This was definitely enjoyable! I loved the pirate/heist aspect of the story. I do wish we got more details on the back story, I feel like that was missing something and I would have loved more magical aspects, but overall I enjoyed this story.

If you loved the fast-paced, high-stakes plot and sizzling romance of FOURTH WING, then you will absolutely love this book!! Morally gray characters and deliciously charming villains abound in this pirate-esque fantasy, complete with hilarious banter and beautifully descriptive prose, and a fantastic twist at its climax that will have you screaming out loud as you read. An absolute must-read for YA fantasy romance fans!

"Fable” and “Daughter of the Pirate King”... with elements of “A Court of Thorns and Roses”?

This seafaring YA fantasy doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s still a worthwhile voyage for fans of the genre (like me). It’s slow to start, but I got really into it before the 50% mark. There are many familiar elements, but I had a little trouble empathizing with the main character and her associates. She engages in some villainous behavior that I didn’t perceive as morally gray. Her people aren’t engaging in fun pirating; this is sad pirating.

Now let’s dive into the romance situation, and beware, it’s a little spoiler-y. We’ve got a love triangle here. There’s a strong case of instalove with Seth, whom Mira should absolutely not trust, but she does so repeatedly. There are references to a thread connecting them, making you think Mira and Seth are fated… but this is a Tamlin situation, and there’s a Rhys with bargains and shadow magic and everything. I’m interested in seeing where this goes.

I rounded up to three stars, but it's more like a 2.5. I was excited to read this book, the description sounded intriguing, but ultimately the story fell flat for me. The world building was pretty weak and the plot was lacking. There were brief mentions of fantastical creatures and other worldly magic, but those ideas were never fully fleshed out. There was an undertone of missing information throughout the story. The main characters are wreckers and are bringing ships and sailors to their death, but why? The story briefly mentions the island being poor, but how is wrecking boats and stealing goods the only answer? Why did the main character think that something hidden by her mother would help her get her father out of jail? How is that the most practical solution in this scenario (spoiler- it isn't practical at all, and ultimately doesn't really help the situation.). And why is the main character so naive to trust a person she barely knows (Seth) multiple times over, when he has so clearly proven that he isn't to be trusted? The main character came off as foolish and less intelligent than everyone around her. Maybe the story will get better as the trilogy continues, but ultimately this was a weak start.

This book was incredibly fun! I have been in a bit of a reading slump and this got me out of it. I tend to be a bit picky when it comes to books about pirates and sea fairing adventures because I’ve been disappointed in the past, however I loved this book! The characters were well rounded and realistic. And the world itself was so magical! Not to mention the writing was beautiful. The plot itself was a bit predictable for me but it is YA so it wasn’t a surprise to me. That being said I still really enjoyed the book. There was never a dull moment in the story and each scene held an important detail. There was action all the way through that made it impossible to tear myself away! I can easily see this book becoming a huge hit! I will absolutely purchase this book when it comes out!

"When Brynn whistles through the village, the signal for a wreck, I come alive. And in the sea when I hit my rhythm, when she folds me into her wild embrace, I am at peace. More than anything I want to wake with the sea surrounding me. "

" You're right, I do want you, Mira. Give yourself to me forever and I'll save the whole damn world."

Compass and Blade is a story about a young adult named Mira who lives on an island of plunderers, her whole way of life is simply surviving. One day during what was supposed to be a routine of plundering a shipwreck the unthinkable happens. Her island falls under attack and her father, and their leader are taken prisoners. Mira comes up with a plan, follow the coordinates her mother left to bring back something to barter with to save the two men. Mira hires a crew to help navigate but as the journey progresses things fall apart. Left with virtually no one to trust she has to navigate fractured matters of the heart and the rest of the journey with unlikely allies.

You can really feel the connection the author has with the ocean; her lush and poetic style of writing had a hold on me the entire time. My favorite parts are the ones written about the ocean and the ones surrounding her parents.

This story has its share of morally grey characters, its share of betrayals, and fast-moving adventurous story line.

The events wrapping up the last leg of the book were clever and unpredictable, I was not ready for it to end .

