I inhaled this book like the Kraken can sink a ship...fast...way too fast...

Give me pirate books any day. A dark retelling of The Little Mermaid with a plot twist we could see coming, but it's still very fun to read. I liked the book. The writing flows, and the characters are strong.

Bonus point for Ramsay. He has this perfect, dangerous, hot, pirate vibe going on, and I'm here for it. Let's be honest...
Maren can appear like a damsel in distress, but she's a strong FMC. Everyone is a monster, everyone is morally grey (or dark dark grey), and that's entertaining.

It might not be your cup of tea if you are looking for a serious retelling of some sort or a cozy romance, that's not IT. You have been warned. The ending felt a bit rushed for me, but it works nonetheless. This is a standalone book, but my understanding is that there is a book 2 set in the same world.

Pick it up if you like:
- Romance (dark - read the trigger warnings) / open-door (when there is a door...)
- Pirates - yay!
- Fantasy (magic, supernatural)
- Action
- Strong and resiliant FMC
- He falls hard, MMC

Thank you to Metal Blonde Books and Netgalley for the ARC. Thank you for allowing me to sail with Maren & Ramsay.

This story was everything I didn’t know I wanted in a Little Mermaid retelling. This is definitely a dark, gritty, and oh so spicy retelling with a very substantial list of trigger warnings if that tells you anything. I enjoyed every moment of it. I cried during parts of it, felt like my heart was being absolutely crushed in a couple of places. I did get slightly annoyed with some of the characters and some of the plot here and there, but overall I vibed with it.

OH boy let me tell you, I'm a fan of Halle's book and this one was no different, I love that it was a stand alone and I devoured it immediately. If you've never read one of her books, this is the one to start with

A very adult Little Mermaid meets Pirates of the Caribbean in this blisteringly spicy story with a surprising amount of heart. I was looking for a fun read in between some heavier books, and this was exactly what I needed. If you are looking for a spicy, fun, fast-paced romance and you love possessive pirates, this book is for you. This is more of a dark romance, so check the content warnings; but if a pirate / hostage siren romance sounds like your type of story, you will probably love this one.

I would recommend A Ship of Bones & Teeth to readers who loved To Ravish A Rogue by C. M. Nascosta, as well as to fans of pirates, sirens, and darker romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Metal Blonde Books for the arc! All thoughts & opinions in the review are my own.

3.5 ⭐

This book was fine. I liked the world the author created, adapting elements from <i>The Little Mermaid</i> into her rendition of the story, and writing what comes after the mermaid gets her ‘happily ever after’—which actually <i>isn’t</i> going so happily when this story begins. As far as darker fairytale retellings go, this adaptation had a lot of fun with changing details—the monstrous mermaids; Prince Eric, who wished his mermaid hadn’t regained her voice; the fate of the syren kingdom Ariel—or in this case, Maren—left behind. The only issue is, I felt like some elements present in this novel were <i>very</i> good, while others only frustrated me.

I did like the introduction and again starting around the 75% mark. However… Some of the content in the middle of the story feels chaotic/random, as many things only happens when its’ necessary to the plotline, even if it doesn't make much sense. The characters (all of them) act as villains when its’ convenient, and flip flop back to compassionate and loyal at convenience, too. The pirates leave their captain in the deal with the sea witch yet are somehow ‘loyal’ even when nobody opposed him being handed over, Maren/Ramsay both act aggressive with each other at random, and Nerissa is painted as a villain until she isn’t—even though she’s been making problems for half the book, suddenly she’s the crews’ friend and cares about everyone!

I don’t mind that both of the main characters are monstrous in their own right—but the characters just say whatever sometimes (such as Ramsay claiming they “don’t torture people for fun” only to be called out for doing so, and then being like “oops, i hoped she wouldnt see that”). I kept wishing he would stop trying to convince Maren he was ethical every now and again, only to then say something contradictory moments after.

I have my own separate issues with Maren. Maren flops between being all-powerful and weak (even with her syren powers), and has no sense of self-preservation; she knows she shouldn’t tell any pirates what she is because they DRINK THE BLOOD OF HER KIND, and yet, as soon as she has opportunity to run away, she instead saves Ramsay and spills her life story to him. Every time she runs away from his ship she fails, even when she is literally in the open ocean and can breathe underwater. I felt like throwing my hands up. I wish the romance co-existed with Maren making sensible decisions, but unfortunately her and Ramsey’s love kind of depends on her not thinking anything through and being really really bad at escaping the boat for a while there.

I did really like the end portion of the book, where she started actually using her abilities and got her 'voice' back, and used it for really cool reasons involving sinking ships, and when she was actually monstrous and ate some hearts. Kind of wished there was more of that in the novel… as well as more of Nill the shark and Skip the cat!

Thank you to NetGalley and Metal Blonde Books for the ARC!

I loved how unique the world building and story felt, while still being a retelling and having a set up from a fairytale we all know and love. Id call it a reimagining more then a retelling and I loved that aspect. The writing was so lyrical and beautiful. I truly loved the banter in the first half but felt like that was easily replaced with their love and I missed that in the second half. I love to laugh with my characters in my romance leaning books. Maybe not fair to the story but I wanted more out of it and wished it was a series over a standalone, but obvs it is written to be a standalone. But I felt like it was missing a little bit of depth and time with the characters that making it a duopoly would fix.