I'm a sucker for queer monsters and this book did not disappoint in that arena. The pacing of the unraveling mystery and the unique stories of all the characters kept me hooked until the very end -- I was frustrated that Lily was essentially cursed in perpetuity to a lopsided relationship and now lacks anyone to tell her she deserves better, but my frustration just demonstrates how attached I was to the characters.

Merciless Waters is a maritime horror novella with a hint of mystery. The prose is beautifully written and there’s a lot to unpack when you have sapphic representation, pirates, hints of mythology, and otherworldly women bent on revenge against men.

While the book keeps you engaged and eager to turn the pages, there are moments where I was interested in finding out more about the magic system of this world.

For example, are they sirens? Who made them that way? Why the forgetting?

Why, if all men are the source of their ire, was one welcome on this ship? Why did his touch make a difference?

Was it him at all, but Ambrose as a Garden of Eden metaphor? The women were all content until this snake started whispering in their ears.

What exactly are Jaq’s powers? It seems she can hear entities and animals but also controls the ship in the bottle?

Overall, it’s a creepy and fun read. Ultimately, I felt pretty sorry for Jaq. She’s had an unforgiving life and afterlife. It’s no wonder she keeps describing Lily as monstrous.

Thank you to netgalley for an advanced copy!

Although I didn’t know what the heck was going on in the beginning, I grew to appreciate this story in the short time I had with it.

The writing was so beautiful at times and I greatly appreciated that. I definitely underlined a bunch of favorite quote. The pacing was really well done too. We get thrown into the story immediately and I couldn’t put it down. I wanted to know everything about the mysteries on the ship. I wish it went a bit more in depth at times with the lore but overall i’m not too mad about that. We were given just enough that it didn’t feel like it was missing anything.

The characters are hard to decipher at first but with context it made a lot of sense. Once you start to learn about their pasts you start to understand them more.

I still don’t really know how I feel about the ending but I definitely enjoyed this book. The ending made sense even if I still wanted more.

I would say if you liked Our Wives Under the Sea, you would like this book too. It has similar sapphic angst with the splash of ocean mystery thrown in. Sea horror might be a new genre I pick up more of. It definitely had me solidifying my fear of the sea even more.

The plot seemed quite intriguing and dark, but I must admit it went a way I did not particularly like. I love the idea of « feminine rage » and I would read about it every day, but this novella felt like it wasn’t vengeful enough for me. The ending especially felt a bit flat. But learning about the characters’ backstories was rather interesting, and the writing was pleasant. The characters themselves and their relationships were not very developed (but it makes sense with the novella format), and one relationship was purely sexual and I am personally not a fan of this sort of relationship.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

I’m going to have to edit this when I’m more coherent but what an absolutely wild ride. It’s so dark and messy and absolutely different from what I usually read. It was also so beautiful and painful despite it’s darkness and the infuriatingness of Jaq’s devotion to Lily. The absolutely beauty of the sister-ship of our crew was magnificent. It’s quite the read.

I couldn’t stop reading. I devoured it in one sitting.

The prose in this book is as stunning as the cover. And that’s unfortunately where my praise ends.

I can see why people would love this book, but I felt zero investment in any of what was happening and actually found what little plot there seemed to be kinda hard to follow. Fully willing to admit this is probably just a me problem, but it wasn’t an enjoyable read for me nonetheless.

I had such high expectations for this novella, but unfortunately the writing and I just didn't click. I still appreciated the concepts, themes, and the brusque central character, but it wasn't quite 5-stars for me.

This spooky, Sapphic pirate story grabbed me from the first page. I was quickly drawn in by Jaq's obsession with her lover Lily which felt very fresh and frankly pretty uncomfortable-- I was captured by this interesting relationship and felt a lot of investment in it despite Lily being (I believe, intentionally) pretty selfish and unlikable. Jaq's continued efforts to rid the ship of Lily's new toy and win back her affection were equal parts amusing, sad, and understandable.

I genuinely felt like I was reading something unique throughout this novella. Knowles does a stellar job of building atmosphere and ambiance, and there were some truly stunning scenes. I enjoyed peeling back the veil on the crew's backstories and learning more about the world. But most of all, I loved the feminine rage woven into the myth of Rusalka.

I wish that there had been more diversity between the POVs, especially the sea krait, and I did feel like the narrative started to fumble a bit once they went ashore. But overall, I think this is definitely worth a read, especially at just around 200 pages. And just look at that cover. Stunning.

3⭐

TW
Ritualistic animal harm, sexual content, murder, violence, homophobia, violence against women

First of all, thank you NetGalley for the ARC.
"Merciless Waters" is a sapphic horror novella that follows a crew of women and it is filled with female rage and jealousy.

I liked the concept and setting and how the author portrayed female rage.
However, I didn't really connect with the characters much. That is probably due to the short length of the story.

This is a book that is melancholic, like a song carried by salty sea breeze and heavy wind. It holds semblance to TO THE LIGHTHOUSE in its breathless, longing, and yearning prose that often read like sighs—poetic, vivid, and rhythmic. For those looking for a story that explores memory, trauma, and recollection that is tender, sore, and like skin rubbed raw, this elegant and seductive tale is one to pick up.

