Song of the current by Sarah Tolcser is one of the books I purchased at YALC. I know the publisher will always be biased towards there books they have published but I’m glad I took there recommendation.
Synopsis
Caroline Oresteia is destined for the river. Her father is a wherryman, as was her grandmother. All Caro needs is for the river god to whisper her name, and her fate is sealed. But at seventeen, Caro may be too late. So when pirates burn ships and her father is arrested, Caro volunteers to transport mysterious cargo in exchange for his release. Secretly, Caro hopes that by piloting her own wherry, the river god will finally speak her name. But when the cargo becomes more than Caro expected, she finds herself caught in a web of politics and lies. With much more than her father’s life at stake, Caro must choose between the future she knows, and the one she could have never imagined.
I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting myself into when I started this book. Parts of the story line are predictable but the strong characters and beautiful setting had me engrossed in the story. It is well written and different to anything I have read recently. Even the romance is what you typically expect. I liked the characters relationships and how they helped develop each other into better people.
Caro is very strong and dedicated character. She was raised by her father on a werry but feels torn between her two parents who have very different ideas on what they want for their daughter. Marko is stuck up and full of himself but learns a lot in his time with Caro. Fee is a character of fee words. She is one of the frogmen and just as strong a character as Caro even if she dosn’t say much. Kente was an amazing addition to the team part way through. She is Carlos cousin and is another strong female but in a different way to Caro.
I loved that Caro was mixed race and you don’t get a lot of mixed race leads in fantasy. The magic system was great. It wasn’t your typical spells or wands type of thing. It was more subtle and exsisted as part of nature. This was an enjoyable read. 4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
W.R.L Morris-Author 