I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I did enjoy Compass and Blade. I loved the premise and action. It is full of action and adventure, revenge, pirates, and a touch of romance. The end leaves it open for more books. I will purchase this for our high school library.

Compass and Blade-Book #1 of a trilogy

by Rachel Greenlaw-debut

Rating: 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publication 2/27/24 Read 2/29/24

Format: eBook, 299 pgs. kindle

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/Inkyard Press for this ARC💙 ! I voluntarily give an honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

✔️ YA
✔️ Sci Fi/Fantasy
✔️ Paranormal/Sea Creatures
✔️ Family secrets
✔️ Magic
✔️ Pirates

Plot/Summary: In the remote isle of Rosevear, Mira is a wrecker just like her mother. She swims out to shipwrecks, looks for survivors and treasures aboard the ships. The sea calls to her, but the isle betrays outsiders by using their beacons to lure the ships to the rocks. When Mira's father and another wrecker are taken by the Council Watch for attempting to end the practice, Mira must find a way to rescue them. She meets a lowly survivor Seth, and together they make a deal with the Watch. They have nine days to find her family's secrets buried in the sea to free her father.

My Thoughts: It was some great world building in this Romantasy. Sea creatures/Sirens are rarely so well written. Mira was a strong heroine though a little naive. As soon as Seth was rescued, red flags should have went up to Mira that he was different. Kai, part of the wrecking crew, wanted to leave him. When Mira looks into his eyes she sees danger, and then he disappears. I know she's only 18, but she should have learned to be wary because of her parents. Her mother died with secrets and her father worried about her being "different."

Overall, Compass and Blade was a compelling young adult fantasy novel that exposed the sea's world of mystery and magic. Mira discovered family secrets and embraced a coming-of-age journey built around her mother.

Imagine you have a super important task to complete (save your father) and your timeline is only 9 day. So you do a bunch of random side quests that provide very little to your knowledge and growth, let alone the saving of your father. You spend a lot of time lusting after hot boys even after one betrays you multiple times…you never learn. Just for you to basically fail completely at the task at hand.

I really wanted to like this but there were so many cliches, plot twists that I found predictable, lack of character growth… I just wanted a lot more. I love the idea of the world where the people survive by shipwrecking. Love the idea of pirates, sirens, magic, found family, etc. But it really didn’t deliver for me. I’d struggle to read a second book if there is one. And girl. Leave. Seth. Alone.

I love a good historical fantasy, especially one with strong female protagonists to drive the story forward! Compass and Blade really delivered and I'm grateful to have gotten an Advanced Copy.

While this historical fantasy wasn't for me, I would still recommend it for fans of books with strong female characters and lots of action, romance and adventure. Good on audio, I just struggled to get into this story. Perhaps it will be one I try again at a later date but for now it was a DNF for me. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Book Name: Compass and Blade
Author: Rachel Greenlaw

ARC
Thank you to Netgalley and **Harlequin Trade Publishing, Inkyard Press** for an ARC of Rachel Greenlaw’s Compass and Blade

Stars: 5
Spice: 1.5 (Illusions but not fully fade to black)

Series
Cliffhanger
Fast Paced
FMC POV
High Fantasy
Similar to Fabel with some strong ACOTAR vibes and tropes

- Thoughts.
- One Bed
- Instant Love
- FAST paced
- Wreakers and Magic and Sirens and …..
- World Building 10/10
- Older YA
- Shadow Daddy
- Adventure Heavy

Negatives are this … there are a few plots and tropes that feel REALLY copied and pasted from ACOTAR...But I love ACOTAR and love those tropes overused as they can be… So yes shadow daddy and …other things….. feel a bit copy-ish at best but SO good and as this is much more YA-friendly than ACOTAR (looking at you chapter 55) I’m not mad at it. The love in this is instant love and instant lust but again I ain't mad at a teenage girl who never leaves her island feeling a bit hot and heavy over every hot male… fits. Overall I freaking ate this up! 100/100 and the only thing I am mad at is there isn’t a book 2 ready to go….like now

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for this ARC!

Overall, a sweet tale. Mira was a fierce and devoted character, and I loved the setting, the islands, the magic, the pirates and smugglers. But I felt like the real action didn't kick off until about halfway through. I struggled with some themes and storylines being hammered out a bit too much, to the point that it became redundant, and some of the dialogue was a bit awkward. I do feel think it sets up well for a sequel, and I would be interested in checking that out!

