Terri M. LeBlanc
Written on Jan 29, 2019
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.
Roaming the Mediterranean on sailboats and hunting down monsters is the only life sixteen-year-old Indi and his siblings have ever known. He never loved it, but now that his parents are gone--recently vanished at sea during a hunt--it's harder and harder to fight his desire to escape. He's constantly weighing his need for freedom against his ferocious love for his siblings and the temptation of his parents' journal, which contains directions to a possible treasure. Maybe it's something valuable enough to distract seventeen-year-old Beleza from her obsession with hunting down the monster that killed their parents. Something that would save the little kids from a life at sea that's turning Oscar into a thieving pirate and wasting Zulu's brilliant six-year-old mind. Something that could give Indi a normal life.
- ISBN10 1452131511
- ISBN13 9781452131511
- Publish Date 30 October 2018
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 4 March 2021
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Chronicle Books
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 268
- Language English
Reviews
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.
shannonmiz
Written on Sep 26, 2018
3.5*
Actual salt is my least favorite part of the ocean/sea, true story. That is mostly a random fact, not having a ton to do with this book, but it does explain why I was nodding along every time Indi was salty about its effects. (Pun terrible and wholly intended.) Look, this is a quirky little story, one that I found fast-paced and quite enjoyable. Hannah Moskowitz is pretty great at quirky, and this is no exception. It's pretty short, I finished it in just a few hours, so don't expect a ton of world-building and character development, but it also never drags.
My favorite part of the book, of course, is the sibling relationship. Indi loves his siblings with everything he's got, and after their parents' disappearance, they've become a cohesive foursome. They keep the family business of sea monster hunting going, even if Indi kind of wishes he could work in a Dunkin Donuts or something. The book really focuses on their relationships and dynamic, and how a person knows when/if it's okay for them to venture out and forge their own path.
Of course, the sea monsters are dangerous, and some of the human people they meet even more so. Indi basically must decide: Does he live the life that his parents wanted, that his siblings still want him to live, or does he choose his own path? And if he does, what will that mean for their family unit, who has never been apart?