If you ever thought, "Wow, what if Fruits Basket were gay and took place on a boat and there was SO MUCH MURDER?" then this is the book for you. It's also for you if you never thought that.

I got to read an early version of this book by making sad hopeful eyes at its incredibly talented author, and Y'all are NOT ready. I YELLED while reading. The places this book takes you! The characters are instantly lovable and so real. Ganymedes Piscero, AKA Dee, is my favorite sort of disaster child, and every one of the twelve heirs feels so real I could swear I've met them personally. The murder mystery aspect kept me literally screaming and guessing right up until the wild reveal, and the humor and breathtaking intensity and wrenching emotion are so well balanced. (Be ready to feel the full spectrum of emotions and then some. It's amazing.) Can't recommend this one highly enough.

By turns visceral and vibrant, Voyage of the Damned blends joyful and page-turning freshness with evocative and deeply emotional intensity. Strap yourself in for the voyage of a lifetime. You're going on a murder cruise.

*straps you in personally* You ARE. You must. I'm literally begging you.223 s17 comments EmmaSkies209 5,223 Shelved as 'dnf'

DNF @ 24%, 110 pages

Hooo boy I had so many issues with this.

- I was not a fan of the narrative tone. The very tongue-in-cheek first person but occasional *wink wink nudge nudge* direct regard to the reader didn’t play out well for me. I found a tone that was supposed to be humorous annoying instead.

- What in the name of all that is holy is going on with the setting of this book. Second world high fantasy, okay, sure. Hot dogs are mentioned on page one. Alright, strange but sure. Chapter two starts by telling the reader that walking away from explosions without looking back - a common television and movie trope - is “undeniably cool.” POUTINE is mentioned - a dish which appears to have been first introduced in the late 1950s. But we have floating magical lights and no electricity. The ship we’re on runs on magic (not explained in the quarter of the book I read) but then why does the map of the ship include an engine room? WHAT THE HELL IS THE SETTING SUPPOSED TO BE HERE????

- The world building and magic is…not good. Notice I said magic and not magic system, because there is no system. Neither a hard nor soft system to be found. In 110 pages all I could tell you about the magic is that 12 specific people have one seemingly random magical power, only two or three of which I know at that point. One can breathe fire, one can turn invisible, one can “control the weather” (unexplained). One’s magic is controlling the ship they’re on, whatever that means. And there are the magical floating lights. That’s the extent of what I learned in 110 pages. How prevalent is magic outside of those twelve specific people? No fucking clue.

- The aesthetics of this book. I hate it. Our twelve person main cast is differentiated by the province their from, recognizable by the pastel color of their hair
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