Pirates? Haunting lore? Family secrets? oh hell yeah. This book is cozy yet surprising, sprawling and intimate. Well worth your time.

I received Dark Shores from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Exquisitely written and craftily plotted, Dark Shores is perfect for fans of To Kill a Kingdom. The blurb attracted me because it sounded a little different from the standard YA books and I'm so glad I got it because it kept me hooked from beginning to end.
The story follows Teriana, the second mate of the ship Quincense, a ship beholden to the Goddess of the Seas. Free from the rule of the Celendor Empire, her people are traders and the keepers of the secret that could threaten to tear apart the world as Teriana knows it. The East must never know about the West and vice versa but Teriana brashly reveals the secret to her loose tongued friend Lydia who betrays it to the new Caesar of the Empire.
Eager to expand his Empire, the Caesar orders Marcus the commander of the Thirty-Seventh to lead a ship to the West with Teriana's help. Goaded into a deal to save her people, Teriana agrees to the mission with a heavy heart, with every intention of betraying the Empire and saving the West from the fate brought upon them by her. Narrated from both Teriana's and Marcus's point of view, this is a book about two enemies finding unlikely friendship and then more after realising each has misunderstood the other.
The plot was incredibly complex and I DIGGED it. Teriana was a formidable lead and the chapters from her POV were heartbreaking because her mother turned her back on her and so did the goddess she believed in (or so she thought). Her constant inner conflict about the consequences of the choices she was making gave credit to her character. She was strong and tough and incredibly witty, earning her points with the soldiers of the Empire.
Marcus was a strong character too, with secrets of his own. Fighting the resentment he harbours for his parents, the way he still wants to protect the crime they committed made my heart hurt. I loved Marcus and Teriana getting to know each other and overcoming the misunderstandings they had, finally realising who the real enemy was.
As a whole this was a compelling story with a slow paced but captivating plot, strong and determined main characters and good prose. However it was a little slow at times which was tiring even though I love slow books. The side characters were blatantly ignored except for when they were needed for the story and although there was an openly gay couple, they were only slightly talked about. I'm pretty excited for the next book because Teriana and Marcus need to figure out where they stand in each other's lives as well as combat the REAL enemy. I'd recommend it if you guys liked To Kill a Kingdom!

A nice read that took me a while to finish. For some reason I couldn’t keep reading straight out.

The plot is interesting, and this world is both new and unique. The world building was okay, but it could have had a bit more detail on how each continents work and the full extent of the special abilities. In this Greek/Roman mythology-based world, is the home of the “god marked,” individuals blessed by a God and granted a special ability.

The characters are interesting and complex, but this time around, I actually preferred the secondary characters to the main ones. Miki and Yedda are just great. Teriana came off as a whinny child to me, and I didn’t really feel her romance with Marcus. While it’s a slow-burn, it went from lying, keeping secrets and back-stabbing to “I’m in love with you against all odds.” It didn’t seem believable enough to me.

I think what stopped me from devouring this book was the pace. In some moments, there are epic battles and encounters, dangerous moments at sea. And in others, nothing happens. While some of the dialogue is necessary for the story building, I felt there were interactions and conversations that didn’t add much.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but didn’t love it as much as I was expecting.

I’m still kind of upset with myself that I waited so long to read DARK SHORES when I should have trusted my instincts and known that this book would be right up my alley. It’s got complications upon complications for our characters, both in terms of who they are and what role they are made to play in the world. But it’s impossible for me not to feel for them, and to root for the possibility that things will work out… somehow. Jensen really knows how to weave a compelling tale out of complex characters, an intricate world (with interesting lore and politics) and a really engaging plot.

Oh, and the Pirates of the Caribbean vibes in some aspects didn’t hurt either.

I got in expecting a swashbuckling pirate story but got so much more ! War, political intrigue, travel to far distant places… there is a lot to take in and I had a lot of fun reading this. In terms of other world building, il particularly enjoyed the Ancient Roman inspiration on the Celendor Empire. It gives the book a « Gladiator » feel that I tremendously liked. I definitely plan to pick up the next book.

DNF. Couldn't get into this book. I have enjoyed previous books by Danielle but this book just wasn't for me, sadly. Thank you for approving me and I'm sorry I didn't enjoy the book.

