*Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, Children's | Harper Fire for providing me this book in exchange for an honest review*

I do believe that this was one of the best books I've read in 2024, minus the romance. The world-building was really good, the characters were all likable but the romance was a miss for me. Re-read it without the romance and it's a great book. The romance felt like it was forced and predictable. Other than that a solid 3.75 star read.

I loved the setting of this story, but it failed to keep my attention as I couldn't help but think that I have read very similar books that were much, much better. The plot didn't make a lot of sense to me and I was easily able to guess the reveals.

Where to start with this…

The plot of this book didn’t make much sense to me. We follow Mira who lives on an island where the people make a living from wrecked ships. When her father is imprisoned for luring the ships to be wrecked, Mira must find a way to save him. To do so she opens up an old chest of her mothers that happens to have coordinates and so Mira decides to follow these. How is this relevant to her dad being imprisoned?

Along the way there is a romance and some highly predictable turns.

I didn’t really enjoy it and hoped it got better the more I read but it didn’t.

The download date was unfortunately missed, I would be happy to re-review if it became available again. I have awarded stars for the book cover and description as they both appeal to me. I would be more than happy to re-read and review if a download becomes available. If you would like me to re-review please feel free to contact me at thesecretbookreview@gmail.com or via social media The_secret_bookreview (Instagram) or Secret_bookblog (Twitter). Thank you.

I felt things really only got going with the story towards the end of the book, which was a little frustrating but then I guess you need to get people to really want book 2! The characters were okay but I didn't really feel drawn to any of them particularly. It was an okay read for me,but this will definately have some appeal to our Romantasy readers in the library and there are a lot of them!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, for a full review see my Amazon or Goodreads page.

Omg! I adored this book! Couldn't put it down it flowed nicely and I enjoyed the writing style I was half way through this book before I went and ordered the special edition hardcover on Waterstones 🙈

I think we may have the new Romantasy favourite on our hands here. Strong world building, characters you root for and swoonworthy romance too!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the chance to read this ARC, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Compass and Blade is action packed from the first word, the main character, Mira, is an adventuress, initially trapped on an island, retrieving washed up items and helping survivors, a threat to her father spurs her head first into adventure and a world of secrets and sirens. I loved how far she was willing to go for her father and Kai, the descriptions, the peril. I felt towards the end, it was hinting at a love triangle, if a certain betrayal hadn’t occurred. The last chapters had me gripped. I hope there’s a sequel.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, Children's, Harper Fire for this eCopy to review

Compass and Blade was an ok romantasy following Mina as she uncovers the secrets of her mother and her magical abilities in order to save her father and friend Bryn

There is lots of danger and exciting escapes, plus a healthy dosage of betrayal. The romance angle added a little extra to the story but it was quite slow and predictable.

This book… well it didn’t blow me away. I enjoyed reading it enough, but it was very predictable in places and it just left me unimpressed to be honest. I wanted to be swept away on a magical adventure, but I was not.

I liked the character, but she was a little underwhelming. It seemed at times like her only character trait was not leaving people behind, which was overemphasised and led her to some very reckless decisions that for some reason worked out for her.

I also didn’t really see how going away would help her island or her father. I saw how it made sense for the progression of her character, but she seemed to be pinning all her hopes on there being something valuable there, that could save them all, with no evidence that there would be anything of the sort. I felt it was just an excuse the author was using to progress the story.

All in all, I won’t be reading on with this series.

Loads of twists happened, kinda fast. Screaming at Seth and at her for repeatedly trusting him when shes warned against him

Did i know i was a fan of a piratey romance? No i did not, Did i enjoy this piratey romantasy? too right i did!

This is a fast paced fun adventure with plenty of twists and turns a bad ass female character and a lovely romance!

I couldn’t get through this one- finished at 25%.

I just could it to be overly complex for no reason. I didn’t feel connected to the characters or the story. I think this has potential as the setting is really interesting and different but it just didn’t fill that for me.

I really enjoyed Mira's story of trying to save her dad from execution and uncovering her mother's secrets.

