Equal parts adventure and steamy romance! Marriage of convenience that takes her into a forced adventure with a rugged pirate! Yes, please!

The absolutely stunning cover is what initially caught my eye and then once I read the blurb I was sold. It sounded like it’d he a great adventure with a fun romance.
Unfortunately, this one fell flat for me. While I generally enjoyed the writing, I didn’t find much else about the story to be compelling. I do think that’s why I’m giving it 3 stars, it might be a personal opinion of not entirely enjoying the story itself and not necessarily a reflection on the writing.
I do enjoy tragic characters but I felt the beginning was bit much. I just kept thinking “Dang, will she ever catch a break?” But not in a way that makes me want to keep reading.
I also found the world building to be a bit clunky and it made it hard to enjoy the story.

Overall though, I know there will be an audience for this book that will love it. Unfortunately it just wasn’t me!

What a lovely debut. I was immediately drawn in by the cover, and I’m so glad it prompted me to pick up this book.

Soulgazer is peak romantasy, with equal attention to character and atmosphere as plot. If you have a weak spot for pirates, you’ll especially like this one. I’m a sucker for marriages of convenience, but I appreciated that it was still a slow burn. I kept wanting to push them together, but of course, the payoff is worth it in the end.

I truly appreciate that Saoirse is a soft heroine—not a skilled physical fighter, and more sad than angry. It’s a refreshing change from other stories I’ve read. Her not having the typical slender, muscled body type was also welcome. All in all, I loved Rapier’s writing style, which is balanced and beautiful.

It’s rare I find a book where I can rate the sexual content as “moderate” rather than graphic or minor. The characters’ physical relationship was important to their story, and we weren’t completely shut out of it. But the scenes aren’t vulgar or extremely descriptive. I’d let a high schooler read it.

There were a few scenes I felt like I was missing some context, and I’d have to go back and reread to see what I’d missed, but then was still confused so I just plundered on. This was mainly during the quests—I found myself not exactly knowing what they were seeking and why. I’m sure I’d understand more on a reread.

I was so glad to see that the author plans to continue this as a series. It’s a fascinating world and lovable, interesting characters who deserve more page time. I will definitely continue reading.

A beautifully written pirate fantasy with unique magic, curses, an epic quest, mythology, found family, tons of witty banter, and a yearning love story. Can't wait for the next book!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

3.75/5 -- I'm generally a fan of Nordic fantasy - so I knew I would like this! However, while I really enjoyed the imagery and style of storytelling, I did NOT like our heroine in Soulgazer. She as a whole struck me as a simpering fool, and I would like to have reached through the pages and smacked her a time or two.

Beyond that though - this was an incredibly fun read and I found myself looking forward to what twists and turns would be uncovered!

Everyone, allow me to introduce you to one of my new favorite books of all times. This book was exactly what I had hoped it would be, but also so much more. This is one of the few times I can honestly say that you can judge this book by its cover because the cover conveys so much in such a pretty package that is equally found wave after wave throughout the book.

Soulgazer is the story of a "cursed" princess who finally chooses for herself and ends up in the company of a pirate captain and his crew. This story is about growing into yourself after trauma and building trust brick by brick. This book has found family, twists and turns, an epic quest and a slow burn romance that really delivers on the yearning and the anticipation.

You have the main character, Saoirse, who is our POV throughout the entirety of this book. She carries magic that she sees as a curse due to some spoilery things that I won't get into for the sake of keeping this spoiler free. She is under the brutal control of her father and after a decision is forced upon her, she finds herself running to the safety of the legendary pirate Wolf of the Wild (also known as Faolan) to join him on his quest to essentially find a magical island that's been lost to their people for centuries.

Saoirse is the kind of character that I tend to really enjoy and the kind that I genuinely wish that I could befriend and just hug because she desperately needs someone to be in her corner. There is a softness to her that she never really looses but you really see her come into her own as the story progresses in a very real sort of way you would expect considering her entire story. I absolutely adore her all throughout this book.

Faolan is a dashing pirate that gives major bard energy in the best way possible. He is a legend and a storyteller who leans heavily into this version of himself that he's built up. There are a lot of hidden layers to him that I hope we get to see more of throughout the rest of the books (I don't know if this is a series or a duology). He is swoonworthy but also soooooo human with his flaws and I think that Maggie wrote him in a way that is perfectly balanced. I really think everyone is going to fall hard for this man. He's one of my favorite MMCs honestly.

The rest of the crew made for a fun dynamic as well. I really enjoyed seeing how differently they all interacted with Faolan and Saoirse as well as amongst themselves. I don't usually like books with pirates or books that take place primarily on the ocean (I have no idea why, it's just been the case previously), but this book was an absolute joy to read and is so beautifully written. I tabbed the heck out of my ARC copy as I annotated and I am so excited to have been given the opportunity to read an early copy of this book that I just know is going to be big!

