I’ve been looking for a pirate romantasy to completely obsess over, and the premise of The Song of Salt and Shadow had basically everything I wanted. A siren without a tail, trapped aboard a pirate ship and falling for the captain? The lore and setup alone were enough to immediately put this on my TBR.
And honestly, the story itself was probably my favourite part. There are some genuinely interesting ideas here, especially when it comes to the sirens and the world they inhabit. The mythology gave the book something to work with, and I kept reading because I wanted to see where all of it would go.
Unfortunately, the writing made that much harder than it needed to be. There are moments where it works really well, but then the next paragraph would completely pull me out of the story. Some parts felt way too over-explained, while others had a very juvenile quality to them. It’s the kind of writing where you can see the potential, but it still feels like the author is figuring out her voice.
I also really struggled with the romance. I wanted to be obsessed with these two, but their relationship never felt natural to me. They barely interacted for so much of the book, and then suddenly we’re expected to believe they have this incredibly deep connection. I needed more moments between them, more tension and honestly just more development before the romance got to that point.
And the captain… unfortunately, he gave me almost nothing. I kept waiting for his personality to show up, but he mostly existed to be mysterious and attractive. Throwing in the occasional “lass” or “aye” also didn’t magically make him or his crew feel like pirates. I wanted more personality from the whole crew and more of that actual pirate atmosphere.
That being said, I don’t think this is a hopeless book at all. There’s a really good story hiding underneath the writing, and I’d definitely be willing to pick up another book from this author in the future. I think with a few more books and some time to develop her craft, she could really do something with these ideas.
For now, though, The Song of Salt and Shadow was unfortunately more potential than payoff for me.
