[review] Song of the Current by Sarah Tolscer
Read from 16/07/17 to 17/07/17
First in the Song of Current series
Caroline Oresteia is destined for the river. For generations, her family has been called by the river god, who has guided their wherries on countless voyages throughout the Riverlands. At seventeen, Caro has spent years listening to the water, ready to meet her fate. But the river god hasn’t spoken her name yet—and if he hasn’t by now, there’s a chance he never will.
Caro decides to take her future into her own hands when her father is arrested for refusing to transport a mysterious crate. By agreeing to deliver it in exchange for his release, Caro finds herself caught in a web of politics and lies, with dangerous pirates after the cargo—an arrogant courier with a secret—and without the river god to help her. With so much at stake, Caro must choose between the life she always wanted and the one she never could have imagined for herself.
From debut author Sarah Tolcser comes an immersive and romantic fantasy set along the waterways of a magical world with a headstrong heroine determined to make her mark. (Goodreads)
> Great start - We jump into the conflict immediately from page one.
> I love the writing, it is simple yet captivating. Tolcser has a magical-sort quality to her voice that brings the world she creates to life. It is difficult to pinpoint what exactly she does, but believe me she’s got it on point.
> There is something real about the characters.
Tarquin is a pompous ass in the beginning, but begins to soften and come off his pedestal as the story unfolds.
And Caro? She is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
Our female protagonist is headstrong and bold, which is everything I ever want in a novel. There is something about Caro that makes her relatable - she isn’t infallible. All her life she is told that the gift to speak to the god in the river runs in her family but she has yet to hear even a whisper from this deity. She tries and tries to reach out to the river god, and every time she is greeted with only silence and I feel her desperation and fear as if they are my own.
> The romance is juuuuust right. It isn’t rushed but rather a slow buildup. The focus of the story is not on the romance. This is more of a plot-driven-fantasy ya novel than a cheesy-romance and that is right up my alley. Without trying to give too much away, both characters acknowledge that they are from different ‘worlds’ and have different paths set out for them. They realise this, which is why I appreciate that they do not ask the other to give up their dreams and ambitions so that they can be together. That is what I feel love should be - a selfless act for the other, it is an understanding between two people about what is realistic and what is not.
Overall, a great fantasy read. There isn’t much I can critique about, maybe that some bits were a tad bit predictable.
4.5 stars - definitely a new favourite
