*Received as a free ARC*
So even after reading, I don't know how I feel about the murder mystery bit. It just got SO gruesome. However, the plot and magic system were unique and intriguing. Issues of race and class were woven into the plot, which was queer normative. Honestly, with all the -isms going on homophobia probably would have tipped it over into uncomfortable to read, given the current political climate. All in all, I solidly enjoyed this book. Not sure I'd read a sequel, but I'd certainly read this author again.

Thank you so much to author Frances White, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and NetGalley for this free eARC that I received in exchange for an honest review.

Voyage of the Damned is an absolutely unhinged take on the classic murder-mystery-on-a-moving-boat/train trope. It follows our detective Ganymedes Piscero (aka Piss Fish aka Dee) as he essentially attends a bloody boat ride with people who more or less hate him (not as much as he hates himself) for a whopping 12 days. However, whatever original plans he had for this 12 day cruise ends up utterly out the window once the bodies of his peers begin to pile up.

Another reviewer described this book as a "gay magical murder cruise" (-Julie L, Book Trade Professional) and that is exactly the way that I will be describing this story when recommending it to others. There is simply no easier way to put it. I quite enjoyed this book, as our hero was unlike any I have read of before. Rather than being driven by self righteousness or for the good in the world, Dee here is primarily motivated to uncover the killer after the slaying of the man he yearns for, Ravi. Despite Dee's being quite self loathing, he puts on a silly goofy act for others so not as to reveal his real self to his friends and enemies. When he speaks, it is without a filter which can lead to all kinds of craziness throughout the story.

While I loved the characterization of the main character, I will note that there are some weaknesses in regards to the characterization of the many many additional characters throughout the book. To begin, there were simply so many characters that it did become a little confusing at first to remember who was who of what province and so on. In addition, the characters from other provinces were given the bare-minimum personality wise. I do wish that more time might have been spent getting to know these characters and giving them more time to shine.

Overall, this was a fun read, and I look forward to reading what Frances White puts out in the future.

I am so very excited for this book to be released. The cover is very beautiful and the story is intriguing.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and net galley for allowing me to have this advanced electronic readers copy of Voyage of the Damned

This has been described as a fantasy version of Agatha Christie and, as one reviewer on Goodreads memorably put it, "Wow, what if Fruits Basket were gay and took place on a boat and there was SO MUCH MURDER?" Obviously I had to read it.

It’s quite a page turner (finished it a day), and I see why people are so enthusiastic. I love the cheeky, food-motivated protagonist Ganymedes Piscero. His internal monologue and his interactions with the rest of the passengers are delightful.

The world-building and the plot are too light for my tastes though. I am very good at suspension of disbelief but struggled here. I think a good mystery works because the reader can in theory understand the mechanics of what could have happened and hazard an educated guess based on context clues, and I don’t think that’s really possible here– the rules around Blessings and heirs and the world itself simply aren’t well substantiated. The official marketing describing the book as a fantasy version of Agatha Christie is quite a spoiler if you have any familiarity with Murder on the Orient Express.

Amazing potential but I found the actual execution lacking.

There were some elements I absolutely loved in this including the fantasy meets murder mystery meets comedy and others I was less in love with. I was not very keen on the romance and I felt like this book would have been better without it entirely.

I also would have liked to see more depth when it came to this world as the entire concept behind it is very interesting but what little detail we get about it feels like a missed opportunity.

I did find the main character, Dee, to be particularly entertaining with his wise-crack humor and commentary but I can see why he may rub some the wrong way. Grasshopper was also a delight and all rays of sunshine. The other characters never caught my interest.

Overall if you're a fan of murder mystery with both a fantasy twist and a queer romance, this may be the book for you.

*Thank you to MIRA and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

Fantasy locked door murder mystery? Yes please!

There's a lot going on in this book, and often I felt like I needed to take notes to keep all of the details straight. I thought the warring factions and political intrigue kept the plot moving nicely, but we didn't get as much characterization as I'd like. Albeit there were 12 different characters wandering around a yacht with a murderer on the loose, so I understand not having the time to focus on everyone individually. Dee is a bit of an antihero, floundering his way through conspiracy after conspiracy in an attempt to make it out alive. Would I be game for a sequel? Yes. But overall this still works as a standalone novel with a few loose ends that the reader can wonder about.

Fantsastic, incredibly wonderful worldbuilding! I love when books live up to the hype they are portrayed to have on Social Media. This one delivered--and MORE.. Fantastic!

This was a lovely fantasy murder mystery. I loved the narrator's voice. It was a mix of saying the quiet things out loud and wicked humor all wrapped up in a heaping of self-loathing. Grasshopper's instant affection for him was the same as my own. Even with so many suspects and provinces to keep track of from the beginning, I found the storytelling accessible. This was a real treat of a read and a wonderful blend of my two loves -- fantasy and mystery.

Fabulous fantasy! I loved Dee and especially Grasshopper. To eat? or to love? Grasshoppers grasp of what category to place things was super cute! So much to love about this debut! Action, adventure, murder, betrayal, mystery, love. The list goes on.