Compass and Blade is perfect for those who loved books similar to  Fable

. I am adding it to my permanent summer reading list and can't wait to reread it again.

This is one of those books that had me sitting on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next. The one where you're kinda tempted to skip ahead for a little sneak peek just to make sure everything is going to be okay for the main characters. I loved the main character Mira who grew up on the islands and along with the other seven wrecks ships. In order to steal the cargo but at the same time go out of their way to save any surviving sailors, but they're not doing this for fun. They do it to survive and when her dad and the leader of the seven is captured. She embarks on a journey hoping to return with the answers to saving their life, and therefore is thrown into a world of unknown. I love how in so many ways Mira is prepared for this adventure, but in other ways she's not. Mira knows how to fight and has what it takes to survive, but lacks knowledge and experience on so many other things. For my enemies to lovers girlies this book definitely give of those vibes, but I promise by the end of the book. It'll be the last thing on your mind Compass and Blade is a story filled with magic, adventure, creatures of the deep, creatures up high, and so much more. This is not a story you want to miss.

Minor Spoilers

"Give yourself to me forever and I'll save the whole damn world"
This quote will live forever in my head rent free.

Mira has never been beyond the shores of her small island where she loots sinking ships with the other islanders so they can sustain their community, until one day a wrecking expedition doesn’t go quite as planned. When she gets to the ship, the group finds it empty and upon arriving back at shore, they find their friends and family members being detained by the Watch - the group that acts as police for the islands and has been trying desperately to catch them in the act. Mira sets out to save her father and the other captured islander, but first she has to track down what her mother left her by following the song of the sea.

I found this a little hard to get into. Maybe it’s because I couldn’t understand why Mira thought her moms secret inheritance would be helpful in freeing her father or why she thought she was so valuable to the watch or even why the concept of wrecking was so illegal. In any case, I didn’t find Mira super compelling. And oh my god SETH!!!! He really annoyed me. Like just pick a side dude. I thought Eli was great and he really redeemed the book for me as did the crew of the phantom. I do hope we get to see more of the magical creatures in book two as well.

Total Rating: 3.50 stars
Method: Kindle / electronic copy

“They say we are wreckers; that we take and plunder and kill. And maybe we are what they say. But we call it survival.”


This book very much gave me the same sort of vibes as Daughter of the Pirate King, which I promise is a good thing as that's the book series that pulled me out of an almost 2-year long reading slump. With mystery, intrigue, pirates, sea creatures, family, and found families.

Overall I really enjoyed the story itself. The side characters and overall vibes of the story. There truly needs to be more pirates in YA/NA/Adult fiction, as I feel the market is severely lacking in books centered around this vast world. The ocean even in real time is such an unexplored world, one that anyone can easily thrust a bit of imagination into and make a story out of. And I love that Rachel took the chance to thrust her hand into this world. And my biggest upvotes and stars go to the world that she managed to create because I found the world as a whole intriguing.

I think the characterization is where this story fell a bit short for me. Were they terrible? No. But their motivations and the reasonings behind doing things just seemed to never really be clear. There is romance in this book, but the entire time with the main ship I couldn't find myself to care about the romantic relationship because I never found a good reason to invest in it. And it ended up feeling more like instalove than something that was built on actual connection and feelings. Why did the romantic couple even like one another? They had a pull from the moment they laid eyes on one another, but it was never really explored or given a reason behind what that pull was; I'm hoping that's answered in the upcoming books. Because I wanted to ship them, I did - but unlike Mira, I couldn't ever find myself trusting her counterpart. I could never understand why she just blindly trusted or was so easy to forgive time and time again. I have more gripes about the relationship between the romantic leads, but I will refrain to stop myself from putting in spoilers.

I was more invested in the side characters and who they were and what made them tick than the main leads. I loved most of the secondary characters and the other people Mira met during her story, in most instances more than Mira herself. The side characters in this story are truly what made it something special and pushed me forward to continue reading because I wanted to find out more about them and their stories. I feel like each of them has so much more to them and their stories, and I honestly can't wait to see where the story takes them.

