Book Review: Dark Shores (Dark Shores, #1) – Danielle L. Jensen

Rating: 2/5 🌟🌟

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Review:

The first thing that caught my attention and made me want to read this book was the amazing cover. It’s fabulous and eye-catching. Even without reading the synopsis, I would have grabbed this book from the shelf just for that incredible cover alone.

The plot-line was captivating with a good mix of intrigue and secrets. The world-building was impressive with good descriptions of the crafted world and its countless vagaries and politics.

The story was told in the view points of the two main characters, Marcus and Teriana. Marcus was a strong character, with so many hidden depths and facets to his personality, that I enjoyed reading his viewpoint and his thoughts. He was extraordinary and I absolutely loved him.

Now his counterpart, Teriana, disappointed me. For a sailor with a ‘will of iron’, she sure was weak and whiny. Throughout the story, I can’t even begin to count how many times I cringed at her reactions and reasoning. I expected a fearsome warrior of a pirate (if you read the Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab and met Delilah Bard, you know what I’m talking about) and instead, I got a whiny teenage girl who complained so much she grated on my nerves. For a tough pirate, she was wimpish and had no stomach for the tough stuff. Sure, she could drink someone under the table but that seemed to be her only talent.

This book had so much potential but the portrayal of the female MC ruined it for me. I think, if the heroine had been stronger, this story would have been fantastic. The ending also tanked and was a great disappointment to me.

Synopsis: High seas adventure, blackmail, and meddling gods meet in Dark Shores, a thrilling first novel in a fast-paced new YA fantasy series by USA Today bestselling author Danielle L. Jensen. In a world divided by meddlesome gods and treacherous oceans, only the Maarin possess the knowledge to cross the Endless Seas. But they have one mandate: East must never meet West. A SAILOR WITH A WILL OF IRON Teriana is the second mate of the Quincense and heir to the Maarin Triumvirate. Her people are born of the seas and the keepers of its secrets, but when her closest friend is forced into an unwanted betrothal, Teriana breaks her people’s mandate so her friend might escape—a choice with devastating consequences. A SOLDIER WITH A SECRET Marcus is the commander of the Thirty-Seventh, the notorious legion that has led the Celendor Empire to conquer the entire East. The legion is his family, but even they don’t know the truth he’s been hiding since childhood. It’s a secret he’ll do anything to protect, no matter how much it costs him – and the world. A DANGEROUS QUEST When an Empire senator discovers the existence of the Dark Shores, he captures Teriana’s crew and threatens to reveal Marcus’s secret unless they sail in pursuit of conquest, forcing the two into an unlikely—and unwilling—alliance. They unite for the sake of their families, but both must decide how far they are willing to go, and how much they are willing to sacrifice.