The Sea King (Weathermages of Mystral, #2)

by C. L. Wilson

[Ashley]

I really enjoyed this book, but I'll confess I'm disappointed I wasn't able to give it 5 stars. I had to dock a star for two key reasons:

1. I felt like Gabriella spent too much of the book rejecting Dilys. It was frustrating because it wasn't that she didn't like him, it was that she was afraid of loving someone out of fear of losing them later. And while I get that, I think it just became really frustrating that SO MUCH of the book was spent with this part of the story on repeat, and it made matters worse for me that Gabriella refused to tell Dilys that reason. She kept trying to pretend she just wasn't interested in him when we all knew that was a lie (Dilys included).

2. Something that happens towards the end... Gabriella's sisters seem to have been killed. Immediately, I was like 90% sure that this was a faked death and that they'd miraculously wind up "not dead" later. So I waited. And waited. And waited. It got to the bloody end of the book and they still weren't back. It felt like a huge hole in my life because I adored them. Then we got to epilogue #1. Still not back. Then finally they're alive in epilogue #2. I think I was just frustrated because I spent SO LONG on the hook waiting for their return and I actually got really mad when I thought maybe they really had been killed off. I never felt like I was able to mourn them properly because their "death" almost felt anti-climactic. But then finally it did come out that they hadn't really died, but in my opinion it took too long. I actually would have preferred if we were reassured earlier on that they were still alive and maybe saw an extra few chapters from their points of view.

But one thing I REALLY adored about this book was getting to know all the sisters more. They had more of a chance to shine in this book and I really fell in love with all their different personalities - particularly Autumn! I loved how they all interacted with each other.