Voyage of the Damned by Frances White
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Ganymedes has to fulfill his family obligation and join the kingdoms other heirs on a cruise to a sacred mountain. He has a big secret though. And when people start dying he is thrust into a role he does not want- playing detective.
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I did the audio for this one and that was really the way to go because I’m not sure I would have gotten Ganymedes name right otherwise. So I got all the pronunciation down, thanks audiobook.

I have to say the narrator for this book was AMAZING. All the voices for the different characters made it sooooo easy to keep track of, and really helped nail down their various personalities. And there were loads of personalities on the murder cruise, let me tell you.

The world was a fantasy world and the building was done in such a fun round about way that it didn’t feel like info dumps. I loved this world and would love more set there.

The mystery was veeerrrrrry intriguing and I was held rapt to hearing every second of it.
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4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The book was not for me at all. I wanted to like but it fell flat to me. I don’t think I am really the target audience for this book

Fantasy meets murder mystery meets sweet romance.

The Empire of Concordia is comprised of 12 provinces and one person from each is “blessed” with a magical ability. 12 Blessed heirs are on a voyage to the seat of magical power, the Sacred Mountain, but death strikes and all Blessed on board are suspects. An unlikely hero from the lowest ranking province, Ganymedes, a queer, flamboyant, chubby boy who uses humor and sarcasm to deflect, takes on the role of reluctant detective to find the murderer before more Blessed are targeted while battling his own inner demons.

Despite this book taking me forever to get through (something about the writing would put me straight to sleep each night) the last 30% of the book made this a great page turner. Not overly complex world-building, a fun cast of characters and a hero who uses humor to deflect, I gave it a solid 3.5 but rounded up for the snarky comments. The sweet romance gave this book more depth than I was anticipating. Honest, pure and unbreaking, the love story was a delight!

I love this cover and enjoyed Voyage of the Damned as well. This was such an enjoyable book to read and I recommend it!

This genre mash up was excellent. We have a greater fantasy world that is explained, but we don’t see a lot because all the characters are on a boat and people are getting murdered! So this is really a murder mystery that takes place in a fantasy world. And oh yeah, there’s a romance subplot too. Each character is a representative of their region, chosen because they have been blessed with fantastical gifts. Some of them are keeping what those gifts are a secret and all of them have other secrets. They just have to make it to their destination.

I liked the fantasy aspect of this the most. The world is cool, the gifts are cool, the lore is good. I liked the murder mystery; there were great twists. I had a real love hate relationship with the romance aspect of this. But overall I enjoyed it and wanted more of this world!

Not for me but also not very good. Clunky, lacks execution and the characters are flat. I was interested in the summary but there was just nothing holding it all together. It also read like YA but it’s to my knowledge meant to be adult?

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

FANTASY MURDER MYSTERYYYYYYYYY is my new favorite genre and while it may not be for everyone, this book got me reading at 2AM

I was initially intrigued by the premise of this book, but I loved it even more than I thought I would! Dee was just such a fun and relatable character. There were so many times where I literally laughed out loud from his internal monologue and all of the other characters were great.

I loved the way the mystery slowly unravelled through the course of the book. There were so many twists and turns that I genuinely didn’t see coming and just seeing each layer of this mystery peel back was so fun and satisfying to experience. I also loved the casual representation in this book and how different sexualities and ethnicities were included so easily and it just wasn’t a big deal. It seems like it was just very easily part of this world and I really love that.

Overall this one gave me something I thought I was missing, I felt like I was in one giant book escape room and I loved it. If that's the vibe I think this will do GREAT. I loved the main character and how many little nuances this had as well. I think this takes a lot of focus to get through but in such a fun way!

Murder mystery but make it fantasy and make it take place on a magical ship. Heck yes! The protagonist, Ganymedes/Dee is an unlikely hero who struggles with mental health but cares for others deeply.

I received this as an ARC (thank you netgalley and the publisher) but don't worry, I'm late so you can read it already! This is one of those books I wish I hadn't put off for so long because the vibes were vibing. The writing wasn't always perfect and I think some of the characters might annoy some people but I think the plot makes up for it. If you can't decide if you wanna read a thriller or a fantasy book, look no further! I think you'll enjoy the ride.

editing to add that I think this could be advertised as YA with a few sentence changes, maybe even as is, and would be received better.

I wanted to love this book and thought the concept was fun and interesting but it fell flat in execution. The information could be overwhelming at times and it read as a YA book even though it’s listed as adult. I love a good mystery but unfortunately this one just missed the mark

While the premise was nice, the writing was... not what I expected. I wanted more from the characters because I felt that what was on the front cover and the front flap was not what we were given.

I’m sorry I didn’t get to it sooner, because this book is a delight! Smack dab in between Gideon the Ninth and A Restless Truth as far as snarky gay fantasy locked room murder mysteries go, with a very relatable protagonist and some twists that genuinely surprised me.

This is a personal opinion,. and there are readers I would recommend this book to, but I don't think this book is especially well-written. It reads like someone whose best understanding of power and social dynamics is high school attempting to write imperial court social relationships. It's fast-paced and reads like YA except for the swearing and drinking, so there are plenty of readers who will enjoy it, but it's certainly not for me. Also, I just didn't love a fat main character whose main hobby seems to be eating. It felt mean-spirited. There are many readers who love this book, but it wasn't going to be me.

Super unique and not at all what I expected. At times, there was way too much information and really was way too much. But I also sorta ended up liking it. Not fantastic literature but it was fine.

The many magical heirs to the provinces are stuck on a 12-day voyage when the kingdom’s princess is murdered. An unlikely hero, the heir at the bottom of the magical social ladder, tries to find out who in the group is a murderer in this campy fantasy. Readers will be surprised at this romp that mixes dad jokes with tender relationship building, descriptive characters with strong world building, and a wholesome message about self-confidence.

After reading the description, I thought this book was right up my alley, and I went in with high expectations, but I had to force myself to finish this one. My biggest issue with this book is that it was advertised as adult, but read like YA. I think some humor in fantasy is great and can work, but the humor in this was, frankly, cringy. There were so many inconsistencies, I'm not even sure what the setting was supposed to be, it was just all over the place. I always want a book with representation to work, but this was just not it for me.

I didn't know what to expect going into this. I didn't like it as much as I hoped. I didn't like the characters much and the plot didn't make sense to me

12 heirs, one ship... how many will die?

This murder mystery comedy was so much fun. Ganymedes Piscero, of the fish province, is a liar. Unlike the other heirs, he has no magical blessing from the Goddess, marking him as the one to lead his province. His father's generous bedroom habits have led to a slew of children born outside the marriage, a big no-no, and rather than fight tradition and track down the true blessed, Ganymedes father decided they should lie and now they must live with that lie.
But his secret is less worrying that the death of the dragon heir, and the subsequent death of other blessed. Aided by young Grasshopper, blessed heir to the grasshopper province, and the blessed Bear heir, the trio are sleuthing together to attempt to prevent more death before it's too late.

While there were certainly some issues... the world building was a little lacking.. a magical ship with an engine room.. and dragon emperor slowly going mad under the strain of their power... none of those were really the point.... the fun murder mystery was and it was certainly an enjoyable ride!

Voyage of the Damned is a fast-paced historical thriller that blends suspense with deep emotional stakes. White's vivid storytelling makes this an unforgettable journey of survival.