Not going to lie, I went into DARK SHORES expecting some sort of pirate-y swashbuckling sea adventure and it wasn’t quite that, I certainly wasn’t disappointed in this book! Jensen really brings these characters to life and makes you feel ALL the things as you follow them through difficult choices and dangerous situations. You’ll finish and immediately crave the next book!

First, this world was fabulous. It gave me all sorts of Ancient Rome vibes while also feeding my craving for seafaring I picked up from the cover and synopsis. I loved the way the magic worked with the gods and that characters didn’t need to have access to this sort of magic to be badass. Then we get this slow burn romance between Teriana and Marcus which was beautiful. I couldn’t get enough! We get just enough emotion, just enough heat, to make their romance believable and give the impression you could run into these characters on the street.

Well maybe not our modern day ones but you never know.

I never felt like the story lagged either. The pacing hit all the right buttons and ebbed and flowed enough to keep me hooked from start to finish. This was a hard one to set aside, even to get a bit of sleep. If you’re the sort of reader who enjoys dangerous adventures and fun worldbuilding, with characters you’ll defend with your life, definitely jump aboard DARK SHORES!

A fresh and new sort of YA fantasy. While all the normal elements are there (feisty female lead, brooding and troubled male lead, world wide conflict, and a quest that needs completing, it also had some great world building. My biggest complaint is that this book feels incomplete, not finished. And after having just looked at book two's description, I don't think I'm going to find the resolution I'm looking for. However, I enjoyed this story of a young pirate princess and the enemy commanding officer she strikes a deal with to save her people. This is the first book all year I've been eager to keep reading. Fans of fantasy and YA will enjoy this. There is enough intrigue, romance, danger and humor to satisfy most any reader.

I think I'm a sucker for pirate stories and I'm glad to see more writers to use pirate culture in their writing. Overall I think it's a very strong work and people will be instantly drawn in and intruiged.

Beautifully done dark world building and an enemies to lovers romance had this book difficult to put down.

I loved the Romeo and Julietness of East and West as well as the sprinkling of Ancient Rome!

Love love love!
This books had it all. I was drawn in so quickly. And was so engrossed in thw story. It had all the things I could love in a book. And held my attention so fiercely.

I LOVED this story!! I loved the characters and the chemistry with them. I loved that a "love story" wasn't the main theme of this book. I wanted more of the Gods and monsters and all that though.

DNF at 15%. I'm not quite sure what didn't click for me. The characters have potential, but the writing felt a little dry that I couldn't get invested in either the story or plot.

What a great book! This was the first time that I read something by Danielle, but this definitely left me wanting more. The story was gripping, and I absolutely rooted for the characters. I cannot wait to dive into the second book.

I was intrigued by this book because I thought it would be a young adult Pirates of the Caribbean and sadly it wasn't. I know a few people who loved this book but sadly it wasn't for me.

I didn't make it through this one. I just couldn't get invested in it. There are so many books I just didn't like the characters so I didn't want to waste time on it.

Man, I loved reading these books so much! I actually started Dark Shores before, just before it was going to come out. And then it pushed my buttons, and I couldn't get over it. It took time, and I read slower than usual, but I worked out my issues and read both of these, and they were both so freaking great!

These books are companion novels, in the same series, and taking place at roughly the same time. In fact, the beginning of both Teriana and Lydia's stories are about the same scenes, just from differing perspectives. But then they diverge, going different places, and it was so great to read these back to back!

The situations that all 4 of these characters were in, they were totally unfair. I just wanted to rage, I wanted to help them, and I wanted them to avoid making choices that I knew would turn out badly, even if they had limited options.

Facing two threats, well, only Lydia knows the full extent of both, since she was raised by one side, and in the midst of the other. I think Teriana would be next, since she knows full well the threat of the Cel empire, and she has hints of what's going on in Mudamora. I can't wait to see things come together!

There's question marks from the end of each book. Who is the traitor that betrayed Teriana? Did her two guards survive? And what's going to be the fallout of the end of Skies? And I have a very big suspicion about Lydia, because there were just so many hints, I hope we see that play out in Gilded Serpents!

I loved these books so much, and I'm so excited for book 3 with all 4 of them narrating!

This was a pretty fun and interesting book, but there were some issues with pacing for me and some incredibly clunky dialogue. It tells the story of Teriana, a Marin sailor, and Marcus, a centurion and their search for Dark Shores - the opposite end of the world.

