Thank you to the author and publisher for the advance reader copy of this book.

I loved every thing about this book. A strong female in a male dominated field? Count me in. This book was beautifully written and incredibly intriguing. I'll definitely be looking for more books by this author in the future.

Thank you for NetGalley for giving me an ARC.

I felt like the concept and the story was there but the pacing really slowed down the character development for me with this book. Maybe if it was a little shorter we wouldn’t notice it as much.

A fierce female pirate?? Count me in!! I seriously squealed when I got approved for this ARC. Massive thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the eARC of this book!

The distinction between the characters was deeply thought out and I felt like the motivations of characters were extremely clear. Shek Yeung is a fabulous main character and watching her overcome continual hardships was inspiring.

I think the author Rita Chang-Eppig will become a standout voice in the historical fiction/fantasy genre.

This story is part fantasy, part historical fiction about Shek Yeung, a pirate queen, and her fight to hold onto power and maintain alliances after the death of her husband. I knew nothing about the historical figure but given the extent of her exploits, she was due for a story of her own.

This novel has great characterization and exploration of the complicated relationships between the pirate outlaws, the Chinese empire, and European colonizers. I was also compelled by Shek Yeung's conflicted relationship with her late husband and her role in the fleet, as her life was one of violence and cruelty, but was still an improvement over other alternatives.

I had a few, albeit minor, issues with the prose. A few times, it was utterly unclear how much time had passed, to the point of confusion-- a few minutes? a week? six months? Part of this could have been formatting issues in the ARC, but a few times, it was because there were no context clues. A few times, entire battles were covered in a page or two. I'm don't mind a slower pace, and I really did enjoy the novel's focus on intrigue and diplomacy over pure action, but sometimes the pacing did feel uneven.

Overall, I'd give this 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4)! It was an enjoyable read. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This is listed as being perfect for fans of Piranesi and I feel like that is the perfect comparison for this book. Not quite a retelling, not quite a fantasy, not quite a historical fiction but a bit of each. Shek Yeung is such a strong, defined character I loved following her pirate journey and couldn’t guess what her next move would be at times. We get a lot of background info on how she ended up on the pirate ship, as well as a lot of her day to day and what leads her to make the choices she does. Because of this the pace is a bit slow, but I found myself wanting to keep picking it back up to see what she would do next.

This was really interesting to read after having just recently read Babel, by RF Kuang. It seems to center around a similar time period, with opium "trade" imminent in Canton. It was really interesting to have a protagonist who was so strong and amazing yet deeply flawed at the same time. It was difficult to know whether or not I should be rooting for her, but I think I did ultimately want her to come out on top. The politics and ethics around pirating was explored quite a bit, and it was also lovely how these myths and folktales of Ma Zou were interweaved throughout the book.

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig is one of the best books I read this year. Great plot and main character!

A fierce lady pirate. Need I say more?

But I will. Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea is foremost an examination of womanhood and gender roles. It is sprinkled with magical realism, backed by a brutal, historical world of piracy in Asia. I initially expected more of a dark-toned but still swashbuckling adventure, but this story read as quite literary. The narrative is slower-paced and insular, deeply tied to the development and inner turmoil of our pirate queen, Shek Young.

She is intelligent, strategic, pragmatic, but also flawed. She loves but fears just as fiercely. She reminded me a bit of an older, middle-aged Rin (from The Poppy War) might be. Shek Young is ambitious and willing to do anything to survive and succeed, but is also jaded by trauma, buried guilt, and the limitations of her gender. Chang-Eppig considers what it is to be a woman from Shek Young's perspective, and much of it resonated with my own experiences. The ways we are treated, the ways we are expected to act, how then the treatment and expectations influence how we act, and how we rebel. It was realistic, raw, and piercing.

Though Shek Young was supposedly hailed as a legendary pirate queen, I didn't feel as if I got that vibe a lot. There's certainly the pirate, but very little legend or queen in my opinion. However, it does fit into the themes of the overall story--how in the end, she was just a person, before any story told about her. I suppose I just overestimated how much action there was going to be. Another small gripe I had was the pacing. This is more personal preference, but I felt that it slogged a bit in places, especially with the introspective nature of the narration. Finally, I thought the prose was awkward at times, with vocabulary or descriptions that pulled me out of the story. (But this may be edited before publication.) I still loved Chang-Eppig's unique narrative style.

