All the Tides of Fate

All the Tides of Fate, Adalyn Grace's follow up to All the Stars and Teeth picks up almost exactly where the first book finishes. Amora is now Queen and is trying her best to find a way for her fractured kingdom to move forward, determined to right the wrongs her family have perpetuated during their centuries of rule and heal the divides between the various islands that make up the kingdom. Her ascension to the throne has not been without criticism , and to cap it all off she is still coming to terms with the curse placed on her in the previous book, which not only linked her soul to that of another, but also seems to prevent her accessing her magical abilities. When she learns of a magical artefact that may help her break the curse, she sets off with a select crew to try to track it down, using the pretence that she is on the hunt for a husband as cover for their travels.
Once again we see all the familiar faces from All the Stars and Teeth, and the chemistry between Amora and Bastian sizzles. I did struggle with Amora as a character, especially in the early sections of the book where she seemed both spoiled and foolish, though this did improve as the book went on. I wish we had more time with and more development of the secondary characters as the glimpses we did see of the backstory of characters like Vataea and Shanty definitely piqued my interest. There is more of and emphasis on intrigue and court politics in this book, and while I did enjoy it , I missed the sense of adventure of the previous book. That being said I found the ending satisfying and thought it fit the book very well.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

A healer.
A mind speaker who can wield air.
A mermaid who can turn the tides with a single song.
A face-shifter.
A pirate with curse magic (and a boisterous cocky smile).
A headstrong young queen with the power to either save her kingdom or damn it (and herself) beyond repair.

First of all, I loved reading this book. It’s been quite a while since I felt as much, was so immersed when reading a book as I was when reading All the Tides of Fate. It’s heart-wrenching and full of dark topics, but it’s also a tale of happiness, hope and the vision of a better, brighter future.
All the Tides of Fate is so cleverly written, full of sarcasm and witty characters among the suspense and darkness. It has everything needed for a great YA fantasy book and I found it completely impossible to put the book down once I started reading.

All the Tides of Fate picks up a few months after All the Stars and Teeth (the first book in this duology), in a time where the kingdom struggles to revive and rebuild their society. And the main character and her crew all tries to deal (or not deal) with the aftermath of it all.
It’s a book about dealing with loss, dealing with the pain of losing someone you love. It’s a book about choices, about choosing between doing what’s right or giving in to your greatest wish. It’s a book about a young queen trying to rule - to make herself heard in a patriarchal kingdom where many consider her to be a unreliable ruler whereas where she a man, people would follow her lead without question. We all love a strong female MC, and Amara Montara is strength impersonated - no question about it.

Usually, I don’t like when it’s a lot of politics and social games in a book - I’m all for adventures and journeys - and because of that, I was a bit hesitant at first to pick up this one. I devoured All the Stars and Teeth and was afraid the sequel wouldn’t reach my rather high expectations. How wrong I was. I don’t regret reading this book the slightest. I only wish I could’ve read slower, made it last longer. I really should’ve known that a book written by Adalyn Grace is without a doubt anything but boring.
In this case I didn’t mind the politics at all. All the Tides of Fate is a perfect mix of politics and adventures, there’s not a boring second when reading this fast-paced fantasy book.

Finally I just need to give you all a fair warning: I’m not one to cry when reading a book. No matter of devastating the situation is, I don’t shed a tear. But this book completely destroyed me. This book sure was a roller-coaster of feelings. That being said, you should not hesitate to add this to your tbr (or preferable, read it immediately)!

My main thought whilst reading this book: Amora is an idiot.

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first. It lost a bit of the fun that made me love the first book so much, and Amora became so much more annoying in this one. Any character development she accomplished in All the Stars and Teeth just disappeared. She refused to trust anyone, I think mainly to keep the plot going, and she refused to let anyone know what she was thinking. Which led to mistakes. Constant mistakes. I just found it a bit unbelievable and aggravating. She also went back and forth SO MUCH. I am the Queen, you must obey me! And then a moment later, Visidia deserves better. I do not deserve to be their Queen. Aaargh. It was just so frustrating.

Also the romance that I wasn’t keen on in the first book became even more annoying in this one. The issues that cropped up between them were just blown out of proportion. I just did not understand why Amora was so intent on staying at odds with Bastian, often for no reason at all.

