Sometimes you just like a book, and I think for me, this is one of those cases. Delightfully amusing and thrillingly mysterious, *Voyage of the Damned* provides a fresh blend of fantasy, mystery, queer romance and more!

Frances White thrusts us into a unique fantasy world of Concordia, where the 12 heirs to the empire’s 12 provinces set sail on a 12-day journey to commemorate a thousand years of peace. While many of the heirs set out to form important alliances and broker deals, our main character Ganymedes “Dee” Piscero—the supposed heir of the “lowest” Fish province and self-proclaimed disaster—sets his sights on causing as much chaos as he can manage. When the most powerful Dragon heir suddenly appears dead, Dee (and his new sidekick, the 6-year-old Grasshopper heir) seems to be the only one who thinks this might be a murder. With 11 days left in the journey and no way off the ship, Dee needs to figure out who he can trust and which of the 12 heirs is the murderer before they reach their destination—or before they’re all dead.

>> ❤️ What I loved: Somehow, this book wonderfully manages to be both charmingly unserious and sweetly sincere. I adore the cast of characters, whirlwind plotline, and nail-biting mystery that takes up all 498 pages! Dee is a disaster in the best way, and I found myself really rooting for him on his journey to find his own strength and open himself up to others.
>> 💔 What I didn’t love: Not much of a criticism on my part, but I would have loved to see more elaboration on the politics and world the story is set in—I think for some, there might not be enough for it to feel fully fleshed out.

I can see this book being a bit polarizing, but this was a big win for me. If you’re a fan of fantasy with unique magic systems, stories of self-discovery, and murder mysteries, you should definitely give Voyage of the Damned a try. This was a great debut novel, and I look forward to more from Frances White in the future,

**Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 (4.5-5)**

**Acknowledgments & Disclaimers**
✨ Thank you to NetGalley, Frances White, and Harlequin Publishing, for providing an ARC and the opportunity to share an honest review of this book.
✨ All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
✨ My reviews and ratings strive to evaluate books within their own age-demographic and genre.

A Voyage You’ll Never Want To End…. Until you run out of bodies.

If you're ready for a wild ride filled with chaos, magic, and the kind of adventure where laughter and tears are equally inevitable, then strap in—“Voyage of the Damned” is here to whisk you away! Frances White's debut is a glorious whirlwind where death is just another plot twist (but don't worry, it’s the fun kind). The world-building is so vivid you’ll swear you’ve sailed those waters, weathered those storms, and maybe even dodged a curse or two.

The inclusivity is off the charts, with characters of all abilities, genders, and LGBTQIA+ identities making you feel like you're on this voyage with your own chosen family, especially the ones you might want to stab along the way. It’s a story that feels like the epic journey you wish you’d had growing up, but are thrilled to embark on now as an adult. Just be warned: you might not want this voyage to end… but considering the title, maybe that’s for the best. Absolutely brilliant!

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing, NetGalley, and Frances White for this eARC!!

Voyage of the Damned was truly a fun read. Although it took me a bit to get into the book, I did end up enjoying the story overall. The plot is essentially a murder mystery on a boat involving the 12 Blessed heirs of Concordia. Every time I thought I was somewhat close to cracking the mystery, the twists the author threw in made me realize I was completely wrong. Ganymedes as a narrator at first irritated me but I believe that may have been the author's intention since Dee didn't even like himself at the start of the story. Overall, this read was a fun little journey and a great debut novel with wonderful queer representation. I cannot wait to see what other works Frances White comes up with!

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Frances White for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was unlike anything I've read recently for a number of reasons. It has a unique world of provinces built upon a power distribution myth, and each province has a Blessed dux, who receives a unique magical blessing from the goddess, which will eventually be passed onto their heir. This magic system plays into the main plot of the book in dramatic ways and kept the story moving.

The political system was interesting, while not overly complex, utilizing the basic class stratification and exploitation we often see in societies of extreme poor, working class, and elites.

The main character, Dee, is an enjoyable lead as the unlikely hero in the story. His unadulterated belief in finding the good and taking care of others makes him a loveable, albeit sometimes chaotic, narrator.