Hey enjoyable romp….. gay pirates on the high seas with ample dash of science-fiction thrown in… Good fun. Thanks to #netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy

This book was tough to get into in the beginning, as the readers intentionally don’t really understand what’s going on. Though this was remedied once the plot kicked up, it was still difficult to get to know the characters and understand their motivation, especially the side characters. But overall it was a good horror read — the sapphic rep was great, as was the gory exploration of female rage.

Jaq and her girlfriend, Lily live on the ship Scylla, with an all female crew, lead by their captain, Lucinda.

They have no knowledge of their past, until a man is pulled aboard from the sea. The crew mysteriously gain back their memories and nothing will ever be the same again.

This is beautifully written story, with a great range of characters.

I wish it had been longer as I wanted to spend some more time with the characters and learn more of their back stories.

Looking forward to reading more of Knowles' work.

Can I just say...I devoured this novella. It was like waking up on a pirate ship, unaware of how you got there or if you will ever leave. Sapphic pirates with an incredibly eerie atmosphere and undying thirst for vengeance against violent men...YES

I enjoyed this book, although I was confused quite often. I think this may have been a point of the book though, to make your own conclusions from unfledged scenarios.

This is a horror novella that tells the story of feminine rage. A group of all-women pirates (or were they sirens?) are stuck in a “forever current”. The story follows two of the dozen or so women on this ship, both of which knew and loved each other from their past like. Lily lusts after a man they saved from overboard and completely drops Jaq. I didn’t love the way this was written, was it a play on lesbian/bisexual relations?

Anyways, we follow Jaq and her ploys to get the man killed (I honestly forget his name), and through it all the women slowly have their memories returned and remember the ways in which they died. We only saw bits and pieces of the rest of the women crew, and I personally would have loved to see their stories a bit more. I really didn’t like Lily as a person, she was not nice to Jaq at all. The horror aspects were genuinely confusing to read, but again this may have been the intention? This is not a HEA but I am glad for the way it ended. I think it was a good analogy for revenge, acceptance, and peace.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and the author for an eARC of this novella!

Thank you to Netgalley and Brigids Gate Press for the review copy!

Overall, I liked that the story was rather short which I think fits the fact that it is inspired by Slavic folklore, Rusalka, which I realized while reading. I was immediately sucked into the world which delivered on being a sapphic horror/dark fantasy. The idea of an all-women pirate crew that kills and eats men is very interesting and fit well with the aforementioned genre.

However, I felt that there were a bunch of women introduced, but we never really got to learn more about them and only got background about a select few. I was honestly more interested in the other women at times rather than our main characters Jaq and Lily. I personally wasn't a big fan of their relationship as it felt more physical and toxic at best with Lily stringing Jaq along. Perhaps that was the intention.

I did enjoy the ending even though it felt a little rushed since it did not go as I was expecting. I was a little disappoint that Jaq and Lily did not necessarily get their revenge that it had implied they were seeking. I recommend if you want to read a short story filled with feminine rage, but please read the warnings beforehand.

A story inspired by the Slavic myth of Rusalka, the undead water dwelling entities, but in this one it centers around a all female pirate crew who have no memories of their past and a twisted love story steeped in vengeance. The Scylla is a ship filled with an all female pirate crew. Jaq and her fickle lover Lily exist in an endless present, but when a man comes aboard the ship, everything goes wrong as Lily takes a fixation on him and he snatches her from Jaq's arms. The more the memories of the crew begin to come back the more revenge seems to call to them. This one was a mixed bag for me, I was expecting a cool horror sapphic pirates romance and what I got was an all over the place kind of boring toxic relationship. Jaq is obsessed with Lily, Lily doesn't really care much for her. Their relationship doesn't really make sense or have any solid grounding in it. The ending was meh at best. The writing style was interesting but the actual plot felt lackluster to me. Unfortunately this one did not live to up to the expectations I had.

*Thanks Netgalley and Brigids Gate Press. LLC for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

✨BOOK REVIEW✨
Title: Merciless Waters
Author: Rae Knowles
Rating: 5 🌟

Bathed in Slavic folklore, this book is both beautiful and tragic wrapped up in one.

I was hooked within the first chapter, and I had to know what was going on and where it was all going to lead.

Given what this folklore is based upon, I know it’s par for the course saying this, BUT, I love that these women were out for vengeance. The deserved it 👏🏻👏🏻

The writing was absolutely beautiful. I felt the anger and rage right alongside these women (especially our MC Jaq).

The book was well-done, and I think it was completely flawless. I have absolutely zero complaints with this book whatsoever.

It left me feeling both satisfied and complete.

It was a fast read for me. I couldn’t put it down, and didn’t WANT to put it down. I’d have read it in a single day if I was able to abandon my adult duties.

Took me until 30% to start getting into this. Almost dnf'd but now im really starting to enjoy it. In the end, i did really enjoy it. Loved that ending.

3.5 stars

I support women's rights, but I also support their wrongs.

The was beautifully written. It's a sapphic horror/fantasy novella about an all female pirate crew with very little memory of their past lives.

I do think this book could've benefited from being a tiny bit longer. The ending was a bit rushed and it felt unsatisfying because of it. But overall I really enjoyed this and I look forward to reading more from Rae Knowles.