I really wanted to love this one but honestly, I was quite bored the whole way through! It had such a promising synopsis and one that I thought I’d throw myself into - I mean gay, sea-faring adventure… what’s not to like? However, the execution of this novel just didn’t hit. Don’t get me wrong, the representation in this novel was still fantastic but the plot was so unengaging and completely repetitive.

I was also quite shocked when I learned this was an adult novel, as the writing style and character dialogue really felt like two teenagers were talking rather than adults in their 20s. The protagonist was also quite moany and whilst it is, in part, understandable, it became so repetitive that it was almost unbearable. I would also have to say there were quite a lot of plot points going into the second half it felt like a scramble to finish them all, especially after the first 100 pages which I quite liked.

I know I’m likely in the minority of readers with my opinions on this book, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me. The ideas Black had with this story were excellent, it just needed more fine-tuning.

TW: death of a parent, violence, murder, mental illness

This was the perfect companion during a 24-hour winter power outage. With no electricity, this book whisked me away into an enchanting world, distracting me and keeping my spirits high through the dark, cold hours. The story is rich with magical elements and a world that feels both vast and intimate. I absolutely loved the queer characters, whose diverse relationships felt real and heartwarming. The magic/political/religious world was fascinating, and it added layers of intrigue without overwhelming the plot. The way the world and characters are developed makes it a cozy yet adventurous read. This book was the perfect way to keep me entertained and in a good mood during the storm, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an inclusive, immersive fantasy!

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for this wonderful read.

I adored Till Death do us Bard and was very excited for more queer fantasy but with pirates and a magic ship. However this just didn't work for me. I thought the mental health rep was done well and I did enjoy some of the characters but I think it was the lack of cozy, the jarring slightly confusing time hops and some of the pacing that just made this feel too dark and a bit like a slog to get through. I enjoyed Rose Blacks first book so much though that I'm looking forward to what story comes next.
Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder Stoughton for the arc, all thoughts are my own and left voluntarily.

Queer cozy fantasy pirate novel? Yes please! I really liked the author's first book and was excited for this one! I'm really sad to report that it was not my favorite. I wanted to like it so much too!!

I'm not really sure what didn't work for me. I think the pacing threw me off. Time skips would happen and I wasn't super sure what exactly happened in the time off page. It's really focused on the main character's internal world, which just wasn't the most interesting for me. I ended up skimming a lot of it and contemplated DNFing at 78%. That's pretty far into a book for me to consider stopping, but I just wanted to be done.

I'm so sad that this didn't work for me because it seems such like my cup of tea from the description! I think there is a strong story hiding in there, but this one just didn't add up for me. 2.5 stars rounded down to 2. Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the eARC of this book, my thoughts are my own!

A chiaroscuro of a BL romantasy: With spectacular action scenes, a delicately drawn romance, and an interesting take on magic and gods, we’re in familiar territory.

However, although there’s much to love, the halftime revelation flabbergasted my suspension of disbelief, which then made me question all that I had read so far and everything after. The complex lead characters are perhaps a touch too complex, and the neat bow drawn at the end came too soon.

I’m all for writers writing whatever they want, whatever kinds of characters they want to invent; writing is, after all, a creative act. But the area of BL (female presenting writers writing MM romance) has its pitfalls, and this book falls into one of the most subtle; for this reader, the writing style and characterisation rendering the main character’s gender as superfluous, as a mere gender-swapped lead. They could easily have been female instead of male, and I felt a little of the inauthenticity that many BL writers avoid.

An earnest second effort: three stars on the nose.

💌 First of all, I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ebook in exchange for a honest review.

📖 Fated Winds and Promising Seas is a queer and cosy adult fantasy by Rose Black in which we follow Lucky, a prisoner who curiously ends up on The Dreamer, a vessel like no others, where he meets Gabriel, a water-magic wielder and friend from his past.

💌 I requested this ebook on NetGalley because I was definitely in a “I want to read books about pirates and water-magic” mood.

🌊 The blurb of the book was like a recipe for a perfect novel: a cosy fantasy set at sea, a morally gray main character with a mysterious past, the possibility of a found family, queer romance ; I was here for that! There was potential, but sadly, the execution was a bit lacking.
First of all, I would not consider this book a cosy fantasy ; it didn’t make me feel cosy while reading it, and the themes were pretty dark and sad. The world building was confusing at times and I felt like some more elements would have been really helpful.
The story was interesting at first, but I quickly lost interest as this was not at all the book I imagined when I read the synopsis, and once I realised that and detached myself from my original idea, I enjoyed the book a bit better. The pacing was slow, and I was not a fan of the writing style, which is easily understandable, but is more of a “tell don’t show” kind of style, but “tell” being “let’s put everything in the dialogue”. Speaking of the dialogue, some sentences felt really repetitive.
The plot is character-driven, and let’s talk about them. They are fine by themselves, but I did not really like their relationship, which had no chemistry and was too instantaneous for me (I usually prefer slow-burn and all that tension).
On a more positive note, I love the cover of this book, which feels really medieval and represents the story well.

