Publisher: Scholastic
Publication date: June 1, 2010
ISBN: 9780545114738
Source: ARC from Traveling ARC Tours
Camille is not your typical 1850s girl. She's grown up sailing the world with her father. But, when she embarks with him on her last voyage before getting married, she doesn't expect that this trip will change everything in her life. Her father is lost on the voyage, but she learns a secret about her mother, who she thought was dead, and a treasure that yields both great power and danger. Will she be able to keep her father's business from debt, find this dangerous treasure, and be able to master her growing feelings for the handsome sailor Oscar, who is definitely not her fiance?
Things I Liked:
The adventurous parts were very fun - nothing like a sailing and treasure-hunting story to make a book thrilling. When there were good sailing adventures or exciting parts, they were very good. I was caught up in those particular parts. The plot was quite twisty and kept me interested throughout, despite some of the slower parts (see below). It definitely was what kept the book moving and held it together. Camille was an interesting character, both wanting to please her father and live according to the expectations of the time, but also and wanting to be free of societal constraints.
Things I Didn't Like:
I thought the fantastical elements surrounding the treasure were very underdeveloped. The ending felt very rushed, not completely thought out and explained, and a bit too easy. While Camille did have to make a difficult choice, I thought that it still kept her from dealing with death in a healthy way. Also, while the overall plot was exciting, I did get bored at times. There were some lulls in places that drew me back from the story. But, a very good first novel and with some possibility for a sequel left in the ending.
Read-alikes:
A bit like The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King
BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !
a very few
mrg-factor: X
innuendo for the most part
v-factor: ->
some fighting
Overall rating: ***
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