Sacred Seas by Karen Amanda Hooper

I read Tangled Tides and Dangerous Depths in 2014.  Somehow I only managed to review one of them for the blog.  Whoops.  The conclusion of the trilogy took four years to make it to print, so I reread the first two novels one weekend to catch myself up with the characters before starting in on the finale.

You can read my thoughts on Tangled Tides here.  Sorry you can't read my thoughts on novel number two.  I remember now that the story was good, but not great.  I was never inspired to write a review, and then time happened.

I have waited four years for the conclusion, plus I bought it--and I read every book I spend money on no matter what.  Now that I had reimmersed myself in the world of Yara and company, I was ready to start Sacred Seas.  

On rereading them, I still enjoyed the first novel and its fresh look at mythology, but my interest in the story has paled quite a bit.  I'm in a different point in my life.  These novels do not resonant in the same manner they did in 2014.

The conclusion was an excellent conclusion in technical terms.  It tied up all the ribbons of story line that had been floating through the waters.  It achieved what all finales require--an end.  However, I was mostly disappointed in this novel.  

Despite this being the story of Treygan and Yara, Koraline played the leading lady more often this time.  It seemed odd to throw in a whole new side of the story in the last act.  There were new characters and new plot devices.  This is probably due to taking four years to write the story.  A sudden inspiration for the ending meant that connecting pieces had to be inserted, if somewhat awkwardly.

Maybe a spin-off in the between years would have been better suited.  I would have really enjoyed a spin-off novella instead.  It would have set up the plot and Koraline would have had her own space, which she deserved being such an excellent character.

The modernizing of myth by giving the Kraken a personality and an existence beyond ship swallowing monster was fantastic.  There was so much room for him as a villain.  A love triangle, though.  Flat.

The ending saved the series for me.  Making the mythology their own and bringing ancient history into our modern times was worthy of all the time I spent rereading the first two novels and the third.

In conclusion, I'm disappointed, but I largely put that on myself.  I couldn't connect with these books at this stage in my life.  That happens when a series takes a hiatus.  No fault to the author.  Time is the enemy to all.  

I will still gladly recommend this series to anyone looking for a story steeped in Greek mythology.  It gives a nice modern twist to the classics that is reinvigorating.  These books are also probably well suited for the YA audience they are geared towards.