I always love reading new to me authors, especially ones that aren’t popular/known (yet). I always love pirate element in fantasy stories so I was really excited and happy when I got this e-arc.

It’s a shame that the book isn’t more known, because I really loved it. It was a fun and addicted first book in a new series and it should be more widely known I think.

I liked the main character, even though he was on the somewhat younger YA spectrum with being 13 years old. He is thrown into action and adventure and I found it a really fun, addictive read. The pirate elements were nicely executed as well as the fantasy/paranormal elements, alongside the adventure.

Excited to read the next book when it comes around and I find the time to read it.

Swift wants nothing more than adventure, and when he finds an old treasure map, he can't believe his luck. But will he be able to find his own way or will he drown in his father's dreams?
I think the first thing that struck me about this book was how beautiful of a coming-of-age story this is. It's so easy to relate to Swift and his struggles to figure out who he wants to be and what he wants out of life. And then he has to reconcile that with what his father dreams of for him. Swift is clearly learning who he is, and he's such a loveable character that it's hard to not get sucked into his story. I'm kind of excited to jump into the next book just to see what will happen next.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not a big younger YA-protagonist reader because they normally end up reading a lot more like middle grade in tone and pacing, but most other reviews seemed to have found this timeless so I gave it a shot but it just ended up feeling too young to ever capture or hold my attention.

I think "timeless" books like these work best with the target demographic they actually fall in and then become timeless about a decade past that age because as a teenager, this just isn't a life phase I'm far enough away from to be nostalgic for yet. The writing is really strong and I'd like to potentially revisit this years from now to see if I experience it differently.

I wanted to read this because I was really intrigued by the synopsis. It's a really interesting premise and idea and I think that it's written beautiful to express all the feelings by the characters.