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5 STARS & MORE! I seriously LOVED this book! This review will be spoiler-free, but will contain spoilers from book one if you have not read it yet!
Summary:
The Perilous Sea is the sequel to The Burning Sky in the Elemental Trilogy by Sherry Thomas. “Past” Iolanthe (who still is undercover as Fairfax) and Prince Titus have spent the summer apart constantly worrying about each other, but now that they are back at Eton, they can finally spend time together! Or not? Something major happens when they vacation to Sutherland’s place the first weekend of school that make Prince Titus rethink his whole destiny with Iolanthe. Again, Titus’s mothers prophecies play a huge role in this story, especially in the England parts.
What I mean by “past”/England is that this story is told from two different time periods. There is the “present” Fairfax and Prince Titus stuck in the middle of the Sahara Desert (though the synopsis doesn’t say so, its very obvious who they are). Desert Fairfax and Titus have absolutely no memories of who themselves are or who each other are or how they got there, the only thing they remember is that Atlantis is the enemy. They work together desperately to escape from Atlantis while trying to figure out what happened to their memories.
This trilogy started pretty well with book one, but book two has blown me away to another galaxy! The story continues to jump back and forth between the Desert and England literally cliff hanging after every. single. chapter! Reading this book was so addicting because you just couldn’t stop! There was such a build up from the first chapter all the way to the plot twist at the end and all the action that came to follow. Oh my, if you thought The Burning Sky was a bit of a disappointment well, I beg you to please at least read The Perilous Sea because you will not regret it. You can expect secrets to be revealed, unexpected allies to be made, and a relationship to be tested all while trying to stay hidden and protect those you love.
*Also, I read this book using Audible! The narrator for this trilogy, Phillip Battley, is wonderful! He is ah-may-zing at capturing the emotions of the characters during the dialogue parts.
Plot:
First,I must mention how I’m so incredibly happy that I picked up this series and especially because I picked up TPS! It was no hard task to put this book in my favorites shelf with how amazing it was. No second book slump at all! The plot is seriously flawless to me. The story takes off right where Burning sky left off really, so there were no missing parts that we later had to be filled in on (something I must thank authors for when they do so). Everything just kept building so much anticipation from chapter one for the “past" and “present" to meet up, but it wasn’t to the point where I was brimming with way too much anxiety. The suspense was perfect, just right. I spent quite a lot of time trying to find connections between both plots lines, but this book is riddled with unpredictability! There are so many revelations about the main characters and many of the side characters that are slowly becoming central to the story. The Bane adds yet another Voldemort-like trait of his that I cannot say without spoilers, but is just SO despicable. Oh and there is the occasional innuendo or two (though not super graphic) that I found to be very appropriate for young adult readers because I mean, they would get it and definitely find it hilarious.
Now seeing as this is a high fantasy magical story, I need to talk about the magic system and world building. WAY WAY more descriptive in TPS. We were only getting a taste of the magic system and world in book one, but book too brings in all these complexities and depth and richness that really put you in the story with the characters. New spells! New creatures! New terrain! Awesomeness!!
PS: I didn’t take breaks between the first two books and I could tell that the author was occasionally repeating pointers that were previously explained in TBS, but I found myself not minding this at all. Some authors are terrible with how much they repeat in sequels sometimes, but I found that they way Thomas did this in TPS was not annoying in the least bit.
Characters:
THE CHEMISTRY BETWEEN IOLANTHE AND TITUS IS WONDERFUL! They are one kick ass couple if I do say so myself. Together they literally complete each other in a magical sense. What one cannot do, the other can with Titus being the best all around mage EVER and Iolanthe being the greatest elemental mage the world has seen in their generation! Such capable people they are. Prince Titus is still my favorite character in this trilogy. I want one of my own, like c’mon now. He’s even great when he has no memories.
Kashkari is becomes much more interesting in TPS, too. You get to know him a lot more in this story as, like I said earlier, he becomes more central to the plot and all that. Thomas knows how to develop her characters and Iolanthe, Titus, & Kashkari go through some beautifully written character arcs! Side note: All the boys + Iolanthe at Eton are diverse in personality, and even ethnicity despite Eton being situated in England. Something that I noticed and liked.
Thomas also knows how to make a villain! The Inquisitor is dead and gone, but the Bane is as strong and mighty as ever. When you find out the truths about him, you just have to shake your head. Yes, you say to yourself, the Bane can be even more grotesque that you thought.
I WANT TO READ THE LAST BOOK ALREADY, BUT I’M SCARED! I do not want this story to end at all. I can already feel the sadness at having come to the last book! I do not have it on my shelves currently so I guess a short break won’t hurt? I’ll be reading The Immortal Heights, the third and final book in the Elemental trilogy in MAY!
Thank you for reading! :)