The Art of Reading

Summary (from Goodreads):

“The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?“

My Thoughts:

“You see, I’ve discovered that it’s alright to need help. So long as you’ve lived your life as the kind of person who deserves to be rescued.”

This book marks my first venture into Brandon Sanderson’s works and I found it to be unlike anything I’ve ever read before. The story itself seems so unremarkable but I think that’s what makes it special. The pacing is extremely slow so I feel like a lot of the finer details of the story were lost on me, especially from the middle bit where the plot was pretty stagnant, but the characters and themes were SO good. I loved all the clever easter eggs which sought to dismantle damaging tropes as well as just funny comments about the little quirks in life which we all experience but may not acknowledge.

There was a LOT of internal dialogue and self reflection going on in this book which was both a plus and a minus. It didn’t help to move along the story but once you got a hang of the pacing it was really motivating, pushing you to accept what you think are flaws and take that first step on an adventure that might be scary because you never know what new discoveries might lie on the other side. And Tress was just the fantasy heroine we needed to demonstrate this! Overall, though slow paced, this book was a silly and whimsical with great morals and wisdom interspersed throughout. I would love to re-read it one day! Happy Reading 🙂