Book Review – The Drowning Eyes by Emily Foster

Goodreads Synopsis:

When the Dragon Ships began to tear through the trade lanes and ravage coastal towns, the hopes of the archipelago turned to the Windspeakers on Tash. The solemn weather-shapers with their eyes of stone can steal the breeze from raiders’ sails and save the islands from their wrath. But the Windspeakers’ magic has been stolen, and only their young apprentice Shina can bring their power back and save her people.

Tazir has seen more than her share of storms and pirates in her many years as captain, and she’s not much interested in getting involved in the affairs of Windspeakers and Dragon Ships. Shina’s caught her eye, but that might not be enough to convince the grizzled sailor to risk her ship, her crew, and her neck.

Review:

This was a book that was recommended to me by a friend and as soon as I saw the cover, I couldn’t not buy it! It’s just such a stunning cover and it’s so rare to have a Fantasy cover that features a black woman. I’m also a huge fan of books involving weather magic and so I dove in as soon as I got it.

My biggest issue with this book is that as it’s just a novella, it ended far too soon. We got such tantalising glimpses of fantastic worldbuilding and characters that I didn’t want it to end. The magic system is one I really enjoyed reading about and I found the fact that the apprentices have to lose their eyes and have them replaced by stones was incredibly memorable and gave me such a vivid glimpse of their society.

The characters were fantastic and I particularly enjoyed the fact that the majority were female, along with the fact that several of the characters are queer and are not white. If you’re looking for more diverse reads, this novella is ideal!

I adored this book and strongly recommend it, if you’re doing the Fantasy Bingo then it’s also ideal as it can be used for the seafaring square.

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