ARC Review: Seafire by Natalie C. Parker

Title: Seafire (Seafire #1)
Author: Natalie C. Parker
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Razorbill via BookExpo
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication Date: August 28th 2018 

Summary: 

After her family is killed by corrupt warlord Aric Athair and his bloodthirsty army of Bullets, Caledonia Styx is left to chart her own course on the dangerous and deadly seas. She captains her ship, the Mors Navis, with a crew of girls and women just like her, whose lives have been turned upside down by Aric and his men. The crew has one misson: stay alive, and take down Aric's armed and armored fleet. But when Caledonia's best friend and second-in-command just barely survives an attack thanks to help from a Bullet looking to defect, Caledonia finds herself questioning whether or not to let him join their crew. Is this boy the key to taking down Aric Athair once and for all...or will he threaten everything the women of the Mors Navis have worked for?

Your computer/phone screen will literally do nothing for Seafire's cover. If you think the digital version is stunning wait until you actually have this book in your hands. It is magnificent. Getting into my review though .... I think this is going to be the book of 2018 that I am going to be a black sheep on. Don't get me wrong, I did like Seafire. I loved the message of sisterhood and how family doesn't have to be blood related, trust and girl power. They are all things that I enjoyed most about the story, but there was a part of me that couldn't love this story as much as I would have liked too. 

The world building was my biggest problem. In the moment of whats happening, who is involved and ect. you have a pretty clear picture. Parker paints a vivid picture for her readers. But everything outside of that is a bit misty. We hear about the tyrant ruler who everyone fears, but that's all I know about him? You learn about the Bullets and the Scythes and the surface is barley scratched. I wished there was a little more depth to Seafire, this is where my love for the book dwindled a little bit. This is going to be a series so it is absolutely something that can change with in the next novels, and I hope that it does because this series has so much potential. 

Where I had trouble with this book there is also so much that I loved about it. Parker created a wide cast of characters. The Mors Navis is made up entirely of a female crew, how bad ass is that? Talk about girl power and intelligent women. I enjoyed the bond that the crew shared, they weren't sisters in the sense of blood but in experience and dedication to each other. Caledonia is fierce and easily my favorite characters. In YA I feel as if you see a lot of female leads go through a face from being weak to being strong and fierce. Seafire starts with Caledonia being fierce and oriented. It was something that I admired most about her character through out the novel. 

The ending of Seafire leaves me really eager for the next book and beside that I can't wait to see the cover as well. I can only imagine what it is going to look like. *Heart eyes* Though I did have my troubles with Seafire and other then the world building was a very well written book. There is no doubt in my mind that this one is going to be a huge hit. 

(3.5 Stars!)