And the character’s that I loved so much in the first book took a bit of a backseat in this one which didn’t really help. I wanted more of the fun banter and antics of the first book, but it just fell flat in this one. What scenes Bastian and crew did have just felt like a bit of a let-down.

Also pirates! High seas adventure! All the stuff I was initially drawn to in the first book, they just weren’t as prevalent in this one. It was a lot more about Adalyn consolidating her power and trying to forge new alliances to help the islands recover from the events of book one. If you enjoy that kind of thing you’ll love this, but I just wasn’t as interested in the politics as I was by the journeys at sea.

What I did like though was how simple and easy-to-read Adalyn Grace’s writing is. Also the last 20% was very emotional and really got to me. I genuinely felt upset at certain events, and I actually really liked how it all ended and how everything was wrapped up nicely.

To sum it up, this book had more politics than the seafaring adventure I loved in book one but there was still enough that I enjoyed it. Just not as much as I loved book one.

All The Tides of Fate returns readers to the kingdom of Visidia in the exiting follow up to 2020's All The Stars And Teeth.

The first book in this series was a sprawling adventure that saw Amora, the heir to the kingdom of Visidia, having to gather a small crew of allies and travel to a remote island to fight for her future against a warlord beset on destroying everything she held dear. It was grand, the stakes were huge, and it had a sense of being about more than just the characters we were spending time with, and more about the fate of the entire kingdom. Because of that I was somewhat taken by surprise when I started reading All The Tides of Fate and found that the second book seemed much smaller in scale, and focused more on the people involved than the adventure that they were going on.

This book finds Amora now the queen of Visidia, following the events at the conclusion of the first book, and now in a position to try and make amends for the things that her family has done in the past, and to help those places in her kingdom she travelled to in the first book, the places that are struggling to survive. And on the whole, it seems like Amora is doing quite well. There are improvements being made across Visidia, and people have happily taken to being allowed to learn more than one type of magic.

Despite this, however, things aren't going well for Amora. Not only is she still suffering from post traumatic stress from the loss of her father, but her soul remains split in two, with part of it being cursed inside of Bastian. Not only does this mean that the two of them can't be too far apart from each other, but it also means that Amora can no longer use her soul magic. To make matters worse, some people within her kingdom have started to suspect that there might be something wrong with their new queen, and descent has begun.

In order to put a stop to the rumours spreading about her, and to try and win over the people, Amora agrees to go on a tour of the islands to find a suitor to marry. However, this is all pretence on her part, as she has learned of the existence of an artefact that might allow her to break the curse upon her, and is determined to track it down, using the bachelor tour as a cover.

One of the things that feels immediately different about this book is that there doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency to things like there was in the first book. In the first book Amora had a mission that took her across her kingdom and put her in danger, just like in this book, but it always felt like she was rushing from place to place then, whereas here hings seem to take a more leisurely pace. This isn't a bad thing, however, as it allows the characters more time to interact with each other, and the interpersonal relationships seem to be given more time in the spotlight, and seem to be a more important part of this journey. It's less about getting somewhere and finding something, and more about how this journey changes those involved.

As well as getting the old crew back together, Bastian the dashing rogue, Ferrick the loyal advisor and best friend, and Vatea the deadly mermaid, Amora is also joined by two new crew members, Casem and Shanty. These two new characters fit into the crew really easily, and it doesn't alter the existing dynamic too much, feeling instead like they should have always been a part of the adventure. Shanty in particular is a great addition, and her illusion magic makes her one of the more versatile members of the team, as well as a character with an interesting backstory that you want to learn more about. Much like the first book, however, the stand out is definitely Vatae, the deadly mermaid who has become friends with the humans and decided to stick around with them on their adventures. Other than Amora she's probably the character who goes on the biggest emotional journey in this book and I loved how she evolved over the course of the story; and just like with the first book by the time things come to a close I was sad that I wasn't going to get more time with her.

I mentioned earlier that Amora is suffering from PTSD, and this is something that comes up multiple times in the narrative, and informs much of her actions and decision making. Heroes of YA adventure stories tend to go through a lot of trauma, and are put into situations that most people could never imagine, but it's often stuff that gets pushed back to the background in favour of storytelling across the franchises they feature in. Instead of brushing it under the rug Adalyn Grace makes it an important part of the narrative, and shows that Amora is a very human protagonist, one who's not just haunted by their trauma but allows it to shape them and inform their actions. Amora coming to terms with her loss and moving forward from that are in a lot of ways more important than the magical artefact that she's searching for, or the fate of the kingdom, and it makes the entire narrative feel more grounded; which is saying something when it's a story about magic and monsters and gods. But that's the importance of addressing that kind of trauma, and I think anyone who's been through trauma themselves will be able to see how well Grace handles it here, and will identify with Amora a lot more.