This book doesn't shy away from morally gray situations, to the point that I almost thought there was a plot hole, but the story ties together beautifully, if not a bit uncomfortably, at the end. It will leave you evaluating what should or should not be in the name of the greater good.

The author's representation of typically underrepresented is on point in this book! There is fantastic diversity that is authentic and natural, and something like disability or sexual preference is part of the characters, but does not become the characters' entire identities.

I love a good cross-genre moment, and I’d been looking for a fantasy set at sea for a while! 🌊 This one merges fantasy with a murder mystery, and I couldn’t wait to see what it was all about when I received an e-ARC from the publisher!

There were several things that I ended up liking in this author’s debut, but there were also some issues that I had with it. Let’s start with the good!

I enjoyed the theme of found family and an underdog as our main character! 💙🐟 Ganymedes struggles with his self worth and value, and the secrets he’s carrying are weighing him down. He acts out by putting up walls through dry humor and purposefully poking the bear, and he has a lot of room to grow and mature. It was nice to see him come into his own more by the end!

I also liked the queer representation throughout this book from so many of the characters in different ways 🏳️‍🌈 This inclusivity and the murder mystery part of this story kept me turning the pages and sticking with this read in spite of the things that weren’t working for me.

Which brings me to what I didn’t end up loving in this book. I personally wasn’t a huge fan of the magic system and world building. It was delivered in huge chunks but also wasn’t very complex. I think this would work well for readers newer to fantasy, but in an Adult fantasy book, I expected more.

And that ties into the biggest issue I had with the book: it is an Adult book that aside from the f-bombs, dirty jokes and a few gory scenes, is very YA. And while I personally like YA books, this one often felt too juvenile and didn’t meet the expectations I had for an Adult novel. It felt very inconsistent and left me quite perplexed as a reader. I think it would’ve worked better if White aged down all the characters and made it a true YA book.

Despite those issues, I did finish the book because the murder mystery was compelling enough for me to see where it went 🔎 I also wanted to see how Ganymedes grew as a character! I wouldn’t recommend this to every reader, but I think the right readers will find it entertaining. I hope my review can help you figure out if this will be a book you’ll enjoy or not!

This was such a fun read, albeit a bit cheesy. It read more YA to me than adult fantasy (minus the ample cursing and innuendos), but I loved it all the same!

Ganymedes, aka Dee, is the sarcastic, hilarious, underdog main character and sole heir of the Fish province of Concordia. Dee has been forced by his adulterous father to pretend to be “Blessed” with a magical ability, which is passed on to only one heir per generation. He, along with 11 other Blessed heirs from other provinces, embarks on a traditional 12 day voyage to a sacred mountain. When people start turning up dead, it is up to Dee and his ragtag group of friends to solve the murders. Sprinkle in a sweet queer romance, and I couldn’t put this book down!

Now, THE TWIST! I thought I had it all figured out and was preparing to be disappointingly correct, and then got completely and utterly blindsided by the twist of all twists. I’m still picking my jaw up off the floor. Just… *chef’s kiss*

One of the only issues I ran into was that for a decent portion of the book it was difficult for me to keep the characters’ names & the provinces they belonged to straight. This could very well just be a me problem, as I’m beyond sleep deprived and currently have the memory span of a goldfish. My other issue was sometimes the cheesiness verged into outright cringey. BUT, I gladly looked past this because I genuinely enjoyed the story.

I wish this book wasn’t a standalone, because I feel there is a lot of room for a sequel! Either way, this was a super fun read and a book I definitely recommend.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the gifted ARC!

Magical murder mystery cruise ship where humor and wit abounds from our tour guide Dee. This book was so much fun! If you enjoy who done it escape rooms, tv shows or dinners pick this book up now. I was immediately ensnared in the plot points for Dee. I loved him as the main character. He was snarky, funny with the raw vulnerability that can only happen in 1st person point of view.

I tabbed so much of my book from witty comments or plot points I could have had my own diagram of deduction. The last time I had this much fun I was reading Assistant to Villain. Be warned you will need a full batch of annotation tabs before starting.

Good world building and interesting characters made this an unexpectedly good read for me. This isn't my genre-although to be fair, it crosses several genres-but I found myself engaged and turning the pages. Thanks to the publisher for the ArC.