Maggie Rapier has found a forever reader with me and I'm so excited to see what else is in store for this book series.

Absolutely obsessed with this narrative. I loved the found family, the comradery, and the resolution to the story. It did not end quite on a cliff hanger, but it still left me exciting for the next book.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC!

The last year has really been my discovery and absolute obsession with the romantasy genre - it’s just so much fun and feels like catnip for my brain. So when I read Soulgazer’s synopsis I was beyond intrigued. Especially as someone who grew up absolutely loving the Pirates of the Caribbean series I was so excited to jump into a romantasy set on a ship. Before reading I saw so many reviewers say how beautiful the writing was and holy smokes, they were not wrong. Such beautiful world building and setting description to the point where all I wanted was to head to the beach. Add on the romance and tension and it was just a sublime reading experience.

This was an enjoyable read. I liked the magical, pirate and fantasy telling of the story. Mixing elements together made it a nice read. Some parts did feel a bit too much to read but the overall story was a joy. Saoirse's character arch was interesting to read from being hidden and not knowing her full strength to becoming the woman that is strong and her magic is beyond belief. This was a fun read.

The pacing was perfect. Soulgazer is hard to put down once you start. The world history. mythology, and mystery draws readers. The banter between characters balances darker traumatic topics. The romantic elements is a bit of a slow burn with angst sprinkled in. The majority of the book is in the perspective of the main female character, which is very wishy-washy.

The writing was lyrical without bogging down the reader. Get your highlighter ready!

Readers who enjoyed One Dark Window or the webcomic Under the Oak Tree will enjoy.

Looking forward to the next in this duology.

What an absolutely captivating read! I love a good pirate story, and the author absolutely delivers on that promise, but she does it with an FMC who is genuinely soft. While stabby FMCs are fun in their own way, I really enjoyed spending time with Saoirse and watching her find her power not in spite of her softer side, but by working with it. You’ll have to forgive me for being a little vague here (no spoilers!) but watching her work through her emotional wounds and find herself was such a pleasure to read.

Faolan. Feral and charming and as clever as a legendary pirate should be, with so much heart (despite his many attempts to pretend he’s nothing more than a cutthroat pirate). I so enjoyed watching them dance around each other in a sexy, angsty, sweet slow burn.

The magic is so interesting and cleverly woven into the plot with lyrical prose that had me stopping to highlight gorgeous words over and over. The world is lush and highly visual, providing an immersive setting as a backdrop to the twists and turns of Saoirse’s journey. If you enjoy marriage of convenience, quests, pirates, and a magical island-hopping adventure, you’ll have a great time when SOULGAZER comes out July 8th.

A mystic romantasy loaded with pirates, a marriage of convenience and a quest to find a lost isle. This story immediately gripped just by the blurb and I could not wait to dive into this. My first problem was not seeing a glossary as it was in the back and did not know so a lot of the time I felt very confused. The beginning of the story took me a bit to get into as the writing is a big different. It is very descriptors and written in a lot of metaphors. But after I was able to grasp where I was I was immediately invested into their story. Both characters keeping secrets from others and each other while also sharing and intense attraction and the will to fight for their freedom.

This story can be a bit much to follow along with, there is a heap of characters and names you are given pretty quickly and almost not a very descriptive world building jut a lot of names thrown together which did leave me confused on where we were at parts of that series. The ending was a lot to follow along with as well. This story was very fast paced and kept you needing to focus throughout the whole thing to fully grasp what was going on. But I found it very unique. I really enjoyed both characters and what we got to find out about them throughout the book. A shock ending and a cliffhanger left me excited to get to the second part of the duology and I’m excited where the journey takes Saiorse & Faolen next.

I wasn't sure I was going to like this book but the cover and "pirate romance" hooked me. I was not even through the first chapter when I knew this was going to be a favorite. The author drops you right into the world, but it's easy to swim along with the story as the magic system and worldbuilding are incredibly well done. I adored Saoirse and watching her fight the ingrained self hatred her upbringing instilled in her was refreshing and relatable. I loved seeing her stand up for what she deserved. Faolan is far from perfect but he helps her gain confidence and supports her when she needs it. I love a pirate with a heart of gold who is willing to learn. Who also has abs. Abs always help. I adored this book every stop of the way and can't wait for the sequel. And incredibly well paced and delightful debut!

I usually don’t mention reading styles but this ones was hard for me to grasp. In the beginning when trying to put together this setting and world, I was very much confused. It wasn’t until maybe 10 chapters in that I finally grasped some. I enjoyed Saoirse and Faolan meeting and how that came about. The first few interactions with those two were fun to read, it wasn’t until towards halfway and the end that I felt them disconnect a little but maybe that was the point since they both never came together for real until the very end. I liked the wolf crew’s characters and how they made up this friend group. I was very depressed to hear of Saorse’s backstory but I did enjoy her development and how she changes thorughout the story. I think some writing descriptions were confusing and the start of the book was just unsettling and hard to grasp.