The Positives: The narrative was definitely interesting and there was a lot to unpack in terms of gods, mythology and history. I really liked the relationship between Teriana and her crewmates, and also the legionaries and thought that some of the interactions here were really well done. The world is also interesting, but a little surface level in this instalment.

The Negatives: I think that the world building was a bit lacklustre, with an awful lot of lore just assumed rather than shown or explained, which I found frustrating. I also thought that the relationship between Marcus and Teriana felt shoe-horned into the plot and very rushed and the dialogue, particularly between these two, was pretty dire in places.

Overall, there are some good elements here and it was a fun read, but it is quite generic and won't be a new favourite of mine.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Author Danielle L. Jensen has been incredibly active on Instagram lately, as most of us have been during these stay at home orders. It was because of her posts on IG that I decided to take a more in depth look into her books. And what would you know, I had a copy of her first book in the Dark Shores series sitting on my Kindle in the form of a Netgalley ARC.


Danielle had been promoting the second novel in this series, Dark Skies, which was at the time available for download on Netgalley (and will be available everywhere May 5th). There’s honestly nothing that puts me in the mood to read more than the premise of a binge read.

I picked up Dark Shores and was plunged into a world with female (and male) pirates, demigods in the form of giant sea monsters, and soldiers who had been forced to leave their parents at a young age as a tax to the empire. This story is massive, but it all worked so incredibly well.

This book does something I L O V E. That’s right! Multiple POV baby! We follow a 17 year old female pirate, Terianna, and the head of the 37th band of soldiers, Marcus. As soon as the soldiers were introduced, both through Terianna’s lens and through Marcus’, I knew I would get along with them just fine. They have the comradery and banter that comes with years of training and surviving together. The chemistry between the men, including some of their more complicated dynamics, were fascinating to listen to.

Oh yeah, I should mention that Dark Shores is my first completed Audiobook, as an adult! It’s not that I wasn’t enjoying the experience on my kindle, but my brain and eyeballs could not keep looking at a screen after reading all day for work. This audiobook was incredible, voiced by both a male and a female actor who did amazing accents for each new character that was introduced. I highly recommend this audiobook to anyone who is willing to give this medium a try.

The plot of this story was rich and vast. There were so many underlying elements that got dug up as the story evolved, and motives upon motives per character. We got to watch Marcus and Terianna fight to remain in control of their own narrative, while slowly learning that maybe they should be working together instead of against each other. There were so many times during this audiobook when I was talking out loud to the characters for being adorable imbeciles, clutching my hair, hands pressed over my eyes, or biting my lip in anxiety.

There were a few times throughout the novel where information is dumped on the reader, because our characters have reached a new location, a new god/goddess is introduced, or a new group of people are discovered. These scenes slowed the story down a little bit, but also helped bring a general sense of understanding about how or why things took place in the upcoming chapters.

This story did so many things well. It tackled race in a wonderfully non discriminatory way. It discussed sexuality among soldiers in a way that normalized any preference. And it tried unraveling the process of conquering nations, and the motives or actions that drive these types of conquests. I say tried to unravel because the characters are still coming to terms and toiling with the repercussions of these actions. They don’t have all the answers yet, and in many aspects they themselves are peeling back years and years of imposed jargon and propaganda.

This novel also discusses what it truly means to be good or evil. Do evil actions for the greater good make someone good or bad? Do good intentions that cause chaos and destruction make you good or bad? While this may not have been answered in this first book of the series, it did give you room to question morality, and what these characters are up against. I think by the end of the book both characters realized that what started out as black or white, is now a fine shade of grey.

I loved this book so much, I got out of bed at 11:30pm to order myself a copy from bookoutlet, and then preordered the second book Dark Skies, from my local independent bookstore. If someone asked me today, right now, what my favorite book of 2020 was, it would be Dark Shores. Without question. I’ve read a few books where part of a character’s adventure takes place on a ship, but I’ve never read a story where the main character is a Pirate Princess. Terianna gives off such strong, bold, Gryffindor vibes, while Marcus is so clearly a Slytherin, my little green heart could barely handle him half the time. Not only did Danielle make me fall in love with Terianna and Marcus, but all the side characters as well! If you get the chance to pick this up on audiobook (via your public library and Libby), please do! Now I’m off to go binge read my ARC of Dark Skies, while I await my preordered copy to arrive.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read and review this title. I will review this title at a different date.