I did enjoy the book as a whole even with the few gaping holes that were in the story and build-up of the main romantic relationship. And I will continue to read the series as the books come out, just to see what happens and in the hope that most of the questions this book left me with will be answered in future installments.

Thank you to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I have been reading a lot of swords and sorcery books lately and Compass and Blade was as welcome a refresher as the cool breeze off the ocean on a warm day. The windswept Fortunate Isles were a unique and fully realized fantasy setting that felt as once like a village that might exist on some long distant island in our own world and like something out a of a world where magic and realism walk hand in hand. The protagonist was young but not foolish and believably driven by forces which she doesn't understand and that the reader gets to find out alongside her. The secondary characters are all nuanced and interesting and feel like people and not like set pieces just there to push the plot forward. The imagery was rich and imaginative and I never felt bogged down by description. If you're looking for something heavy in spice, this isn't the book for you but if you are interested in a coming of age story that's completely unlike anything out there right now then Compass and Blade is a must read.

This book (which will eventually become a series) was basically the sea version of Shatter Me. The dialogue was so cringey and downright painful at times and there were so many moments when I audibly GROANED at Mira's ridiculous gullibility. Also she had NEGATIVE chemistry with Seth. They were just two people. That's it. They mean nothing and feel nothing for each other.

And oh my GOD. The only good character was Elijah but I couldn't even remember his name because all I could think about was how he was just a copy-paste of Rhys from ACOTAR. I'm not getting into spoilers but the powers and the mannerism? Ugh. Plagiarism! And good LORD, Mira needs to make up her mind. She's talking about how Elijah is sooooo dangerous one second and literally FIVE PAGES LATER literally says "well maybe he not as dangerous as I thought." Girl, if you don't shut up right now...

Also, not to be a law-abiding law school student but what did Mira's people expect. 😭 They literally lure ships to wreck, steal the cargo from the wrecked ships, and sometimes accidentally KILL the people on the ships. OBVIOUSLY the authorities aren't going to like that, are you kidding me?! And don't give me that "it's their way of living" crap; if you hurt people, scare the living daylights out of them, and then have the audacity to steal all their stuff, I straight up do not respect your "way of life."

This was a fun, fast-paced read. I love anything to do with pirates and sirens, and this story has both. I liked Mira, the main character, but I didn't like Seth much as a love interest. I think that the romance was a bit rushed, as was the world-building. I would've liked more depth in the siren plotline, as well. The last fourth or so of the book was where things really ramped up, and I liked how Mira's character developed throughout the book. This wasn't my favorite, but with the way the first book ended, I'm interested in continuing the series.

Full sails ahead! Prepare yourself for an enthralling, high-seas, high-stakes adventure! Compass and Blade was exactly the kind of book I’ve been looking for. Fantasy mingles with high sea adventures. Mira would do anything to ensure the survival of the people of her island, Rosevear, and most importantly, her father. Going against everything she believes in, Mira strikes bargains with strangers in hopes that it will be enough to save her family. This story truly has magic woven into it. If you’re looking for fantasy, morally grey characters, pirates, and a complicated love, then look no further!
Mira Greenlaw’s poetic writing and fast-paced plot keeps the reader captivated by the story. Thank you to Inkyard Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read an ARC of Compass and Blade. I look forward to the next book in the series!

(This review features quotations from the story, so if you would wish to avoid those skip over the parentheses.)

Compass and Blade by Rachel Greenlaw is perfect for readers looking for a fast paced, addictive, sea adventure with lyrical writing. I really enjoyed the messages Rachel infused throughout her book. Like when she says, “It’s what we choose to do in this world that turns us into monsters.”, and how she represents the LGBTQ+ community in a way that normalized our relationships instead of making them a big deal. There’s no shock factor to it, it just is, which I found to be lovely as someone from the community. Another thing I enjoyed was the enemies to lovers romance featured in the book. I thought some of her most whimsical writing came from the romance parts of the story. For example, “We are a slow crashing wave falling forever, never quite reaching the shore.” I think there’s many things that can be taken away from reading this gripping sea exploration novel. Specifically themes around found family, kinship, trust, betrayals, love, and preservation. As her strong female main character states, “They say we aren’t human. That we thirst and plunder and kill. And yes, it’s true what they say. But I call it survival.” I highly recommend this book if you enjoyed To kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo and any of Adrienne Young’s work.

