Review of ‘The Sea Within’ by Missouri Vaun
Another fun read by Vaun. Not sure the timing except maybe since these books are releasing in October -and everything is more fun in October- but Bold Strokes Books are putting out one entertaining book after another. First ‘Z-Town‘, then ‘Renegade’s War‘, and now ‘The Sea Within’, these were three super entertaining books in a row. While they have not been wow reads that have blown me away, but they all have been fun to read and a wonderful distraction from the worst year in most of our lifetimes. What a great way to start the new releases and I have not even gotten to Zak, Vali, Saracen, or Bryant yet. I’m a happy reader right now.
While the cover might look like a more traditional wlw romance, this is actually far from the case. This is a cli-fi (climate fiction), time-traveling lesbian romance. Cli-fi is a newer genre that has become popular with global warming being such a threat. I’m a cli-fi fan because most of the stories can go into the pre or post-apocalyptic tag which I enjoy reading. But there are three other words that make me way more excited than cli-fi does and that is “time traveling-romance.” Yes please, all day and any day, thank you. I love the whole concept of time traveling and when you mix it with two lesbians who are time traveling to save the world, how can you not have fun with that premise?!
This book was action-packed. While things started out a bit slow, once the book gets into gear it is one thing after another to keep up a nice fast pace. I started this book late thinking I might read a third or half, instead, I flew through this book stopping only at the end. Not being able to put this book down was a nice problem to have.
Both characters are easy to like and I thought they had some decent chemistry together. However, it was disappointing that the romance never got as deep as I was hoping. They were attracted to each other but it seemed more on the outside, mostly physical so that a deeper connection didn’t form. While the characters themselves were very likable they were not that deep either. It reminded me of watching a big action movie. Things are more on the surface, but you care less because you are so engrossed in the explosion or the big gun battle in front of you that it’s all you can think about. So the romance is not that deep and actually a little sappy in parts, but overall I was so absorbed in the story that I didn’t care as much as I normally would.
If you are looking for a fast-paced, save the world action book, I would recommend this. You will be completely sucked into the read and you’ll hopefully have as good a time as I did. This was fun and I’m glad BSB went for entertainment this month; I think we all could use it. 3.75 Stars.
A copy was given to me for an honest review.
