Forever Obsession: 12 Days of Christmas (Day 7): Of Sea and Stone

Of Sea and Stone by Kate Avery Ellison
ISBN: 978-1495470028
Pages: 258
Source: Xpresso Book Tours

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Summary:

All her life, clever Aemi has been a slave in the Village of the Rocks, a place where the sea and sky meet. She’s heard the stories about the fabled People of the Sea, a people who possess unimaginable technology who live below the waves in the dark, secret places of the ocean. But she never dreamed those stories were true.
When a ship emerges from the ocean and men burn her village, Aemi is captured, and enslaved below the waves in Itlantis, a world filled with ancient cities of glass and metal, floating gardens, and wondrous devices that seem to work magic. To make matters worse, her village nemesis, the stuck-up mayor’s son Nol, was captured with her, and they are made servants in the same household beneath the sea.
Desperate to be free, Aemi plots her escape, even going so far as to work with Nol. But the sea holds more secrets than she realizes, and escape might not be as simple as leaving...

Hi everyone! Today I've got a review for you guys. I was sent a copy by Xpresso Book Tours but I promise my opinions are 100% my own! Let's get into the review :)

Aemi is from the land. She's lived as a thrall, a servant for the wealthy. Her mother has recently passed away with the whispered promise that one day Aemi will get to see her homeland, Perilous. Then the people under the ocean come and burn her village to the ground. Everyone is slaughtered, the men kidnapped and enslaved to become soldiers. Aemi is taken too, but she has no idea why. She finds herself an Indentured, a servant for a scholar named Merelus, but he also buys Nol, the mayor's son and her archnemsis. Together, as unexpected the allies, they must come up with a plan to flee Itlantis and return to the world above.

Of Sea and Stone was a fascinating read full with an exciting brand new world under the ocean's waves. The author creates such a vivid world with the 6 floating cities of Itlantis, each with their own floating gardens. I wish I could visit because everything just sounds so magical. While I wouldn't necessarily call this book action packed, it's definitely fast paced as Aemi is forced to figure out the workings of Itlantis and a way to escape as soon as possible. She meets unexpected friends and makes unexpected alliances and struggles to ignore the feeling of belonging she feels with Merelus and Lyssia.

Aemi was a pretty solid main character. She has her own rebellious streak while living as a thrall on land and underwater, she really blooms into her true character. She's smart and uses that cleverness to figure out different escape routes and uncover a betrayal in the Itlantis government. To be honest, I wasn't surprised with the turn of the story because I definitely saw it coming with the way she just adapted to Itlantis life like a fish to water. Pun completely intended.

I hated Nol at the beginning and through a good 50% of the book I had wary feelings about him. However, he began to act less snobby and more human which completely took me by surprise. I have to say that I definitely ship him with Aemi, if only...

All the other side characters were full of personality and life. Lyssia is this passionate girl with a knack for picking locks. She's like the rainbow bottled up into a bottle, but when the cap is opened she just bursts forth into an array of colors. Merelus was like a wise old mentor and I want to give him a big hug for being so nice and encouraging of Nol and Aemi's studies. I don't even know if he is that old, but I kind of pictured him as old and bent over, but with a big warm smile on his face.

I have one problem with the book and that was the ending. I absolutely did not like that ending. I was on this high from the book and that ending completely catapulted my dreams to the floor. Yes, there is a cliffhanger and in my opinion it was not a good one. That doesn't mean my opinion on the book changed, but it definitely put me in a sulky mood for a while.

Overall, I did really enjoy Of Sea and Stone and I definitely recommend it! I do caution about the ending, but it's the first book in a series, so it definitely leads into the second book really well. So I hope this review was helpful and if you do check it out, please let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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