Mira’s island community survives on the loot they plunder from shipwrecks. However, it is her island’s fault for the shipwrecks and they are the ones who lure the ships onto the rocks. Growing tensions with a Council who want to prevent more tragedy, Mira finds her father arrested for being an accessory to the crime and she has to do anything in her power to save her last living family member.


Her father has kept her mother’s possessions locked away in a chest as well. Mira hopes the contents will shed some light on who she is and why she is different from the others. She will also have to work with a survivor of one of the wrecks where a bit of romance is not too far from the horizon.


As a YA novel, I gave it some grace with the tropes and the predictability. Nevertheless, I was entertained throughout and found it to be a quick read. I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. I give it about 4 stars for keeping me engaged and providing me an entertaining story. I will also be creating a YouTube Book review of this book which I will share on my channel: Coffee, Books, and Rain

✨Compass and Blade✨

Thank you to NetGalley @netgalley , Inkyard Press @inkyardpress and the author for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I wholeheartedly enjoyed this book! It was a super unique premise and the action kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the whole book!

Mira comes from a small island village and she wrecks shipwrecks and seizes the booty. One fateful day her father is kidnapped and held prisoner by the Watch and a journey begins to free him and discover more about her heritage .

This book had everything from shipwrecks to sirens to even a hot steamy shadow daddy!

The FMC Mira had a bit of insta love with both the main male characters but it wasn’t too much that it bothered me!

This is the first book in a series and I’m excited to see where the story goes!

A wonderfully written story of a young woman, Mira, learning about herself, unlocking family secrets, learning who to trust in a pirate world all the while trying to save her dad and friend!

The character development of Mira has the reader feeling the tug and pull of who to trust to make the right decision to save her father and friend, while holding the one possession that everyone wants! She's being hunted and she's being tricked!

The world building of this story was very well crafted and descriptive. It's just one of those books so we'll done, you envision how it would be on the big screen!

Now, I need the sequel to Compass and Blade.

It’s very rare that I read a book for review and become genuinely angry at the experience; most of the time I’m able to find something positive, even if the book isn’t one I particularly liked. Compass and Blade is one of those rare cases, because there was nothing redeemable about it. The entire thing was loaded down with cliches and too many obvious plot twists, the world building was weak, the pacing was much too fast, and Mira’s gullibility was comically ridiculous. Her uncontrollable lust for the hot boys she meets is the source of a lot of her problems and by the time the story’s over, she’s learned nothing. I’m not sure if this is the first in a series, but if so, I don’t wish to read further installments.

I think my review can pretty much be summed up with "When can I get my hands on the sequel??"

Mira is a wrecker who finds warmth in the frigid waters while swimming out to plunder shipwrecks for the sake of surviving on the remote isle of Rosevear--ships the islanders lure in to the rocks. Part of her job as a wrecker is to rescue survivors which allows her to strike a deal with one after a trap is set by the ruling Council watch and her father is captured and sentenced to death. Mira sets out on a ship with the survivor with only nine days to find what she needs to save her father from the noose.
*****
The beginning was quiet with elements of the world building grabbing hold and sucking me in as I waited for those threads to be pulled forward. And were they ever! The magic system is enticing and powerful and I can't wait to see where Mira goes with it. I feel like we were only given a small taste of what's to come and I am ready for it!
As for the romantic element of the story, I can't say much without spoiling anything, but I will say I am 100% happy it traveled the path it did.

But seriously, can I please have the sequel now?

Compass and Blade by Rachel Greenlaw

Life on their island is one of survival, Mira has always lived with one foot on land and one in the sea. Her family and friends survive by scavenging ship wrecks until the Watch captures 2 of her loved ones and she finally has to leave her island to discover more about her mysterious mother in time to save them.

I loved this story. It was fun and entertaining. It was definitely YA and I would have loved a bit more atmosphere and depth to some of the characters. But honestly it was still incredibly engaging and hard to put down and I appreciate a short book! The magical elements were unexpected and so intriguing. I loved Mira and the other characters. Her journey felt authentic to being young and on her own for the first time. I loved the twists and turns and adventure. I’m assuming/hoping there is a second book - I can’t wait to find out more about Elijah.

For anyone who loved Fable or is looking for a magical adventure at sea.

Thank you to @inkyardpress for my copy! This book is out tomorrow!

I am fully in my pirate era and this book did not disappoint. The world building was very simple and easy to follow. I did want to see more of the magic and creatures so I’m hoping we get more in the next book. The pacing was perfect and I was drawn in from the very beginning.