A witty & quirky fantasy murder mystery perfect for fans of Agatha Christie & Rick Riordan. Unique world building & magic system with a Murder on the Orient Express style mystery. Such a fun read that kept me guessing and quite a few laughs along the way. New adult standalone with LGBTQ+ characters.

In the first few chapters of this book I wasn't sure if I would like it, but I'm so glad I kept reading because I actually really enjoyed this book. I found the plot interesting and I really enjoyed all of the characters and world politics. Each character felt complex and different, they all had their own motivations, feelings and weaknesses. I found the story to be engaging throughout.

I didn't love the ending though, it wasn't a bad ending really I just would have preferred a different ending.

All in all, this is a fun fantasy murder mystery with an interesting world, incredible characters and great lgbt representation.

This was such a fun book filled with twists, turns, and self deprecating main character. This feels like And Then There Were None was mashed up with a Hunger Game like forced proximity on a luxurious ship and of course, add magic.
Dee doesn't want to go on this trip, in fact, he hates the people and the reason for the trip. Dee also kinda wants to just eat lots of good food. But when he's forced on the ship with the 11 other passengers, he is also embroiled into a mystery, and it evolves from there.
I really enjoyed the mystery, the characters, the story telling (and the story showing), the ending, and the friendships that develop.
Highly recommend for fantasy mystery lovers.

This book feels like a mix between Gideon the Ninth and And Then There Were None, with a dash of the extravagance of Titanic thrown in. And, it turns out, it’s really not for me.

The voice is glib and casual, and there are a lot of characters to keep straight. the characters all feel like flat archetypes, not full people.

The storytelling leans heavily on telling rather than showing. It’s almost like a video game where you need to go around and ask characters a bunch of questions. That’s a fine video game structure, but as a book, it’s exhausting to have characters just telling you stuff about the world all the time. There is much exposition and people talking about other people and what they think happened, and I just kept waiting for something to actually *happen* on the page.

This feels like it could sit on the shelf next to A Reckless Truth and The Inheritance Games, which makes sense, since neither of those books really captured my interest either.

The biggest mark against this book is the troubling racism and white savior themes throughout. True, a big plot point was the class divide, but the “lower class” province characters were portrayed with dialects and cultures that weee flat and stereotypical and honestly gross. It felt like watching a bad Western with the Natives barely more than a flavorful obstacle. Or like Robinson Crusoe, where Friday is a “lesser” character who needs Crusoe to civilize him. Whenever a different culture appeared on the page, I began to brace for their portrayal, because it rarely was complex or unexpected for these characters.

This is a classic case of “Alyssa would have rated it higher if she had DNF’ed.” I was all set to quit at 30% and give it 3 ⭐️ and say it wasn’t for me. But then there was a little sprinkling of romance, so I simply had to continue to see where that went. Unfortunately, the book went from only mildly interesting to just plain bad after that.

Hopefully other readers find more value in it, but I am not that reader.

I really wanted to like this book, I really did. It just fell flat for me. The “magic” system wasn’t clear, the characters were unlikeable, and I couldn’t connect with anyone enough to care. I think I went into this book with too many expectations, especially with the many comparisons to Agatha Christie.

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF'ed at 80%.

Ahhhhhh! I spent quite a bit of time reading this one, only to give it up at a late hour. But it was never unqualified love for me, and then things happened late in the book and I just didn't want to read anymore.

If you're into irreverent leads, a multi-murder situation, and a romance arc (albeit one that wasn't super convincing or impactful for me), you might like this one. But it wasn't for me.

(Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC; all opinions provided are my own.)

This book was so unique! The ending was worth the lengthy ride. From 70% on, I could not put the book down.

12 different groups of people, identified via animal according to a legend from long ago. We have a mighty Goddess who divides the Blessing amongst the 12, passing via a child. Our story follows the Fish Blessed, the lowest of the 12. All 12 blessed are making a voyage via boat when murders begin happening.

Hear me out--Avatar the Last Airbender vibes. If the Avatar was gay. And there were murders.

