It was a nice, middle grade story about a boy looking for his father and conquering his fears in the process.

Ravian's father hasn't come home - Lasse is a sailor and he spends a lot of time at sea, but he's been away too long this time. So, Ravian and his loyal friend Marvin the seagull, decide go on an adventure to try and find Lasse. They end up on a cursed ship, the Night Raider, which you cannot leave once you step foot on its deck. There they meet a grumpy, selfish pirate named Bank and Kars, a boy Ravian's age. Together they'll swim the sea in search for Lasse (and rum).

It was a sweet, adventurous story about friendship, courage, redemption and facing your fears. It felt quite naïve at times and the obstacles Ravian met came straight from a fairytale, which a little underwhelming. But if you feel like a reading a book that feels like a bedtime story, you might want to pick this one up.

Me being me, this book had me at cursed ship and pirates!

I really wanted to love this book but I didn’t quite enjoy it as much as I anticipated. I didn’t quite vibe with the writing style entirely but I’m sure it’ll be a hit with its intended audience! Ultimately it was a charming story!

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did, but I really struggled to connect to the writing style, which is very simplistic, and as such I never really felt I connected to the characters enough to become immersed. It's a fun adventure story, though, and if you get on better with the style I think it would be a very enjoyable read for middle grade fans!

This is a great story, filled with excitement and adventure. Once I got going I was hooked and couldn't put it down.
A young boy goes in search of his missing father, but instead of finding him he ends up trapped on a cursed pirate ship. Thanks to the help of his friends they break the curse and rescue his father from other pirates.

Ravian is the son of a fisherman, and because his father is often away from home, he has learnt to take care of himself. He knows that his father will always find his way back, especially for Ravian’s birthday. Except this year. Though he waits until the sun sets and he can no longer see the ships out in the bay, Ravian’s father doesn’t come, and he fears something must have happened. When he hears the story of a cursed ship captained by a despicable pirate, from which no one who sets foot can return, Ravian decides this could be the only thing keeping his father away, and so he sets out to find him, despite his great fear of sailing.

What he finds not quite what he expected, and on the journey he will learn to find his courage, and find friendship in unlikely places. It’s the perfect high-seas adventure for younger readers, and it often reminded me of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, though toned down somewhat. The characters were vibrant (especially Marvin the seagull), the plot was fast paced, and the illustrations were beautiful! This is also a book translated from Dutch, and I have to praise the translator for the smoothness of the prose.

It was a sweet, middle grade story about a boy looking for his father and conquering his fears in the process.

Ravian's father, Lasse, didn't come home - he's a sailor and he spends a lot of time at sea, but he's been away for too long this time. So, Ravian and his loyal friend Marvin the seagull, go on an adventure to try and find Lasse. They end up on a cursed ship, the Night Raider, which you cannot leave once you step foot on its deck. There they meet Pirate Bank, a grumpy, selfish pirate who's the reason sea coursed the ship in the first place, and Kars, a boy Ravian's age who's been stuck on the ship for a year. Together they'll swim the sea in search for Lasse (and rum).

It was a nice, adventurous story about friendship, courage, redemption and facing your fears. It felt quite naïve at times and the obstacles Ravian met came straight from a fairytale, which made them formulaic and slightly underwhelming. But if you feel like a reading a book that feels like a bedtime story, you might want to pick this one up.

This was a sweet, translated middle-grade focused on love, family, and unexpected friendships. It was filled with adventures, cute illustrations and fun animal sidekicks (my personal favourite being Marvin the seagull). I enjoyed all the little adventures that the protagonists went on and I feel Kramer did a great job at developing the relationships between the characters.

The writing felt quite simplistic at the start that I wasn’t sure I was going to get along with it, but in the end, I found myself enjoying the flow of it. It also wasn’t as exciting as I was expecting though and certain plot points felt lost in the middle of the story. Furthermore, the ending seemed quite convenient but saying that it is a middle grade and I can appreciate that the target audience would have loved it! I’m not this said target audience but I did greatly enjoy this novel and all of the characters and would definitely recommend it for a younger reader.

I did enjoy this book. The story was a lovely story, it did have a slow start with the first couple of chapters but once the story picked up, the pace also picked up.
I loved the characters and did feel for Ravian.
It is a good short story and lovely to read with my sons who really enjoyed everything with the book.

I would definitely read this again.

I had mixed feelings about this book, but by the end I really enjoyed it.
I found the telling of the story to be a tad simplistic at the start, but it improved a lot by the end, becoming a much more enjoyable read. It was a good premise and a satisfying conclusion.
Perhaps not a book I'd read again,.but I think it would be a good book for kids wanting to go from easier stories to more complex ones, with more complicated plots, as it's a good middle ground and has an exciting story.

There was a lot to love about this delightfully adventurous and gorgeously illustrated middle grade. I loved the whole concept about a cursed pirate ship that no one could ever leave. I also really enjoyed the sense of adventure throughout the book, and I loved reading about raging storms and whispering seas. The friendship that developed between the two boys was also really sweet and Marvin, the seagull, was absolutely adorable. However, there were a number of things that just didn’t work for me. My main problem being the pacing. I felt like the book, especially the ending, was far too rushed. This really impacted my enjoyment of the book. I also didn’t feel that the way in which the curse and the riddle of the sea was dealt with was satisfying at all.

We loved this book. Pirates, adventure on the high seas, rescues........
The main characters are relatable, brave and caring (even the grumpy pirate). There is tension and excitement but only mildly scary. The children thought it was the best pirate book we had read for ages.

I really did not enjoy this one, the concept was great but the execution just was not there for me. The story was so quick with so many things added in which made it hard to really immerse myself in it. Sadly not a winner for me.

Lyrical and sweet, I admit it is hard for me, a not small child, to review this novel.

But, I'd like to think I'm in tune with my inner child, so here I go:

The characters.
Oh how I am a sucker for a pirate. Even an old grumpy one. Every lil' kid deserves to see their grandparent go on an adventure! And while he may not be the hardened, seen too much, wise guy from big old fantasy novels, I appreciated the grump.
Ravian is also a solid main, because when you're that age, you don't know what you're doing, but you could tell her cared!

The plot.
OMG YES. Scary, but not bloody. Engaging and OH those pictures!! PRETTYPRETTYPRETTY. And I will always be a sucker for a sea battle...

Overall.
I know I'm not the audience for this book, but I'm sure those who are will ADORE this. As it stands, it was fun, light hearted and I regret nothing.

I read this book really quickly, it is really well written with an enchanting plot and well developed charcaters that I think children will really engage with. The illustrations were beautiful and will really help children bring their imagination even more into play. A really good book.