchtigten … Es ist wirklich alles, ALLES, vertreten, was man im Diversity-Bereich suchen wollen könnte. Manchmal ist das so viel Input, dass man den Überblick verliert, aber wer dran bleibt wird mit einer lebendigen Bande belohnt.

Angesichts der Fülle an Figuren werde ich nun auch gar nicht erst versuchen auf irgendwen näher einzugehen. Die Besatzung ist eben sehr sehr bunt gemischt und aufgeschlossen. Obwohl alle einen piratenmäßig lauten Humor an den Tag legen, verbergen sie ihre kleinen Geheimnisse, Dinge aus der Vergangenheit, Dinge, die sie überhaupt erst auf die Sappho getrieben haben. Ganz ungeplant ist Harrys Schiff zu einer Anlaufstelle für Streuner, Ausgestoßene und die Freiheit-Suchenden geworden, für die Querdenker und Rebellen. Die Hintergründe der Protagonisten, deren Anzahl übrigens stetig wächst, erfährt man nach und nach in Rückblenden. Manche davon sind harmlos, andere herzerweichend, wieder andere grausam und traumatisch. Wie in Angry Planet hat auch The Search for Aveline diese herrliche Utopie des respektvollen Miteinanders zu bieten, die Hintergründe der Figuren sind aber ernster. In vielen Bereichen ist dieses Buch blutiger und herzloser, und der Humor ist nicht ganz so »lieblich«, wie er es in dem Weltraumabenteuer ist. Für mich funktioniert das Buch dadurch besser als der Angry Planet, weil mir die Dinge dort manchmal etwas zu kantenlos waren.
Ansonsten lebt die Geschichte auch in diesem Fall vielmehr durch die Schicksale der Figuren, als durch eine fest definierte Handlung. Die Sappho schippert von einem Erlebnis ins nächste ohne dabei einem großen Handlungsstrang zu folgen. Es wird eine übergeordnete Handlung angedeutet, die wird aber wohl erst im Folgeband Fahrt aufnehmen. Von Nachteil ist das nicht, denn es ist auch so schon unheimlich viel los in The Search for Aveline.

Wer die Aufmerksamkeitsspanne einer Eintagsfliege hat, sollte allerdings einen Bogen um diesen Auftaktroman machen. Ich habe ihn als Vorab-Version genießen dürfen und weiß nicht wie viel vor dem offiziellen Release vielleicht noch ausgebügelt wird. Es handelt sich um einen kleinen Indie-Verlag, da stehen die Chancen auf ein umfangreiches Lektorat meistens schlecht. Sofern das Buch so in den Release gehen sollte, ist also mit ein paar Hürden zu rechnen. Neben der großen Anzahl an Figuren, springt der Text manchmal etwas ungeschickt zwischen verschiedenen Perspektiven und Zeiten. Gegenwarts und Rückblende sind optisch nicht zu unterscheiden, ich fand aber, dass man das trotzdem recht gut mitbekommt. Hirneinsatz ist allerdings dringend gefragt, wenn man nicht den Faden verlieren will. Daneben gibt es ab und an auch Formatierungsfehler, bei denen vergessen wurde eine Headline vom Rest abzutrennen – das kann, wie gesagt, auch noch geändert werden – es waren aber auch nur drei oder vier Stellen.

Empfehlung?
Ganz klar, ja! The Search for Aveline ist sicher nicht perfekt poliert. Es braucht eine Weile um richtig in Fahrt zu kommen und es hätte hier und da ein strengeres Lektorat vertragen. Trotzdem bin ich begeistert und habe mehr bekommen, als ich erwartet hatte. Wer also ein humoriges, erwachsenes Piratenabenteuer vermischt mit einer vielfältigen, sozialen Crew und allerlei Sagengestalten sucht, der ist hier genau richtig. Mir hat es sehr viel Spaß gemacht und den einen Stern Abzug gibt es nur wegen der teils sprunghaften Übergänge und der vergessenen Formatierung.

Eine kleine Warnung noch:
Es geht in diesem Roman sexuell ziemlich explizit zu. Das Buch sollte also möglichst nicht in Kinderhände geraten.

I don’t know where to start because I’m a little bit confused. I liked this book, I really did, but it felt like a “get to know the characters” because the plot was often forgotten. There aren’t twists or unnecessary drama, the characters are introduced through flashbacks and sometimes there are time jumps. It takes only a moment at the beginning of the chapter to understand where and when you are so that you can appreciate the story that’s being told.

