The Navigator's Touch

Seeing this book posted to NetGalley made me the happiest person ever. I’ve been anxiously waiting for this sequel/companion novel since Julia Ember announced it. I loved The Seafarer’s Kiss...it was absolutely magical with mermaids, Norse gods and a whole range of diverse characters. I’ve stated over and over again that Ember’s writing just gets better and better with each book she releases and this novel was no exception. She’s really outdone herself with The Navigator’s Touch. I simply loved this book and know that I will re-read it again in the near future.

Before I actually start this review, I want to point out that The Navigator’s Touch can be read either as a sequel to The Seafarer’s Kiss or a companion novel. You don’t have to read the first book to understand and enjoy the second one. Like, it’s nice to already know the world and the characters, but Ember does an excellent job catching readers up without it feeling like a review or rehash of what has already been read. That said, you really, really should read The Seafarer’s Kiss because it’s a fantastic book that deserves all of the love in the world.

The story in this book is told from Ragna’s perspective, which means it has a completely different feel and tone. The focus here is on revenge and violence. Ragna is a totally badass Viking shield maiden who has magical shape shifting tattoos that act as a guide or compass (hence the title of the book). The plot primarily revolves around her wanting to punish the men that attacked her village and killed her family. However, this need for vengeance often causes her problems and isolates her from the people who support and love her. She’s an extremely flawed character and I love her all the more for it. Throughout her journey she really learns a lot about herself and I love stories like this. I think from time to time we can all see a little bit of ourselves in Ragna and that’s what makes her such an interesting character. What also stood out for me was her background story. We learn a little bit more about the tricker god Loki and Ragna’s family, especially her mother. Connecting the dots between characters, places and stories further added it the book’s worldbuilding. I love the mixture of the Viking world, Norse gods and mythology involving mermaids and monsters.

One thing I missed from the first book was Ersel, a shape shifting mermaid who rescued Ragna and fell in love with her in The Seafarer’s Kiss. She was very much a secondary character and often forgotten about. I would have liked more mermaid scenes but I totally understand that this wasn’t her “time”. She had her own book that told her story. However, I’m pretty sure we will see a lot more of her next time because of the way the book ended. I really hope we will be getting a third book in the series. THAT ENDING FLOORED ME! I need more from these characters and their world!!!!

A nice added touch were the content warnings for each chapter listed at the end of the book and online. There are scenes that could be very difficult for readers to read, especially since so much of Ragna’s story involves violence. There’s a particular chapter near the end of The Navigator’s Touch that was extremely violent. I think more books should have a resource like this as it improves the reading experience for everyone. Well done to the author and the publisher!

I cannot recommend this book enough. Like, I don’t even have the words to write a review that can do it justice. You really need to read it (and its predecessor) as soon as possible! So, if you enjoy books inspired by the Viking world, female/female romances, Norse gods, badass/battle axe-wielding women and lots of action, go pre-order it now!

Absolutely great. This was a fantastic read and I didn't expect anything less of amazing. The story had me gripped from the very beginning and it was hard to put down. I enjoyed this read and look forward to future works from this author.

Absolute perfect read for pride month!!

“Come with me,” he said, breathless, and extended his hand to her. “I will make you a queen among gods.”

…

“I have a duty to my people.!

The god bowed his head. Fate had directed his hjarta, and he was as powerless against the Norns as any mortal.

“Then my duty will be to you.”

Immediately following the events of The Seafarer’s Kiss, The Navigator’s Touch follows Ragna, book one’s shipwrecked captive. A descendent of the union between Heimdallr and a human woman named Sigrid, Ragna bears the shifting, magical maps on her skin marking her as other, as desirable – because many men would kill to have a map that would take them safely wherever they wanted to go. We first met Ragna when her captors’ ship was wrecked in the ice of the trap, and her life was saved by a mermaid’s curiosity. Now we follow Ragna as she recalls the events that took her from her home and left her family dead, and see the lengths she is willing to go to for revenge.

Fear and promise, in equal balance, that was the only way I was going to survive. To lead this crew, I had to promise them the world and dangle their nightmares from the tip of my silver hook.

Leading a crew of mercenaries who had once worked for the man who destroyed her home and accompanied by a mermaid whose gifts are god-given and bought with blood, Ragna is forced to change if she wants to succeed. The children of her village, her cousin, all are kept prisoner in the hopes that maps will appear on their bodies and to save them she will do anything at all. Ember has done a wonderful job of differentiating the narrative voices in this series. Ersel and Ragna are two very, very different women. Drawn together by the events that made them allies, and then lovers, they still do not fully understand one another. Where Ersel was motivated by desperation to save herself from an unwanted fate, Ragna is altogether a more viscerally angry person. The violence ramps up in this installation, and there’s a pretty brutal scene towards the end where Ragna encounters the man who murdered her young brother. She is motivated to the extent where it often blinkers her to what is going on around her. There are moments she seems to see Ersel more as a weapon to be used than as a young girl, a person in her own right in a world she doesn’t yet understand, and she views her stolen crew with nothing less than paranoid contemp, and yet she is still a character for whom I felt a great amount of sympathy. Her home was burned down, her family murdered, she almost starved to death on a glacier, she’s been left with one hand and a hook and in order to save her young cousin she must do the impossible. She’s a young girl wanting to take on an army, and for that she needs to be stronger than she has ever been.

I couldn’t decide what I hoped. To see her again? To stop being too selfish to love her? Or that the god would take her far away, and she would never come back, so I would never have the chance to betray her again.

We see more other creatures of Norse Mythology as Ragna and Ersel journey on, Fenrir lurking in the mountains, Sleipnir with blood dripping from his teeth as he eats a man alive. These stories are given new life, and despite Ersel’s warnings against deals with Loki, Ragna finds herself inextricably tied to the trickster god. To get what they want, a bargain must be struck.

The character development in this book is wonderful. Ragna is not the world’s most likable character but I kind of love that. She’s angry and bitter and trusts literally nobody and she can be rude and selfish but let’s be honest, that’s kind of understandable for someone who has been through hell. She’s also ferociously loving, passionate and determined, and she’s a stone cold badass. If you were faced up against an angry lady covered in moving tattoos with a hook for a hand, you’d run away. Ersel learns to stand on her own two feet – or eight tentacles – in both a literal and figurative sense in the background while Ragna’s rage takes the forefront of the novel, and while there’s this promise of perhaps one day, both women have their own goals and dreams independent of one another.

For me, this book build upon the first one extremely well. The pacing, where it had been slightly slow in areas of the first one, was brilliantly fast in this one. The cast of characters were diverse and individual and I love them so much. The ending of the book was perfectly set up for more, so I hope it’s coming! This is definitely an author on my list of ones to watch and I can’t wait for more writing!

Overall rating: 🧜🏻‍♀️🧜🏻‍♀️🧜🏻‍♀️🧜🏻‍♀️🧜🏻‍♀️ 5 mermaids out of 5

A Copy of The Navigator’s Touch was kindly provided by netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I loved this book so much. It was a fantastic continuation of the series and I really enjoyed the characters and the setting.