I loved Mira! She was strong and fiercely loyal to her family. She did make some dumb decisions near the end of the book but I’m hoping she finally learns from her mistakes in the next book. Also I’m here for her turning morally grey!

The romance plot was fantastic and I loved the direction it took. I didn’t see it coming and really enjoyed it.

The ending was so intense and there was a moment that definitely made me tear up. I’m dying for the sequel!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a copy to review!

This book ended up being so much more than I bargained for! Mira is desperate to save her father and her people after a shop wreck goes wrong. With her father's capture and secrets still hidden, she takes her fate into her own hands.

Can she trust the boy with the beautiful eyes, whose life she's saved? She isn't sure, but she desperately wants to. And then there's the mysterious boy from the docks.....the man in charge of the cargo on the ship...and the rear of the crew on the Phantom.

No one is who they first seem, and everything comes down to a secret that her parents have kept from her for her whole life. As she discovers the secrets of her mother, she discovers more about herself. She learns who she can and cannot trust, and through immense pain and betrayal she sets a course forward...with a compass and a blade.

Thank you to Netgalley and Inkyard Press for the ARC copy of this book.

DNF at 22%

I was so excited to read this. Even as I started reading, there was a really beautiful setup of language and vividness to the descriptions of the island, the ocean, and the ships we see.

What kills this book is the flatness of the MC and those around her, as well as the slowness of the beginning in progressing to the main storyline. Mira often is given a decision that has a most convenient answer to move forward the plot line. She doesn't experience enough internal conflict to justify her decisions beyond typical YA tropes and storyline cliches. I would have loved to see more emotional difficulty in saving her father, her relationship with storms and the ocean in light of her mother's death, or a struggle to trust Seth, rather than a rapidly growing instalove story.

At the point that I stopped reading the story, she barely started her journey off of the island. Nearly a quarter of the book is spent setting up this journey with a stranger that we also do not know. I know that there were several things to set up in order to get to the point of this journey, but I felt some of the scenes needed to hit the chopping block to compress this story and make it more impactful. Perhaps, if this had been done, the story would have been more enjoyable.

Thank you NetGalley for an earc of this book in exchange for my honest review

3.5 stars

I really enjoyed this book, the concept was different and the book was super fast paced. Yes there was many common tropes in this book but I honestly didn't mind. The main character Mira was really likeable as well.

The one thing I didn't likes was that Mira kept going back to Seth. LIKE GIRL CMON. It was so obvious that he wasn't going to change and because you could see that easily the "romance" part of the book kinda took me out.

Otherwise I would recommend this book. I wish it was longer and I hope that there is more books in this world in the future

This book had a really interesting premise, and I love the cover. That's what initially drew me to the book. However, I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped. I struggled with the uneven pacing and writing style, and I didn't love the main character or the romance. I actually debated DNFing, but the story picked up about halfway through, and I ended up finishing it.

A pirate from a family of pirates, Mira goes on a swashbuckling and action-packed adventure to rescue her father, and I liked that aspect of the story. The world is intriguing, too, as is Mira's connection to the sea. Initially, I liked Mira as a protagonist, but she kept making horrible choices and the same mistakes, which got really frustrating. Some of the things she does are so illogical, and I didn't really understand her thought process.

The story also makes use of a lot of tropes, and though I like some of them, the love triangle and insta-love vibes did not work for me. It felt kind of forced, and I didn't feel the chemistry. Overall, I think this book could appeal to readers who enjoy YA romantasy, but it just wasn't for me. Thanks to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

I really enjoyed this story! It has good characters, a nice pace and the writing is great! Hopefully there will be more to come for these characters!

I feel like this should have been two books.

There was a lot of information thrown at you and it was hard to get a sense of the world and magic system. The beginning started well, Mira's life and her abilities made sense in a way I assumed we would uncover bits as we went along. However, things took a turn and we ended up on an adventure that I don't quite understand.

I failed to see how the coordinates found in her mother's chest related to her father's imprisonment and didn't understand why they needed to make several stops before heading to the prison. I also didn't fully understand 'The Watch', were they stationed on the island full of wreckers?

While the writing style was good and it certainly kept me going when the plot went off the rails, I needed a more flushed-out magic system for sure. I don't even want to comment on the romance...I still don't totally get what happened there. It was also marketed as having a love triangle which I think was a bit of a stretch.

2.75, rounded up to a 3. Thank you for this ARC.