The book is called The Search for Aveline but the search is not at the center of the story. Who is Aveline and why is the captain of The Sappho looking for her? The explanation is not immediate but, again, this part of the plot, the part I thought was the main one, was left on the side. The summary made me thought there were going to be fights with their enemies and, besides a few encounters, there wasn’t really much action.

Captain Harriet “Harry” Roberts of The Sappho is a pirate. Her crew is mostly women saved from ugly situations or just people who wanted to get away. Being a large group of characters they are diverse, have different sexual orientations and they have different beliefs. These characters are introduced little by little through flashbacks. There are really a lot of people you need to know and each one of them is special in their own way.

Sometimes my favorite was Harry, then they stayed someplace for a couple nights and my favorite became Katherine, then they came back to the island where they have their base and my favorite was Kaimana the merman. They are all so loveable that it’s really hard to have a favorite. I don’t have it! The nice thing about this world is that, not only there are mermaids and mermen, but there are also Fae people, sharkmaids, sirens and intelligent lizards.

The building of the world is really nice. Forgetting a little bit about the main plot, you become part of The Sappho’s crew; you sail the oceans with them, get to know each character, you witness lots of steamy encounters (STEAMY!!) and one page at a time you become one of them. I liked that about the book and I feel that the story was like an introduction of all the characters we are going to see in the next book/s of the series. Maybe we are finally going to see some action. Not deaths, please, don’t let them die!!

This book featured a diverse, interesting set of characters thrown together by circumstance and the soft heart of a pirate captain. Unfortunately, it didn't feature a plot to match.

Look, if you want a series of enjoyable vignettes about a group of mostly queer pirates with hearts of gold, many of them fleeing their past but others just in it for the adventure... well, this book's got that. But a series of vignettes is all you're going to get. This book is episodic to the point where even the 'search for Aveline' aspect of the plot is a passive background goal that rarely actually influences any decisions the characters make -- finding Aveline is a matter of coincidence rather than plot.

Yes, you'll get some sweet relationships. Yes, you'll get diverse characters of all kinds (disabled and mentally ill characters, racial diversity, and characters of all sexual orientations). You'll get sympathetic portrayal of sex workers, among others. You'll get some moments of emotion and some humorous dialogue that had me reaching to highlight it on my Kindle. But there just wasn't enough plot to hold it together, in my mind -- it felt more like a series of short stories or individual scenes that hadn't been entirely strung together in a convincing way.

The worldbuilding could also have used some more work. As the book went on, I managed to establish that it was effectively our world in the 19th century -- references to Dickens and Darwin made that clear enough. But it was also a world in which mermaids, the fae, and intelligent lizard creatures are accepted as fact. And it took me about half the book even to get that much sorted -- for a while, I was convinced I must be reading a sequel, because nothing was ever explained. I double checked, though, and it was definitely the first book in the series. It just lacked explanations and depth, so that the worldbuilding was more confusing than intriguing.

Add to this the fact that the various flashbacks and backstory scenes weren't clearly indicated -- e.g. in chapter headers that might easily have said something like 'five years ago' or whatever didn't, so you just had to guess when something was set -- and it was really hard to get any sort of grip on the book as a linear plotline, mostly because... well, it didn't have enough of a plot.

I loved a lot of the characters. I really wanted to like the book. Queer pirates are my deal, especially when we also get to see disabled, mentally ill characters, and racially diverse characters along with them. And a ship called the Sappho? I mean, awesome. This had so much potential, but it wasn't a novel. It felt like the initial ideas someone might sketch out, the scenes you'd exchange to give glimpses at the characters you were coming up with that you hadn't yet figured out how to fit into a book. Some of the prose felt more polished than the rest, and I had to admit the development of relationships felt just as choppy and disjointed as the storyline, so that I wasn't really convinced by any of the romantic pairings, but the characters had a TON of potential.

My reading of it probably wasn't helped by the fact I had to read it in several short sessions over the course of about a week, which isn't how I usually read books: it definitely contributed to the episodic feel. On the whole, though, this was a disappointment. It came so close to being something I could love, and then missed entirely. If the authors figure out a way to do these characters justice and give them an actual solid plot, I'll be more than happy to read it. Sadly, this one didn't do it for me.

This review is on Goodreads, but I may not cross-post it to my blog because I prefer not to put negative reviews there. If I do, I'll update this review with a link.

