#The Winter Sea

[miamignonette]

i know he’s literally saying that he’s not into men but walk with me here—could this be the toxic yaoi this series has been missing?

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 4/5

Book Blurb: A stormsinger and pirate hunter join forces against a deathless pirate lord in this swashbuckling Jacobean adventure on the high-seas. Launching the Winter Sea series, full of magic, betrayal, redemption and fearsome women, for readers of Adrienne Young, R. J. Barker and Naomi Novik.

Mary Firth is a Stormsinger: a woman whose voice can still hurricanes and shatter armadas. Faced with servitude to pirate lord Silvanus Lirr, Mary offers her skills to his arch-rival in exchange for protection - and, more importantly, his help sending Lirr to a watery grave. But her new ally has a vendetta of his own, and Mary's dreams are dark and full of ghistings, spectral creatures who inhabit the ancient forests of her homeland and the figureheads of ships.

Samuel Rosser is a disgraced naval officer serving aboard The Hart, an infamous privateer commissioned to bring Lirr to justice. He will stop at nothing to capture Lirr, restore his good name and reclaim the only thing that stands between himself and madness: a talisman stolen by Mary.

Finally, driven into the eternal ice at the limits of their world, Mary and Samuel must choose their loyalties and battle forces older and more powerful than the pirates who would make them slaves.

Come sail the Winter Sea, for action-packed, high-stakes adventures, rich characterisation and epic plots full of intrigue and betrayal.

Review:

A stormsinger and a pirate hunter who find themselves intertwined as they face off against a deadly deathless pirate lord hell bent on finding treasure and becoming more powerful. Mary Firth is a Stormsinger, her voice has the ability to calm sails, create disasters and shatter armadas. Stormsingers are captured and used as slaves or indentured servants to pirates and Mary finds herself being auctioned off but this is only the begin of her journey as what she is truly after is finding her mother, another Stormsinger. Mary finds herself being hunted by Lirr, a deathless pirate lord who is somehow connected to both Mary and her mother. Then there is samuel Rosser, a disgraced naval officer who is also a Sooth, someone who can catch glimpses of the future and travel into the Other. In this world there are creatures known as ghistens who are made from wood and are essentially attached to ships and they protect and act as a guardian of the ship. Samuel is also hunting down Lirr, as he is commissioned to bring Lirr to justice yet the moment he meets Mary at the auction he can't seem to get her out of his head, especially because she steals his coat and his special talisman that is the only thing keeping him from slipping into madness. Soon both Mary and Samuel find themselves constantly running into one another as they both go after Lirr, deal with pirates and gun fights, betrayals, and the very complicated feelings growing between them. This is a great read for fans of Pirates of the Caribbean! Its the first book in the series and I am excited to see where the next book goes. This book was a bit slow but did pick up by the end so hopefully the next one is better, it did feel like it dragged at some moments but I did enjoy the world that was created in the stories. I am excited to see Samuel and Mary's relationship in the next book and how they grow. Overall if you are looking for a pirate book with a slow burn romance, action, betrayal, and magic then give this one a go!

*Spoilers*: Mary's mother Anne use to work with Lirr on a ship but then she got pregnant by a crew member and had Anne. Lirr has Anne and uses her as his own ship's stormsinger. Lirr himself is a deathless pirate because he is combined with a ghisten, something he tried to do to Anne but Anne instead had said ghisten (Tane) bond with Mary. Samuel is disgraced from the navy because his twin brother Benedict slept with their captain's wife (his brother has the ability to control people's minds and persuade them do things) and Samuel took the blame to save his brother, Benedict tried to do the same to Mary but she escaped in time. Lirr is killed off and Anne and Samuel decide to work together on their own ship.