Overall, it was a great read and left me with a lot of thoughts, as good book should do! It is definitely worth the read if the synopsis has drawn your attention!

I might not have been smart enough for this one. I just felt lost, like I never got to the actual story. This is a retelling of the Chinese Pirate Queen and it is a very dark story as it covers the atrocities and violence that Shek Yeung experiences. I really liked the premise of this story (Shek Yeung's husband dies and she makes an agreement to marry someone else to stay in power and keep an alliance. Intriguing!) but did not end up actually enjoying it.

Unfortunately I never full got immersed in this world or story. While books usually pick up at the end, it felt like a struggle to get through the last part of the book. Personally, I just didn't relate or enjoy the characters. I did not really get the main character's motivations... Personally, I would have retired when I could. My issues here could have been me... I usually go for more of the lighter side of fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for an eARC of this book.

This book is well written. Read it in a couple settings. Definitely worth the read. It just is not the kind of book that I would normally read. I’m not really into pirates in such.

Action-packed and beautifully written, Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea is a captivating story about a powerful and fearsome woman. The novel opens en media res with a battle at sea and only picks up steam from there. I was hooked from beginning to end as Shek Yeung's story unfolds with depth and compassion. There are legends of a Chinese sea goddess braided throughout, which add even more dimension to this frequently surprising epic tale.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for this eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea is a historical fiction retelling of the Chinese Pirate Queen, Shek Yeung. It is a story of love, loss, family, motherhood, politics, guilt, and grief.

Shek Yeung watches as her husband, and co-commander of their pirate fleet, is killed. Instead of mourning him, she marries his second in command and promises him an heir in exchange for safety for both herself and her half of the fleet. With this new bargain comes new enemies and threats that she must both face and decide whether it's worth the fight.

Overall, I liked the general idea of this story, it had lot of potential but fell short due to structural issues and formatting. The pacing was slow. There was little character development - let alone any information on the characters at all other than the protagonist. The timeline jumped all over the place and it was hard to know what was happening at what time. The author draws many similarities between Shek Yeung and Ma-Zau, a mythical sea goddess, but due to the way the e-ARC was formatted; it was hard to tell when the mythology of Ma-Zau started, ended, and returned to Shek Yeung's point of view.

I think this book could be really good, but it definitely needs some more editing to be done to really bring the whole story together. This book releases June 6th, 2023. I plan on giving this book another chance once it releases with the hope that it's a bit more concise.

I thought this one was really fantastic. One: the cover was gorgeous. I’m going to buy a hard cover just for my shelf because of how nice it looks. The story was recommended by several popular authors I follow. The story was exciting and the tone was set from the first chapter. I will recommend!

A beautiful, meditative, fascinating read. This is exquisitely written and while I knew that the subject would be fascinating, I was unprepared for how much. Perfect for fans of Four Treasures of the Sky.

I am SO glad I requested an ARC of this book!

The cover and title attracted my attention, but the story and absolutely beautiful writing kept it.

Just wow.

The characters, the prose, just everything was so fantastic. I highlighted like 100 passages. This was one of the best books I've read in a long time.

I'll definitely be giving a copy of this away around release day on my tiktok (@hauntedhousebooks).

Sincere TY for letting me arc read and I wish you much success on the release.

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea was a true treasure. Strong female lead, dramatic and adventurous plot. It had all of the components you want!

I really enjoyed "Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea," though I kept constantly picking it up and putting it back down again due to my school schedule. Shek Yeung is a phenomenal protagonist, and following her throughout the novel was an absolute treat. The Ma-Zou chapters were great, and the prose overall was gorgeous.

Overall, I would say that the pacing felt weird due to the timelines jumping around from before piracy to the current timeline, but that also could have been due to me reading this off and on.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for an arc!

I wanted to enjoy this one but I found the plot, story, and characterizations hard to follow and not really resonate the best for me at times.

Together with her late husband, Shek Yeung created an alliance of pirate ships to counter the Chinese imperial forces. When Portuguese forces overtook her husband, his dying wish was for Shek Yeung to continue the alliance. Shek, along with new husband, continue leading the alliance while rationalizing murder feeling that heaven would overlook whatever crimes one committed to survive.

This epic adventure on the high-seas had me glued to my kindle. Hands down one of my top books of the year!
I just reviewed Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig. #DeepastheSkyRedastheSea #NetGalley
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