I'm sad to say this but I couldn't finish this one. Loved the idea and the start but it soon turned into a mess. Too many characters and random flash backs to tell their stories. If this was condensed down and focused on fewer characters then I know this would be a 4/5 star book for me.

I actually found this book super enjoyable, if only it didn't feel so all over the place.

This book had lots of diversity and it was enjoyable to read about all the different characters, how they ended up being part of The Sappho's crew and how their every day life on the ship looks. There were bisexual, homosexual and asexual characters in this book. I loved that while the society (as it is very historical) was pretty heteronormative overall, most of the time we find ourselves around people that are accepting and just don't care. We read about people experiencing discrimination because of their sexual preferences in the past but on The Sappho everybody does as they please and it was great to be in that environment for the most time.
While this takes place in a very historical setting, there are a lot of fantastical and mythical creatures that add a fantasy element to the story. While I like a good pirate story that also includes mermaids or sirens, I felt like here it was just all a bit much. There were sirens and mermaids and mermen and shark-like mermaids and even fae! I was just like OKAY I GET IT.

What bothered me most about this story is the structure of it overall. Some of the things just felt a little random and almost info-dumpy. Normally I really don't mind it too much but here it was just info-dumping for so many different things and characters. Often it wasn't clear if we were in the present time or if it was a flashback and sometimes chapters started with “She never had blablabla”. SHE? WHO SHE? THERE'S LIKE A MILLION WOMEN IN THIS BOOK!! TELL ME WHO YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT IN THE FIRST SENTENCE!
There were just too many characters and it felt like they were all fighting to be in the spotlight, almost all of their background stories introduced back to back. I got so confused about all of the different characters, their names, where they came from, which past belonged to whom and it just really took me out of the story. I constantly found myself thinking “wait, who is this character again?” and I felt like that just hurt this story in so many places. I love all of these different characters and found their background stories interesting, I just think they could have been spread out a bit more evenly, maybe some of these stories only even finding place in the sequels to this story. I felt like it took too much away from actually storytelling. Also the distinctions between the different background stories and how exactly they fit into the present time wasn't well done and sometimes didn't make sense.
Really, this was just an introduction to the world and all of the characters and really not much story happening. And while that makes it still enjoyable as a character-driven story, I just wish we gut some more action-adventure in this first book. Now I feel like in the second book we will be meeting back with these characters, just thinking what was this character's story about and I think that could have been avoided by spreading it more evenly and leaving some flashbacks to the sequel.

This book is pretty heavy on the romance. I definitely liked all the pairings and relationships we learned about but I'm a sucker for romance anyway. If you get annoyed by it quickly, this might not be the right book for you. There are a lot of different pairings in this book, I can already think of six at the top of my head. Some of these are based on physical attraction, others have already developed in the past but some just feel a little out of the blue, as there is not much time to actually build up feelings or relationships BECAUSE THERE'S JUST TOO MANY CHARACTERS. It felt a little like this pirate crew was on a dating cruise, for some reason almost everyone got their perfect match throughout the story. People always seemed to be attracted to each other or in love with each other. No unrequited love or something similar. That made all of these different pairings a little bit unrealistic. The weirdest part for me though was when a gay guy on this ship fell in love with a fae man, who had lived on the ship as a female. I guess you could say the fae is genderfluid but it seems like this is how all faes are in this world. The fae does say at some point that they are comfortable as both male and female. BUT I felt a little weird about the gay guy falling in love with the fae as they were a female and getting so confused about his sexuality and why he all of a sudden had feelings/attraction for a woman. But then, oh what a great twist, they actually are no woman, they are a man. Obviously anybody can change their sexuality at any point but that this gay guy fell in love with a male in a female body just seemed weird to me? I honestly can hardly judge the situation as I'm bisexual myself and always say "well I fall in love with a person, not a gender" but just this whole storyline of the gay guy being like "I don't know what I'm feeling, I've never felt anything like this for a woman" and then it turns out they're a MAN? I'M JUST CONFUSED about all of this!
This book has quite a few explicit scenes although I do have to say for an Adult book (which I suppose this is), they were quite harmless!

Overall I'd say if you are into lady pirates and want lots of diverse relationships, this is the book for you. If you're looking for a fun action-adventure, I'd say this is not the book for you yet. I have a lot of hopes about the sequel giving us more on that front.

I really enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to the next book.