Synopsis:

Every world knows the laws of balance.
Push and pull. Ebb and flow.
Rise and Fall.
But the balance of Aos has begun to change…

The Fall pulls down ships and their crews faster than they can be recovered, Dominique’s brother among them.
The Rise pushes a wall of water slowly but surely towards the prosperous city of Rihurr, and Theobald is the only one who notices.
The oceans are unpredictable and perilous, forcing pirates onto land and driving Luke far from home.
And in the middle of it all, the Daughters of the Moons look for answers, sweeping Ana up in their wake.

For better or worse, their destinies align.
The fate of Aos hangs on a knife edge, and they are all that stands between it and disaster.
They must travel further than they’ve ever ventured before to answer one question:
In a world of balance and song, what — or who — is tipping the scales?

Review:

In this story, we follow a cast of characters all trying to figure out what has caused the climate of their world to change. In this world, there is a huge whirlpool on one side with its balance – an eruption of water – on the other. This fragile balance has shifted and the seas start to consume ships faster than ever before and the eruption of water creeps closer and closer to the land, threatening the people that live there.

I really appreciated the parallels with our own world and the issues that we ourselves are facing with regards to the climate – there are some very clever nods to this in little details throughout the book.

Our cast has all been affected by this change. None of them in the same way – we are running from pirates, searching for lost siblings and seeking to understand the science behind this climatic shift. Each character has such a unique voice and personality that it’s hard not to love them. They are so diverse and come with their own worldviews and prejudices which makes their interactions so realistic.

Personal favourites of mine were Theobald (who doesn’t love a woefully underprepared for travel but overly clever scientist) and Ana (a young girl figuring out who she is and not being afraid to take a leap of faith).

The story itself was wonderfully written. It’s pacy and keeps you on your toes, but we also have calm moments of emotion and introspection. The tension builds gradually over the course of the book, and it is interesting to try and piece together all the different snippets of knowledge about the world and the change from each of the character’s Povs. I loved uncovering more and more information as we went along, with the character’s individual journeys converging gradually for a fantastic ending.

I was a beta-reader for this book, so thank you so much to Dani for trusting me with it!