There's a lot that happens in this book that I really liked, and there are parts of the story that I wasn't expecting that came as a pleasant surprise, but the one thing I think that probably bothered me most about the book was that despite how long it was it felt a little too short. There was so much time given over in the first half of the book where Amora was travelling through her kingdom and learning about what's going on that by the time the character really focused on getting the artefact she needed things felt a little rushed. Events unfolded at a pretty fast pace in the final section of the book, and whilst still being great I'd have loved it if we'd have been given another hundred pages or so, just so things could have been given more time. But that's just my personal view, and there's nothing really wrong with the book and I still loved it. Well, other than something that happens towards the end that almost made me cry, but I can't really go into that (spoilers!).

I know that this is the final part of this story, that this was billed as a duology when the first book came out, but if ever Adalyn Grace wants to return to this world in the future I'd be more than happy to see what happens next. Whether it's following Amora, one of her crew, new characters all together, or even going back in time and exploring some of the history of Visidia, I think Adalyn Grace has managed to craft a world that fans are going to want to come back to, a world that will keep drawing them in. Hopefully we'll get some more some day, but for now, this is the perfect ending to this story.

I loved all the stars and teeth, and so I had high expectations for this book. It certainly didn't disappoint. I highly recommend this series

I devoured All The Tides of Fate! I read it in a couple of sitting, one Sunday afternoon, completely engrossed in the story. I enjoyed the first book in this duology, All The Stars and Teeth, where we are first introduced to the characters and the story, but I have to say that I LOVED All The Tides of Fate because both the characters and the plot develop well, much better than I expected, and I was sad when I reached the end (both because the end is heart-breaking and because the story is over).

The protagonist of All The Tides of Fate is Amora Montara, now the new queen of Vividia. Following the events of the first book, the kingdom of Vividia is still healing and Amora is ready to do anything to help it and protect it, even if this means going on a tour of the islands looking for an eligible bachelor who could become her king. In reality, Amora is looking for something, something that will keep her secret hidden from her people and that could break her curse.

I really liked the character of Amora. She is flawed, she doesn’t always make the right choice, and, thanks to the author’s brilliant and captivating writing, her worries, her doubts, her grief feel real and relatable. She is surrounded by a cast of brilliant and entertaining characters. I would love to be part of her crew: Bastian, Ferrick, Vateea, Casem, and Shanty kept me glued to the pages.

All The Tides of Fate is a terrific and riveting story. There is magic and there are pirates and sirens. There are love, friendship, and family. As I mentioned, the ending is heartbreaking but also fantastic and I am already looking forward to Adalyn Grace’s next book!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me an early copy of this book. This picks up a few months after the end of the previous book with a lot of court politics which I love!

This did take me a little longer to get into than the first, and I did struggle with the graphic descriptions of Amora having panic attacks - I wish there had been a warning in the front so that I didn't pick this up in an evening.

I ended up loving this book and can't wait to read more from this author!

Thank you to Titan for providing this ARC via NetGalley. All opinions remain my own.

All the Stars and Teeth was one of my favourite reads last year, and I was really excited when I was approved for the second book in this duology on NetGalley. Although this story is finished, I really hope the author returns to this world in the future – I am not quite ready to completely leave Visidia.

That’s always a very good sign in any fantasy series – when it feels painful to leave behind a world and characters you’ve come to know and love. All the Stars and Teeth did a fantastic job of setting things up, building the world, and introducing us to these characters, while giving us an ending that sets up the next book nicely.

When we join Amora at the start of the book, she is ruling as queen, hiding the truth about her magic from her people, as well as hiding the fact she can no longer perform magic, and that Bastian has the missing half of her soul. The islands are growing restless, her authority is questioned, and Amora is stuck until she discovers the existence of a missing artefact. To give her the chance to travel and investigate, she agrees to a trip involving her looking for a husband among the various islands in her kingdom.

