Blog Tour - The Ship of Shadows by Maria Kuzniar

Blog Tour Review - The Ship of Shadows by Maria Kuzniar

Aleja is a dreamer who longs for a life of magic and adventure. So when a mysterious ship arrives in her Spanish harbour city, crewed by a band of ruthless women, Aleja knows it's sailed right out of a legend.

And it wants her.

But life aboard the Ship of Shadows is more than even she bargained for. It will take all of Aleja's strength and skill to gain the trust of her fellow pirates - and discover what they are risking everything to find . . .

The Ship of Shadows is packed full of vibrant magic, atmospheric adventure, pirates, explorers, hidden cities full of traps and treasure, and some fascinating characters.

I love it!

What? You need more reasons to rush out and buy it?

Okay, I can go on. It's gloriously feminist. These are female pirates who are happily out pirating in a male-dominated industry. They are powerful, fierce, determined, sometimes flawed but almost always cool. 

There are gorgeously cute animal companions. But they're not your run of the mill animal companions. These are magical shadow creatures, born into the mix of wild magic flooding around the ship, taking form and personalities. 

There's so much adventure! It's a glorious mix of the pirate and treasure hunter styles, like a cross between Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones or the Mummy. There are pirate rivals to fight off, exotic ports to visit, deserts to cross, puzzles to solve and treasure to be won. 

There's genuine peril, and genuine friendship too. Two of the things I always look for in any adventure story. The Ship of Shadows has them in plenty. With cake! (That's more the friendship side than the peril side, now that I think about it.)

The cover is absolutely stunning too, and you know I say you should always judge a book by its cover! Karl Mountfield just keeps getting better and better, and Penguin have gone all out here, with a cut out and foil and everything. 

Basically everything about this book is gorgeous, exciting and fun! I really can't recommend it highly enough.

Definitely a full five moons for The Ship of Shadows.

🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕

The Ship of Shadows is by Maria Kuzniar, published by Penguin and is available now. I received a copy via NetGalley in return for an honest review, and this review has been part of the WriteReads blog tour.