I loved the seaside setting, the islands and differences in their customs, and the affinity Mira has with the sea.

Compass and Blade is packed with brilliant characters, gorgeous friendships and heartbreaking betrayals.

I'd love a sequel to this because that ending was everything.

Mira and the rest of her crew lure ships in to wreck, but as a way to help their island and people survive, however, when one such trip doesn't go as planned, Mira finds her group separated and she will have to dig into her past to find a way to help secure the future of her crew that are being threatened with the noose

Such a journey comes with perils, and Mira will need to learn who she can and can't trust along the way.

Very in the vibe of Daughter of the Pirate King, Fable, To Kill a Kingdom etc so if you like this, this might be another seafaring adventure for you to get stuck into

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the review copy... out now!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I am giving it a generous 3 stars despite the fact that I DNFed halfway through, but I think I might not have been the target audience.
In my opinion, if you liked Daughter of the Pirate King, you will probably like this one as well.
It's quite YA (which is fine since that is the target age group) and I do generally enjoy YA fantasy, but this had me rolling my eyes a lot. It comes with a lot of standard YA tropes and the FMC was very special, it just all felt a bit dull to me.

The plot was decent but predictable and there were some logical flaws. I DNFed but I did read some of the ending and the ending was pretty much what I expected it to be, because you could smell the plot twists from miles away.

The main character was okay for the most part except for her being very gullible which was quite frustrating, especially since it was quite obvious that something is going on with the male main character.

I liked the world but I think it could have been a bit more fleshed out.
Overall, the book wasn't for me, maybe if I had been in a different headspace I would have enjoyed it more, but it fell flat for me.
I think others might have a better type, and I can especially see young adults having a good time with it.

This was an interesting and exciting concept that fans of Daughter of the Pirate King will enjoy. The world, inspired by the Isles of Scilly, had so much potential and generally i liked Mira as a MC. I loved that this started off by going straight into the action, with a fast pace that hooks you in- it was a strong start however it unfortunately went a bit slow for me after that for a while before picking up again half way through and it was a shame it wasn’t consistently paced.I really struggled to rate this one because while there were some things i really liked but other things I didn’t.
There was a bit of a love triangle in this and I have a VERY strong opinion on it. I found the romance between Seth and Mira irritating- it felt so unfounded, forced and rushed and I just didn’t feel any kind of spark. This was completely opposite to how I felt about Mira and Eli and I really enjoyed their interactions. It’s possible that the author intended for readers to feel like this about Seth and Eli but I also feel like the intention was for Mira to be conflicted and torn between the two but for me Seth just fell flat.
Overall this was an enjoyable YA Romantasy which many readers will love but for me it just didn’t quite hit the mark.

Mira is a wrecker on her small island, Rosevear until one day when it all goes wrong.

She finds a survivor, Seth. Then her Dad gets arrested and Mira goes on a mission to save her him....but I'm still not really clear on why she goes down the route she does however! Then she hires a crew to take her to coordinates left by her mother....

This book has such a great premise and I really wanted to love it more than I did but it was quite predictable and I found that for a girl having such an affinity with the sea, she certainly gets injured in the water a lot!

It was an ok read and I am really drawn to the cover but one thing I did love about this book was...trust no one!

"I have always been the hunter of treasures, the wreck swimmer, the one who lures the ships in. But now I stand on the other side. As though I am the ship they have lured and trapped.."

A wonderful romantasy set on the high seas in a wonderful world with great world-building. Mira was the perfect character to follow in this adventure with a sassy, fun personality that fits perfectly as a high-seas wrecker who wants to keep her town and those she loves safe. As my first siren romantasy, this was an amazing concept and sub-genre that I will definitely be looking out for in the future. Compass and Blade is the perfect read for any high-seas lover who wants a new look at sirens, shipwrecks and adventure.

Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, Children's for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Compass and Blade is a wonderful romantasy, set in a very imaginative world, with a MC determined to do anything to protect those she love, with magic and romance, dangers and so much more-