Short Synopsis:
Dee is one of the Blessed…or at least he’s pretending to be. In Concordia, the land is broken up into 12 provinces, and each province is led by a Blessed - a person gifted with magic from their goddess. The 12 blessed are on a boat to their sacred mountain. But then bodies start piling up.

My Thoughts:
This was a fun read. Mysteries and settings on boats, normally aren’t my cup of tea. But this was fun. Dee is funny and quirky and lovable.

But the real star of the show is 6-year-old Grasshopper. She was the cutest.

I found this to be a bit on the longer side, but the character growth, the mystery and plot was excellent.

Read if You Like:
🛥️ Locked Room Mysteries
🛥️ Blend of Genres
🛥️ LGBTQIA Rep
🛥️ Body Positivity
🛥️ Magic
🛥️ Friends to lovers

𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺 • 𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘺 • 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 • 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘳

This one surprised me so much! I don’t know why I thought it was going to be a pirates story, which I do also like, but which this very much was not. I think it was Illumicrate’s beautiful endpapers of the Dragon’s Dawn [not pirate] ship that got me confused.

I would class Voyage of the Damned as a light fantasy novel, with a very easy to grok system of magic. But it’s more than that because it’s also a Mystery/Thriller whodunnit story in the style of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. Just make it far, far less serious ☠️😂.

If whimsical, dry humor, sarcasm, slow burn light queer romance, or murder mystery is your thing, you are going to want to pick up this book. Honestly Frances White had me at the dedication page: “𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨.” 🥹🫶

The main character Dee is such a kind hearted, humble soul who for his whole life has been taught he was worthless... so when he’s suddenly stuck on a ship with an incredibly eclectic cast of characters of course no one sees him as either a threat or a strong ally, other than the other “weaker” crew members. The plot of the book centers around figuring out what magical powers each of the 12 passengers has and also who is killing everyone before Dee bites the dust himself. I’ll just say that there were things I saw coming, but most of it I was wrong about. At one point or another I think I suspected everyone. 🤣

I just loved this story. It brought my two loves of locked room murder mysteries and fantasies together in the best package. As Dee’s backstory got revealed bit by bit I wanted to cry for him! He felt unloved, unwanted, and was so sick of lying… and so sick of living.

This was funny, full of heart, diverse!!!! and the characters were lovable.

A murder mystery to the nth degree with many fantastical twists and turns. Highly recommend!

The vibes: Whodunnit, LGBTQ, body positivity, Death on the Nile, Knives out, and a little bit of Hunger Games? I’ll explain.

TW: fatphobia, suicide

This was fun! I was perpetually behind on this buddy read but I had a good time. I think it’s important to go into this one knowing it’s fantasy with modern speech (I know that bothers some people) and more on the YA side in tone, but hornier. The world building has some flaws, but just don’t take it too seriously haha. The main character is Dee- clever, funny, and deeply underestimated. He has a good heart, and wants to solve murders, despite the prejudice he receives from the people around him. He celebrates his soft body in the face of judgement and fatphobia. Dee’s personality alone makes me want to continue the series! (EDIT: nvm, it’s a standalone 😂) The characters and costumes remind me *visually* of the main citadel in Hunger Games, with all the colorful hair and clothes. The characters are also from different provinces, bringing their own secrets, plots. There’s a lot of hate between higher and lower provinces, secret magical powers, and pretty much everyone is suspicious.

One of the main themes I enjoyed in this book is finding that sense of belonging and self-worth. It’s somehow a murderous and cozy book 🧐 If you want a light-hearted, fantasy-murder mystery, this one’s for you!

This was such a fun read! Murder mystery cruise? Sign me up! Except, I want the game edition not the in real life version 😆 Dee was so relatable - a chubby slacker who loves food?? It Me. He was a good person at heart despite being looked down on by others, and trying to figure out whodunit without a blessing to protect him was no small feat. However, throw in a potential love interest and a cute little girl with colorful hair and you have the perfect murder mystery solving team. I loved that this book had found family, lgbtq+ and body positive representation. The story was hilarious especially because of Dee's witty personality. This was a wonderful debut novel by Frances White and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next! Also, this book is now available in North America so preorder your copy!

What an absolute delight this book was! The Dragon’s Dawn sets sail with the heirs of the 12 different provinces aboard for the Festival of the Blessing. Each heir has a special, secret, magical ability called a Blessing and this festival is supposed to help them celebrate their differences while also uniting them. Until people start being murdered.

A locked door murder mystery on a ship full of blessed heirs with various magical abilities. Full of witty banter, puns, and jokes. This novel touches on SO MANY themes… complicated families, found families, class, discrimination, love, hate, loyalty, betrayal, friendships, insecurities. We get representation of mental health issues, physical disabilities and limitations, LGBTQI+, racial diversity, and so many different shapes, sizes, and physical traits.

You will fall in love with these characters and be so invested in their wellbeing. You’ll be left guessing whodunit until the very end.
I just loved it.

I had incredibly high hopes for this book because queer SFF mystery is my absolute favorite niche subgenre, but unfortunately almost nothing about this worked for me. The humor was funny for about three pages in the beginning before it started to feel forced and grating. The worldbuilding is infodumpy and weirdly simplistic - I really disliked the color-coded hair, the starkly different province climates that made no geographical sense, and the hanc-wavey way that literally everything seemed to work. Worst of all is the depiction of the food-obsessed plus size main character; every joke about him eating toffee to avoid his feelings or thinking about how the map of the peninsula is shaped like a piece of pie (!) took years off my life. It's a no for me.