Of Mountains and Seas has an ambitious premise with multiple timelines and perspectives in this magical world. I still can’t get over the way the threads come together and the setting! Keep reading this book review of Of Mountains and Seas for my full thoughts.
Summary
For some, the only way to possess magic is to steal it from others.
Born without magic, Davis is an outcast in his own shapeshifter family. Yearning for his father’s approval, he sets down a path that intertwines with Iris, a girl whose own ambitions are hindered by a mysterious illness.
Their quest leads to Yuras, one of California’s smallest towns, unremarkable until they discover a cave of magic-transferring stones. Now they have a chance to change their fates. But they’re not alone.
When locals stumble upon the cave, they unknowingly set into motion a series of events that threatens to expose Davis’s past.
As dark truths surface, one question endures: How much are they willing to take in their quest for power?
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Of Mountains and Seas is an ambitious undertaking. At the beginning, we flit between multiple characters and timelines. It’s jarring at the beginning because the chapters are relatively short so we aren’t really sure what is happening and the timelines and references make it hard to keep track of. I think that’s the element I liked the least, not because it wasn’t fascinating, but because at the beginning it was just a lot. When you lock in and you see the relationships between the timelines and characters it begins to really get swinging. And that’s when Of Mountains and Seas hits it stride. It just is a bit difficult to get there. There’s this world full of animosity between Shifters and Static, between ambition and power.
Of Mountains and Seas had me on a roller coaster. I really locked in around the 30-40% mark but then the amount of revelations to set us up for book two sort of lost me again around 80%. Things were really ramping up and the pace went to the speed of light. I love the premise and the ambition! A multiple timeline story will always pique my interest, I just wish it slowed down in some parts. Of Mountains and Seas has some interesting development with the idea of having power, of ambition, and what we would do for respect.
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