This was an amazing follow up to Rose Black first book. I loved the adventure, the coziness and the romance!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advanced copy!

This was a really great cozy fantasy.
I loved the dynamics between the main characters, the moms, the seafaring and the monsters! It wasn’t as cozy as I originally thought it was going to be. At first, I found it a bit difficult to get into the first few chapters as we meet one of the main characters who is dealing with a lot of trauma from being imprisoned in isolation after being framed for the murder of their mother, that happened in front of them at a young age. After I realized this was a me problem, I quickly got over it! I enjoyed the book being split into a few different parts in order to break the story up. The dynamic between Lucky and Gabriel’s relationship is so heartwarming and I truly loved the healing dynamics.

This was a nice story with fun characters, but it was very surface level. I don’t know what it was about the world, but I couldn’t immerse myself in it in the way I like to with a fantasy book. It was a very interesting world but it didn’t feel real.

The characters as well kind of left a lot to be desired. Lucky was all over the place, which was part of his journey and I could have forgiven that, I think, if there had been more time breaking him down and building him up again. He was very guided by the people around him. But again. It just wasn’t believable. Especially since the author kept going on about how the beaters had the skill of years of training, since they were children and yet Lucky was somehow on their level after a few months? It just didn’t make sense.

As I said, I really did like the ideas behind the world. I liked the idea of binding promises and sacrifice for magic. I liked the idea of this battle between fate and those who dedicated their lives to it and the people who wanted to be free to make their own choices. I’d love to know more about how the fate is decided and whether there’s a god behind it. The author really did have some great ideas, but the execution just wasn’t quite there.

I don’t think I’ll read any more from this author tbh. Til Death Do Us Bard was enjoyable, but this one was a struggle to get through.

This was a lovely, soft, fantasy romance with the most gentle MCs, a bit of water magic, zealots vs heretics and quite a few run ins with Leviathans that added some toothy monster energy to the narrative!

The overall tone was an interesting blend of cozy and creepy. And while the weaver-beater-church bit made me tune out as i've no patience for religion, i stayed for the sweetlings, Lucky and Gabe, for the Dreamers -especially Poe- and for the HEA i needed more than anything because Lucky and Gabe were sooo precious and they deserved it!

The trauma was real and very painful to read at times, and for both Gabe and Lucky the going was tough for a while there. But there was also so much here about identity, devotion, and trust. And the way they both had to help the other -at different parts of the story- to discern what was real from the terrors that haunted from within, just shored up their love story with an intimacy that i found really validating.

Fated Winds and Promising Seas was on the lighter side of queer fantasy, and other than a few gaps in the narrative where i wasn't sure if i'd just missed a connection (arc copy) or the jump was on purpose and my brain was scrambled for a sec, i thought Black did a good job with tone and palpable tension. Can't wait to see what Rose Black has in store in the future, because this was charming and I'm sure whatever comes next will be as well!

A unique queer pirate adventure with lots of hurt/comfort and very loveable main characters! (Please mind the content warnings, though.)

Fated Winds and Promising Seas is a queer dark fantasy novel, written by Rose Black, and published by Hodderscape. A story that heavily features themes such as healing from trauma, found family, neurodivergence, and queer romance, in a bittersweet setting with characters that you will totally want to hug and assure that things will improve.

After 10 years imprisoned for a crime he doesn't remember committing, Lucky takes the chance of escaping when a leviathan attacks his prison; thrown into the sea, he's rescued by the Dreamer, a ship of leviathan chasers, and taken as part of his crew, quickly befriending Gabriel, a young man with his own set of problems. However, Lucky is still being chased by a murderous church, and fate will soon prove to not be so easy to avoid, taking Lucky into a tortuous path that will be accompanied by learning much about himself and his past.