*Thanks Netgalley and Titan Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[bookcoversonly]

Title: The Winter Sea | Author: Susanna Kearsley | Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark (2010)

[pmg227]

Favorite Reads of April '24

“Some of these things are true and some of them lies. But they are all good stories.” Hilary Mantel in Wolf Hall Being Elisabeth Elliot: The Authorized Biography: Later Years Ellen Vaughn. Though I’ve known that Elisabeth Elliot was the wife of Jim Elliot (a missionary killed in Ecuador in 1956), that’s pretty much all I knew about her. A shame since she was living and writing during my younger…

[la7ma-mafrooma]

The fact that we, Arabic-speaking average people(aka non-journalists), have to keep up with translating Palestinian posts from Arabic to English to avoid having Western Media/Pro-Zionists mistranslate on purpose, says enough about how we all lost trust in the media. From the "there's a list" guy who was standing in front of a calendar and condemning the days of the week, to the BBC's mistranslation of a freed Palestinian hostage's interview. I will try my best to keep translating whatever I can find, and I encourage my fellow bilingual/multilingual Arabs to do the same. It's already sad enough that Palestinian journalists and even children have to use English in videos instead of their native tongue in order to get the world leaders' attention.

Please keep speaking about Palestine.

[bucky-bucky-bucky-bucky]

“Bucky’s the winter soldier again!!!!! He’s shooting with his left hand!!! He only uses his left when he’s the winter soldier!!!!!”

I present to you:

Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain America: Civil War

And

Falcon and the Winter Soldier

[gatitolatte]

⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ 𓂃࿁ té—jazmín ♫♪ 。.・

[northgazaupdates]

WINTER CLOTHES NEEDED❄️🧥

I just received this message from Maha @mahaibrahim12 :

The message reads

The weather here has become very cold and we are on the street. We have no place to stay and my children are still wearing their summer pyjamas.We are freezing without winter clothes, blankets or mattresses.

I know our followers are scattered all around the world, so not everyone is familiar with cold weather. I myself live in a warm climate, but I am visiting a very cold place right now, and I can’t believe how much the cold saps my energy.

Now imagine being a small child in an increasingly cold environment. Imagine not having warm winter clothes to wear during the day, nor adequate pajamas to help you sleep comfortably at night. And imagine while all this is happening, not even having a roof over your head!

This is the life of Maha’s children, Joan and Khalil. They lost their home to IOF bombing, and were displaced with their parents and grandparents. They had a tent for a time, but then the IOF bombed that too. Miraculously, the whole family survived, although Maha, Joan, and Joan’s grandfather (whose difficult health situation we have posted about here) were seriously wounded.

They are now sleeping in the streets. They have no cover over their heads, nor under their backs. They sleep on cold, hard cement every night, under an open sky dotted by explosions and gunfire. Can you imagine such a life? Can you imagine trying to lay down at night, not knowing if you’ll be able to sleep due to the cold? Not knowing, even if you can fall asleep, if you will wake up in the morning? The human body requires things like fat stores to survive cold temperatures. After a year of starvation, the family have no stores of fat on their exhausted bodies.

They are freezing to death, and it’s not even winter yet. How will they survive until spring????

If you have ever been cold, if you have a warm jacket or sweater to put on, if you have a roof over your head or a cushion to lay upon, please consider sending some support to the Al-Habil family.

Thank you❤️

[puppyeared]

my attempt at making a fursona

[nothingbizzare]

Cold winds and warm hands

[miamignonette]

providing insightful commentary on goodreads

[lepetitdragonvert]

The Ice Ship

Artist : Angela Barrett (b. 1955)

[downfalldestiny]

Once the harsh winter is gone, when come the good and easier days, we often encounter bears swimming by the ice edge. Polar bears are extremely capable of having fun alone with whatever they find 🐻‍❄️ !.

[skltart]

pov you are steve rogers phone ig

[jadafitch]

A late summer boat ride, after the puffins and terns had left, was the inspiration for my second wintery seamless illustration, featuring Maine animals. Far fewer species in the off season, but we've got some good ones. Harbor seals and herring gulls are pretty reliable, and always adorable .

[bucky-bucky-bucky-bucky]