An enchanting story with compelling characters and a lush setting. Soulgazer follows a soft and fierce heroine, Saoirse, as she takes her fate into her own hands and joins the legendary pirate, Faolan, on a romantic adventure to discover the truth behind her curse.

What starts as a partnership between them that’s fueled by their own personal desires turns into a genuine connection that’s filled with yearning and tension.

Maggie’s writing is stunning and flowed so well. I loved this book and am really looking forward to the next one!

Thank you Berkley for the ARC!

Dnfing, although it breaks my heart. I just couldn't get into the purple prose - and more importantly, couldn't figure out wth was going on!

This was an interesting one. And a densely written new world, old gods, wild magic, a land slowly dying.
A young girl, with a strong forbidden magic that has run through her family, that they see as cursed.
She's been hidden way since she was born, isolated, abused, treated like nothing but a burden by her father. Born with eyes as ever changing as the sea. She can bear witness to what will come, and to the dead what has passed. She doesn't understand her power, she fears it, the touch of others (which will allow her to read their souls, emotions, feelings) and that seeing what's to come and being unable to stop it- that she is the cause- the reason it happens. Her family fears her too.

Now of marry-able age, her family cannot wait to be rid of her. Her father betroths her to The Stone King, of whom every other wife he's had- had died trying to birth his heirs.

The Wolf of the Wilds is a pirate of legend trying to find the Isle of Lost Souls- the place where the souls of the dead once rested. With the gods dead, the dying's souls are poisoning the landscape, he hopes to find it before time runs out.

Fate, gods and two people who dreamed, but never expected to find each other in such a way. A marriage of escape and convenience becomes something realer and stronger than they both could have ever imagined. Its tale of loneliness and yearning, and finding someone to seek shelter in, and finding it truly in each other.

Legends never die, but I'm not sure they're free to live either. I look forward to see what happens to these two next.

An incredible debut by Maggie Rapier!

It took me a second to get my bearings but once I did I was hooked. This story is stunning and heartbreaking.

If you love pirates, arrange marriage, mythology, found family, lost gods and magic, this is the book for you. Though I really haven't read anything quite like it!

There is some mild spice but the banter is perfect and did not need more spice. I can't wait to see where the next book takes us after that ending.

This was SO good, and I want there to be more. There better be more.
4.5/5 stars!
🌊🌊🌊🌊💧

Let's start with where that .5 went off:
So, at first, we are sort of thrown into this strange world, and it's difficult to comprehend it all, especially because of the author's writing style. Now, I read the ARC (I'm so thankful I got to read it early!), so some of this may not be in the final, published version, but there were definitely some parts that were written in a way that seemed to try too hard to be poetic. I love a good, intuitive, artful narrative that makes you dissect between feelings, metaphors, illusions, and reality, but there were some times that it got so lofty-- and abstract-- that even re-reading a few times didn't solve the mystery for me. And sometimes I was tired from trying to figure out what actually happened (and I was hooked on the love story and mystery, and needed to find out what was going to happen!) and so I just kept reading on, probably skipping content that made it make more sense. Some of the murkiness (water pun intended) had to do with actual historical and cultural terms I could research, but most of it had to do with the author's writing style.

Having said that, once I got used to the author's writing style, and just dealt with not understanding every little bit at every moment (NOT knowing things is really hard for me, don't judge me), I was OBSESSED with this story. There was adventure, mysteries, magic, prophecies, secrets, a basis in historical mythology, deep emotional depth, coming into one's own, and a quest at sea!

This was the older sister moment to a young, little Lauren reading The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi and wanting to run away and join a pirate's crew. But this one had a marriage of convenience. ;) I won't give away anything, and stop right now, but I must echo my first thought: there needs to be more! My appetite isn't sated! There are some possibilities at the end to be explored. And there are so many fun secondary characters whose back stories could be flushed out more.

I don't do this often, but it's good enough that I might just read it again.

I will admit that this was strictly a cover request on NetGalley and my god, did it ever work out in my favour! @thedailymagpie has given us a magical and adventurous pirate fantasy romance! Saoirse has had a HARD life. Cursed with a magic that she can’t control, she is determined to gain her freedom. And her freedom looks like running away from an arranged marriage and straight into the arms of a legendary pirate. They need each other but if the pirate wants her help and magic, he’ll have to marry her first - EEEKK- it was epic and the tension and slow burn was everything. I can’t wait for book two! Thank you @netgalley and @berkleypub - this one is out in July!!