The story is told divided into three parts entirely from Lucky's perspective, our main character. A person that is deeply hurt, struggling with possibly agoraphobia after 10 years imprisoned; a voice that is reflexive and that slowly gets into his freedom. Gabriel will form a great pair with Lucky, as both have their own set of struggles that are hurting them, but if something is constant in this story is how they support each other, even in those parts that are less obvious; a support that makes a friendship evolve into a romance.
The rest of the cast is less developed, as clearly Black intends to focus on the duo, but still we can get those hints of the found family in the motley crew that are part of the Dreamer, while the church plays a nice role as the antagonists to our ship and, in extension, to the culture and religion they come from.

Despite this is a novel focused on the characters, and especially, on how trauma can be healed through enough support, there are still hints of a rich world; not we only have the nautical theme, but we can also see glimpses of an organised religion in a setting that could be inspired by the Caribbean Seas.
The pacing is relatively slow, in line with what you would expect from a cozy novel (even if calling this novel cozy is a bit of a stretch), letting space to reflection and introspection.

Fated Winds and Promising Seas is a bittersweet novel, an excellent piece that manages to build a compelling story about people who are trying to heal, and how they support each other. A dark but cozy story, and which definitely shows Black's ability to create fantastic tales with a focus on the characters.

Thanks Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC!

Gay buccaneers? Highly traumatized lovers? A unique magic system? YES PLEASE!

I really enjoyed the emotional depth that the author allowed the characters to explore in this book. Each character reacts uniquely to the traumatic events they live through, and no one blames them if they don't handle it well. They all are allowed to grieve and process, and the characters don't try to one up each other.

I also really loved the world building in this book. The religious structures were interesting, and also Leviathan's are so cool. I'd love to read more in this world.

This isn’t one isn’t a book that I would normally read. I found myself completely engaged with the story turning the pages to know what happens next. Gabriel and Lucy have a thrilling romance adventure that will keep you glued to you kindle.

an enchanting queer fantasy that blends heartwarming romance with thrilling adventure. Lucky, a prisoner with no memory of his crime, finds himself swept into the magical world of The Dreamer,a ship crewed by outcasts with the power to control water. Guided by Gabriel, a sailor tied to his past, Lucky must uncover the truth about his fate while navigating dangerous seas, fierce leviathans, and the bonds of found family.

The book shines with its rich world-building, unique magic system, and themes of acceptance and healing. The romance between Lucky and Gabriel is sweet and genuine, growing slowly amidst the action-packed journey. Plus, the crew’s tight-knit, quirky dynamic adds a warm “found family” vibe to balance the high-stakes plot.

"When... when do you start accepting it? That you belong somewhere? When do you stop paying attention to the voices that say that you don't, all the fears that you'll cause trouble, hurt people?"

In the beginning, I wasn't sure I would be able to finish the book. I just didn't feel that connection to the characters, but fortunately, I kept on reading and became invested in founding out what was going on with Lucky and Gabe. The augury scene was the one that kept me on my toes, and I was actually worried about what was going to happen...
Overall, it was a good read even if, for me, it was a rough start 🙃

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read the e-arc in exchange for an honest opinion.

3.5

Sadly ,I've had to do a soft dnf for now and come back to the book in the future. I think the writing was very good. Based on what I've read so far I would still recommend this to people I know would love this type of story.

This was everything and more, I loved Lucky story I think he was a wonderful character and I loved the story development.. This is probably one of the best books I've read this year, this was my first book from the author and thanks so much for the change really, such an amazing story of healing and processing things

4.5 Stars

Fated Winds and Promising Seas is a heartfelt fantasy that follows Lucky, a young man escaping a dark past, and his journey aboard The Dreamer, a ship of outcasts and found family. The story contains heartfelt characters and relationships, with a focus on personal growth throughout the novel. A cozy maritime fantasy perfect for fans of character-driven tales with a magical twist.

I after having the lovely chance of reading Rose Black's first book: Til Death Do Us Bard, there was absolutely no chance I would ever be able to skip a novel by Rose. Fated Winds and Promising Seas brings the same feeling that Til Death Do Us Bard did. It delivers found family, queer romance, fascinating magic and magical creatures and who can ever say no to adventures at sea?

I will say that I have seen some people say that they consider this a cozy read and while the book has some cozy elements, I would never consider this book as such. It is a relatively dark book full of trauma and sadness. Lucky has been in prison for the past ten years for murder, something he does not remember doing. When he is freed from prison during an attack, he escapes onto a ship of hunters. He might be physically free, but mentally he's not. I just have such a soft spot for character-driven stories. Following Lucky and his path to healing was wonderful.

I don't want to give too much of the story away, but just know that I truly loved it and that I shall continue to keep an eye out for Rose Black's upcoming novels.

Thank you so much for granting my request for the eARC!