The Cave and the Houseboat

Loved the suspense in this story because it kept me turning pages. I loved the characters and the love story between them too. Will continue to follow this intriguing Sci-fi stroy, it has lot more to offer.

An ex-convict finds himself being held captive by a killer and a teenager finds herself fighting for her life in a school inside a cave. Devin Mace is an ex-convict who is captured and held captive abroad the Houseboat by a recently freed killer. Worlds away is teenager Mayli Harker whois going to school in a cave... and she just happens to be the younger sister of the killer while her rival is none other than Devin's younger brother, Seth. Two different families, worlds apart, find themselves intertwined in the start of a new series. This book is an urban fantasy action packed story and its definitely a unique one. While it was an okay read for me, I definitely think it would appeal to a lot of other people.

*Thanks Netgalley and Sans Antlers Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

In a world full of mixed species, magic, and different realms Devin, Mina, Mayli, and Seth are connected by a series of life choices and events. Devin, an ex-convict, is kidnapped by Mina. Mina, an escaped murderer, is left without a choice when Devin tries to get her caught so she kidnaps him. Mayli, Mina’s younger sister, is on her way to school when she unwittingly starts a rivalry with Seth. Seth, Devin’s younger brother, is always the feared, troublemaker, and he’s not about to let Mayli get what she wants. All the characters are fighting for their lives.

“The Cave and the Houseboat” by Moose Shoemaker was action packed and filled with so many good characters. I loved the idea of the book, and the story was really good. My problem with the book is that the characters were thrown at me so fast that I kept mixing them up. The other problem was that the world building was confusing. I don’t think I was given enough information to figure out the types of species of people, and stuff like that. Even with that though I would like to read the next book because I liked the characters. 4 out of 5 stars.

The Cave and the Houseboat (The Endless World #1) by Moose Shoemaker is a cool genre blending novel that I'm glad I went into nearly blind. I really enjoyed getting to know the world of the story - the combination of urban fantasy and sci-fi worked for me more than I thought it was going to from the outset. The characters are also interesting to get to know. The only downside to this is that everything is thrown at you and it's tricky to keep track of the characters and elements of the world. Otherwise, this is well worth reading and deserves the attention. The upcoming sequel could be very good!

The Endless World has many shadows. In the dull rhythm of a regretful life, ex-convict Devin Mace suddenly finds himself held captive aboard the Houseboat. His captor—an escaped murderer—pulls him into a chilling conspiracy that blurs the lines between reality and fantasy.

This was really good! It's a great blend of fantasy, sci-fi, and horror that kept me reading far past my bedtime. Great characters, really interesting world-building, and excellent prose.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

I don't read much urban fantasy, but this was a fun, exciting read!

There's a lot to understand about this world and the species. But I really like Devin and Mayli. Their adventures were intriguing and kept me on the edge of my seat. I liked the writing- it was easy to follow and the dialogue felt realistic. This book is also dual POV which was interesting and kept the story moving. The pacing lacked in the middle, but overall a fun story and my favourite character was Seth!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the e-arc!

Lets be honest - the BOOK COVER is such an attraction! I clicked on the book so fast! lol!
I liked reading about the mystery, the danger, mixed species and magic :) what a lovely cocktail!
I find sci-fi is a hit and miss for me mostly, however, this one was an interesting read. what i call fun fiction.

I really wanted to love this book as the description sounded so intriguing and the cover is absolutely stunning, however I really struggled to get through it.

The story itself was interesting, but it felt disjointed at times which made it hard to follow. I also felt like the pace was too slow for this type of book and it didn't manage to keep me engrossed.

The series definitely has potential as I really enjoyed reading about the characters and their interactions with each other. I will be keeping an eye out for the next book in the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sans Antlers Press for providing me with this arc.

The beautiful cover art had me intrigued with this story. Unfortunately it fell a bit short for me, but was still an enjoyable read.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC

Devin Mace, an ex convict trying to reform, finds himself face to face, kidnapped and imprisoned upon a decaying houseboat, by serial murderer and escaped convict Mina Harker. Meanwhile Mayli Harker, an absolute spitfire to rival her sister, is on her way to a school for troubled youngsters. Struggling to find where she fits in this new environment she 'accidentally' finds herself in a new rivalry with the most feared and vengeful student of the new school, Seth, Devin Mace's younger brother. However, when Mayli and Seth are forced to room together, they soon form a tentative and fragile bond under the guise of helping each other out.

This is a wild ride, a genre bending, intricately crafted story with some gorgeous sci-fi, otherworldly elements interwoven with some astounding, breath-taking and complex world-building.

Devin was kind of a hard character to empathise with, it felt like he was whiny and useless for the majority of the book, he was just constantly complaining and not really adding anything substantial to the story. I did enjoy seeing his relationship with Mina develop, but honestly he felt a little pathetic, and tended to bring Mina and her bad-ass crew down with his lack of skills and inability to push through his fears.

Mina on the other hand is a bad-ass, spitfire, villain of an FMC, who revels in her homicidal tendencies and was honestly so refreshing, and her recklessness and impulsivity just make her more likeable. Seeing her mindset from Devin's perspective was really enlightening, there's so much more to her character than what's on the surface, which was compelling to uncover. The fact she doesn't let love change her outlook, still revelling in her job of murdering evil people, was utterly thrilling and empowering. Mina is gory, gritty, and exudes such confidence and power, it's hard not to adore her. I do wish we got her POV more because there's still so much depth to her character yet to explore, she is truly an enigma that I can't wait to see crack.

Mayli definitely got aspects of Mina drilled into her personality, just as fierce, head-strong, and perpetually stubborn. Mayli struggles to maintain relationships with others. but when she finds herself forced into the school her father runs that resides underneath a cave, she surprisingly makes some long-lasting friendships that shock even her. Her storyline was interesting especially as the plot began to develop with Seth. At time's she did come across a little whiny and obtuse and quickly becomes frustrated with never being told the whole truth by those she holds dearest, but she is a seventeen year old rebellious teenager, so her reactions did feel somewhat realistic in response. Some of her interactions were definitely more on the childish side, and I felt that her personality and motives changed rapidly from one interaction to the next, i.e. going from being head-strong and stand-offish, to caring and motivated to help people, which became confusing at times.

Seth Mace, suffers from his own affliction, a limit child with a painful gift, Seth finds it even harder to make friends with people around him, feared by all, he generally keeps to himself, terrified of what he might do to those around him, especially if he gives in to what plagues him, he desperately tries to cope with his mental health isolated and alone. Seth was an intriguing character, whose determined to find out what happened to his brother Devin, desperate in his search, he finds himself unwillingly forming a tentative friendship with Mayli Harker. The two find kindred spirits in each other, both trying to figure out their own powers, and coming to terms with how to deal with and control them. Again, I think the story would've benefitted more from Seth's perspective as well, he has so much to him that could be explored further, but it just feels like we only get small snippets and info dumps at random times, which makes his character feel less relatable.

'The Cave and The Houseboat' is an ambitious story with a beautiful and vast array of refreshing characters who are fully realised, found family, a traversing of realms, and packed full of nail-biting, at the edge of your seat action. At times it did feel like the world and characters began to blur together, especially with such a variety of side characters, and the world is so large and intricate, it can at times become confusing. Brimming with whirlwind plot twists, a gory and gritty premise, and intriguing and sinister plots, this story will take you on a wild ride.

~3.75 stars