This is such a unique book. Some of the humor reminded me a little bit of Running Close to the Wind, but about 1000x more serious. The main character is goofy and outlandish but only to hide deeper pain. I enjoyed the overall setup of the world, with the different parts of the country each having different traits. In some ways I wish we had gotten a closer look at the history of the country, how the bandage was put in, what the conditions the Crabs are subject to are like, and a lot of other details but the book would end up 600 pages long so I do understand why not everything can be explored. I also really enjoyed the murder mystery and investigation element. It was constantly keeping me on my toes and surprising me.

The one thing I didn’t love was the romance plotline; given some of the reveals towards the end of the book, including one MAJOR spoiler, I was… less invested in the romance and honestly a little confused at how it was continuing to move forward. So much was made about Dee being such a good and pure person and then he’s just fine with some really heinous behavior. That was a little tough.

With insistent tongue-in-cheek humor, a cast of unique magical characters, and a mystery that could unfurl in hundreds of way, Voyage of the Damned by Frances White may just be one of my favorite books of all time. Thank you so much to Frances White and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC - I'll be running out to get at least one copy once it is released in the USA on Tuesday, August 20th.

Ganymedes Piscero, or Dee to those who don't find him an insufferable waste of space, has no choice but to embark on a cruise journey with his fellow Blessed, the heirs to each of the twelve provinces of Concordia. They are known as Blessed because of their Blessings, unique magical abilities that mark them as chosen. Problem is, Ganymedes never actually received his Blessing, and all he wants is to be exiled so he can escape his false throne. Imagine his shock when, instead of being the focus for causing a scene, someone else decides to show him up by murdering the most important Blessed in all of Concordia? Jerk.

With emotions spanning from laugh-out-loud funny to gut-wrenchingly emotional, I felt everything under the sun with this one. There was so much to learn about and explore, and Ganymedes is such a complex character that he, himself, doesn't even recognize the extent of his emotional turmoil. I was overwhelmed when I started to process the reality of what went on in his mind which he covers so well with humor. Not to mention the queer romance, and how that weaved its way into the mystery itself. Excellently done. I might cry again.

All of the characters in this book are similarly excellently written to Ganymedes, with a depth and rawness that shook me. Everyone has secrets. Everyone is bearing a burden. And everyone is at risk of being murdered. I can't state highly enough how wrapped up in the mystery I found myself, though I never came close to understanding how it all happened until the very end. For the first time in a long time, I feel tempted to re-read.

Despite a couple of cliched or clunky moments at the end, I will die on this hill: Voyage of the Damned is absolutely one of my favorite reads of the year, and maybe of all time. I want to stay in their world forever, and I hope you'll take the leap if this sounds like a good time to you. I sincerely hope it impacts you in the same way it did for me. Thank you again Frances White and Harlequin. I am so glad I got to experience this joy.

This was a fun read and I enjoyed the idea of the plot. Though there wasn’t really any world building, it starts out really great and drew me in immediately, but it does drag in the middle and almost lost me. Even though the characters are a little older, it feels very young adult, because to me they act like teenagers, but I don’t mind too much, I do enjoy YA. I’d rather them have been aged down though.

I received an eARC of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I have tried to read this book several times and I cannot get past 10%. Even before the main character goes on a chapter long campaign to make everyone on the cruise hate him I already hated him. I felt like the book/main character was trying so hard to be cool and not caring about what other people think etc. etc. that it was painful to read. If this book was a person I would go out of my way to not spend any time around them.

4.5 rounded to 5

Despite being a debut, Voyage of the Damned already starts off strong with a one-of-a-kind concept (Murder mystery on a boat? That's nothing special, Death on the Nile is right over there. Murder mystery on a boat but make it twelve magical heirs who very much hate each other? Now we're talking!) and that was enough to get my attention.
Dee was the perfect main character, and the first person narration really does him justice; his POV was hilarious, even though the writing could be clunky in places. The plot is both wow and a bit predictable, but still delightful to follow.

This book is just a wild romp through every murder mystery cliche known to man wrapped in a copius amount of funny moments and just a dash of emotional trauma. It was the perfect summer read and I cannot recommend it enough to anyone who ever thought "Hey, what if we took murder mysteries and put a laughing track over"?