I had such a fun time with Voyage of the Damned. I immediately felt I could relate to Ganymedes (aka Dee) with his feelings of not fitting in, being the odd one out, and having to lie to everyone about this magical power he was supposed to have (masking, anyone?)

Dee’s growth throughout the book was, in my opinion (and without giving away any spoilers) *chefs kiss.* I love watching a main character prove everyone absolutely wrong for their assumptions and prejudices.

I also super enjoyed the cross between fantasy and murder mystery. As someone who almost exclusively reads fantasy, it was a fun way to try something a little new.

Touching story of friendship and love between social classes. In this case, between Blessed heir passengers upon a twelve day voyage. They were supposed to arrive at the sacred mountain of the Goddess but one by one the Blessed are murdered. Most of the Blessed are keeping their special ability, or blessing, a secret. Some have other kinds of secrets. The murderer knows a secret or two and seeks to learn the gifts of the Blessed before killing them.
While lives are being taken hearts are breaking and promises made to find the culprit or culprits by two unlikely misfit Blessed heirs.
Best ending to a great mystical tale

Voyage of the Damned by Frances White is a captivating journey through a fantastical world filled with magic, murder, and romance. The vivid and colorful setting of the story drew me in, making it an enchanting and thrilling read.

TL:DR I ordered two physical copies at the 50% mark. It's that good.

Ganamydes "Dee" Piscero is a Blessed - a recipient of magic from the Goddess of Concordia. Except for the minor fact that he's actually not. His secret is that he has not inherited the magical gift that passes from parent to child, despite being an only child. Bullied into lying by his father, who has likely fathered at least one bastard (strictly forbidden for the Blessed), Dee has been roped into hiding this secret for a lifetime. Now in early, miserable adulthood, Dee loves just two things: eating (well...and drinking) and Ravi, his childhood best friend and Blessed of the Crow province.

On the annual voyage to the Mountain from which the Goddess's blessings spring, Dee's plan is simple: piss off the other 11 Blessed so they shun him entirely, and thereby do not discover his secret. Unfortunately, someone else aboard has a plan--kill the Blessed. Dee, with the dubious help of adorable 6-year-old Grasshopper and prickly Wyatt (the Bear Blessed) must solve the mystery if he hopes to live to pretend he's Blessed for another day.

If Agatha Christie wrote a fantasy mystery, Dee would be her perfect hero: hysterical, witty, kind, and his own worst enemy (aside from the murderer). Without giving anything away, I can tell you there are a lot of deaths, quite a few flying bunnies, and a main character with enough charm to carry a whole series.

I liked this book a lot. At first I thought It was something entirely different than what it ended as and I hard trouble putting it down.

Just finished voyage of the damned and I was not a big fan. It was just “okay” in my opinion. I enjoyed the plot and the general idea of the book, but the writing was not my favorite. I found myself bored through the non-action parts of the book and would catch myself skimming paragraphs. There is a lot of world building and different characters and traits to get through. It wasn’t super obvious who the killer was, but I was able to predict it half way through the book, although I did not see the OTHER twist that happened.

Thank you to the publishers for an early copy of this book in exchange for a review. I was really interested in the premise of this one, a murder mystery mixed with fantasy. I struggled to connect with the characters in this one and fully follow the storyline. At times I got a little bored and the pacing was off for me. Still enjoyable, but not anything special to me.

3.5 rounded up to 4

This was like Knives Out meets Clue meets x-men meets *insert YA where magical abilities develop as a child*. It’s tagged on GR as adult but I would say it’s a similar vibe to lots of YA- other than some swears and mild sexy talk it’s pretty tame.

The world building was hard to follow for me personally, but that could have been a me thing- it’s been busy and my brain feels like scrambled eggs. I low key was expecting more pirate vibes so was a little disappointed there but again- that’s a me problem.

I think this will appeal to a lot of teens so I’ll definitely be recommending our librarian buy it for the school library! Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the opportunity to read!

Such a fun read!! Magical murder mystery on a ship… what more could you want! I loved this so much and can’t wait to get the physical copy! Will definitely be recommending to friends/followers.

i LOVED this book. taking notes on what would come next is one of my favorite things with mysteries and this book was PERFECT for that. i had so much fun reading it and truly enjoyed it so much. reading through dee’s pov and learning and growing with him was incredible. overall this book was a BLASY and so so much fun, not to mention the incredible rep

i received an ARC for free in exchange for an honest review

DNF at 35%. Incredibly disappointed in this one. I had enormously high hopes due to the comps (The Locked Tomb) being slung around and instead found this to be literally unreadable with an MC straight out of a Cathy comic strip of the 90s (so edgy to have an overweight MC! Better make sure you have him talk constantly about food! Have him wake up in a big pile of cookies! Like, I am sorry, but what the actual fatphobia is this). This is not to even touch on all the other unlikeable characters, the clunky exposition, the cheerfully lisping murder baby inexplicably attached to the MC, or the corny "and then there were none" mystery setup. I was trying desperately to slog through this and then remembered other books exist. Zero stars. Oh and to make matters worse the Kindle edition from Netgalley was formatted so weirdly that it was actually not just difficult to read because it was bad, but because any lowercase "F" had a double space on either side of it.