It’s a fun setup (though perhaps not for Bastian) and gives Amora a good excuse to get her crew back together, with two new additions. We get to see a more political side to Amora, slightly more scheming, withholding information from her friends and trying to focus on what’s right for her people, hoping she can eventually reveal the truth about Soul Magic and the curse in her bloodline.

This novel deepens the relationships from the first book, while giving room for others to emerge. I would have loved to have seen more of the islands and how they were coping with the changes, and it would have been great to have a little more of Amora’s tour, but cramming too much in would have made the book overcrowded.

We do get to see some of the islands, and Adalyn Grace’s worldbuilding really pays off, building on what we have seen in the first book while introducing some new aspects, too.

It all gels together really well, from the relationships between the characters, the islands we visit, and the politics and secrets casting shadows over Amora. This is a fantastic duology, YA fantasy with a strong female lead and a strong plot leading you through both books. I can’t wait to see what Adalyn Grace writes next.

I had not long read All the Stars and Teeth so fortunately didn’t have a long wait to read this gorgeous book. Diving back into Visidia pretty much where we left off with Amora still cursed to Bastian and doing her best to avoid him at all costs. She’s trying to test how far her curse lets her go from him without much success.

Visidia is in trouble, people are doubting their Queen’s power and Amora is forced to try and show her strength to her advisors. Having suffered so much from the last book, she is adamant that no one is taking her crown from her.

I did find Amora quite frustrating in this book, she is quite closed off and to herself when the simplest solution for her is to share her burden with the people who care very much for her, her motley crew of Bastian, Ferrick, Shanty, Vataea and new addition on Casem.

While I find her frustrating it’s easy to say she should just open up but she feels weighed down by her responsibilities and being cursed to Bastian, she doesn’t know if her feelings are true. Her mother suggests that she take a tour of the kingdom to find a husband to produce an heir which will better secure her throne. While the idea of this jars with Amora, it does have a kernel of sense to it. Bastian is not enthused by this but goes along with it so long as he gets a chance to court her too.

I love the development of the other members of the crew from the last book, Vataea has come into her own and is absolutely terrifying in some parts! Shanty is such an interesting character and I’m glad we get to see more of her in this book, there is some additional information that gives more of a backstory to how she knows Bastian. Ferrick, I have such a soft spot for him and he goes from strength to strength in this book.

The storyline of this book follows Amora’s task to find someone called Ornell who has knowledge of how to get power from the Gods. With this amount of power, Amora would be unstoppable and can do things like bring people back from the dead. Though, this information came from Blarthe and is not to be 100% trusted.

It was also nice to see some more of Visidia as we visit Kerost again, Curmana and Valuka. Valuka sounds AMAZING, so vibrant and exciting. Amora has never been in more danger since she left Arida and while it's dangerous for her, it's exciting for us to read!

There’s a huge plot twist that I did not see coming and it devastated me. It made the tears flow and while I hated what happened, it was a shocking turn of events and the best solution for everyone and that little note at the end was beautiful.

Amora must decide whether bringing someone back from the dead is the right course of action for the future of Visidia or she must let go of the past and embrace the future. The Godwoken have foreseen two paths, one leading to destruction and one to salvation.

I loved this book so much, it was fun, adventurous and utterly devastating.

The highlight with this book was that it was partly set at sea. Other than that it wasn't for me.

After reading the first book in the series I was unsure if I wanted to continue or not. I wasn't blown away by the first book but I didn't hate it either. However, I did want to know how it ended. I shouldn't have bothered. This suffered from a trope I very much dislike - the sudden loss of trust in your friends because you lost someone you loved... but your friends are there wanting to help and you don't accept it.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad book. I just don't like that trope.

The book is told for one perspective, Amora the queen. She is resilient but suffers from PDST from the last book. Amora annoyed me. There I said it. I get that she questions herself and her friends but having the same internal dialogue in ever chapter gets tiering and I get frustrated. But maybe that's just me. Also, this book is filled with the classic YA trope of having lost someone dear and therefore lose the trust in everyone else just in case you lose them too. I don't like this trope at all. And I like it even less now.

I did wish we could get some more interaction with the supporting characters. I felt they were a bit left to themselves and I really liked the face shifted.

It's an ok sequel. A fair ending to a series. It's an easy and quick read. If anything else comes out related to this series I won't pick it up, I've had enough.