Thank you, Net Galley, and the publishers, for granting me access to an arc of this wonderful book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for accepting my request for an ACR of this book!
5/5
“They say we are wreckers; that we take and plunder and kill. And maybe we are what they say. But we call it survival.”
A highly original and beguiling YA fantasy debut, Compass and Blade is a coming-of-age romantic fantasy, filled with shipwrecks, magic and betrayal Mira is one of the seven, chosen to swim out to the wrecked ships beyond the Isle of Rosevear to plunder whatever the sea will give them.
Mermaids? Witches? Pirates? Sign me up!!
One thing I loved about the plot of this book was that it really showed the relationship between the main character, Mira and her father. There aren't a lot of books out there like that. Another part of the book I enjoyed was the fact that the romance was obviously not the main focus. I loved the sea atmosphere, as well as the crew aboard the ship. Mira’s observations of the group really added another layer to the story.
A perfect book for fans of The Daughter of the Pirate King!

This book fit so well with my newfound sea story obsession!

On the remote isle of Rosevear, Mira, like her mother before her, is a wrecker, one of the seven on the rope who swim out to shipwrecks to plunder them. Mira’s job is to rescue survivors, if there are any. After all, she never feels the cold of the frigid ocean waters and the waves seem to sing to her soul. But the people of Rosevear never admit the truth: that they set the beacons themselves to lure ships into the rocks.

When the Council watch lays a trap to put an end to the wrecking, they arrest Mira’s father. Desperate to save him from the noose, Mira strikes a deal with an enigmatic wreck survivor guarding layers of secrets behind his captivating eyes, and sets off to find something her mother has left her, a family secret buried deep in the sea.

This was a super fun, quick read. The story flowed really well and I loved the FMC, Mira. And don’t even get me started on Seth, I adored him! I loved Rachel Greenlaw’s writing and how it kept me hooked even when the storyline slowed. I am predicting it now, this book is going to be a big hit! Thank you so much to @inkyardpress and NetGalley for my ARC, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

what a magical and mythological story!

if you liked fable i definitely think you’d enjoy this book. full of compelling character arcs, found family, and a swoony romance it’s perfect for any fantasy lover. i was certainly enthralled with the writing and this was a perfect debut into romantasy!

"Compass and Blade" takes readers on a captivating expedition through the depths of ocean and mystery. In a world where secrets lurk beneath the surface and bargains must be made - a girl, who has survived by excavating the treasures from wrecked ships, ventures on a quest to save her father and discover who she is.

If you crave a mesmerizing adventure filled with layers of secrets and romance, this book is for you. I can’t reveal any more hints of the plot without giving too much away. You can expect islands, pirates and magic!

Thank you Rachel Greenlaw for this compelling story. Thank you Inkyard Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

With it's gorgeous writing style and addictive pacing, Compass and Blade is a story I will recommend again and again!

On the harsh Island of Rosevear, Choosing between morality or survival is a way of life. When a trap is laid by the powers at be and the Island is punished for it's morally grey ways, Mira sets out on a journey to uncover her mysterious past and save the only family she has ever known.

I think the quality of writing in Compass and Blade is noteworthy. Greenlaw finds that sweet spot of painting an evocative and vibrant world without being verbose. It's the type of writing where three cleverly strung together words tell their own story and I simply could not get enough of it! The story itself has some familiar aspects that I predict will either feel nostalgic or overdone for reader. I did feel that as a whole it was unique enough to forgive some of the more dated tropes. All that being said the execution of the ending was what bumped this story up a whole star for me. It offered a genuine and thoughtful ending that didn't rely on an insane cliffhanger. The intense need to get my hands on the next installment is based solely on me knowing what is to come and that somehow felt refreshing!

I'm a sucker for any fantasy that has sirens. This was magical and immersive and had excellent world building. The romance was swoony and hot and the storyline was executed well.