The Perilous Sea (Elemental Trilogy, 2)

This review is also on my blog, The Library Canary: http://thelibrarycanary.blogspot.com/2014/09/review-perilous-sea-by-sherry-thomas.htmlI loved The Burning Sky so I was super excited when this one popped up on Edelweiss. The only problem is that I didn’t remember too much about the first one, you know, because of book amnesia. (It’s a thing…) But I didn’t have time to reread and it wasn’t on Recaptains so I decided to just go for it and hope for the best. While some stuff did come back to me, I really wish there had been more clues. Because there were times when I was struggling. But I had the basic premise and I did get sucked into the story.Iolanthe and Titus are back together after a long summer apart. They are back at Eton, their nonmage school, with their friends. I freaking love these two. I love that we got to see them together in this book. That we got to see more kissing. We waited so long in the first book for them to get together and then got like one kiss. But don’t worry! There are lots of kisses and small touches and just everything that will make you squeal in this book.Both Titus and Iolanthe are such awesome characters. Iolanthe is determined to follow her destiny. To take out the Bane no matter what it takes. She has grown so much both as a mage and as a person. In the first book she was scared and wanted to run away from everything, but in this book she faces things head on and doesn’t let anything or anyone get in her way.Titus is still the ever swoon-worthy prince. I’m in love, guys. He cares so much about Iolanthe. Even when something happens that may or may not change everything, it doesn’t stop him from wanting to protect Iolanthe at all costs to himself. Titus is so courageous and I think that others around him feed off of that. He just has this aura of confidence around him that screams “I will get whatever I want even if I have to pry it from your cold dead hands.” He does have a softer side too though and even though he oozes confidence, he’s still scared and he’s not afraid to admit it. I just love this guy.So here’s my problem. The world-building is fantastic. So many details. So many different magical creatures, wands, potions, spells, books. And Sherry Thomas does a great job of describing and explaining everything. But at times it felt like info-dump to me. The world-building would get in the way of the plot and the pacing could be too slow during these periods. That being said, I think I would rather have really good world-building, even if it slows down the plot, then none at all. But I think the details could have been woven in a bit better.All in all, a fantastic book. I love both of these characters so much and this world is so incredible. The elemental magic is by far my favorite, but Titus’s use of spells and potions also makes my inner nerd do a happy dance. I loved the way that this book alternated between the present time and a few weeks into the future. It really upped the intensity and anticipation of the story. I can’t wait to see how this is all going to end because guys, cliffhanger!! Noooo… I can’t wait to see Iolanthe kick the Bane’s ass. Happy reading all!

There has been much praise floating around the blogging world for The Perilous Sea, the second novel in Sherry Thomas’ Elemental trilogy. It’s been lauded as incredible, sweeping readers away with romance, magic and just a hint of mystery. Knowing all this, it’s difficult to go into The Perilous Sea without fearing it would not meet expectations.Friends, it met all these high expectations.In fact, The Perilous Sea far, far surpassed them, easily catapulting this fantasy series into favorite status. There are so many things to love about this sequel! The characters, most notably Titus and Iolanthe, are thrown into testy situations and have their layers stripped to reveal even more individual complexity. The relationships (romance, friendship or enemies) were really well developed, showing readers the connections between these characters. The plot, which was noticeably affected by the shift back and forth between past and present in every chapter, was set up and executed well, with a few surprise revelations tossed into the mix.Sherry Thomas manages to reel readers in hook, line and sinker with The Perilous Sea. The combination of plot, characters and romance (because seriously, Thomas knows how to write really good romantic tension) will delight readers, even as they will want more of Titus, of Iolanthe, of this story. If you have yet to read The Burning Sky, do it and then go straight into reading The Perilous Sea – it will totally be worth it.

If you have not yet read this series which starts with The Burning Sky...WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?!!! I seriously am in love with everything about this story, the world, the magic, did I mention EVERYTHING. I was literally reading this second installment during SSR (silent sustained reading) in class and gasped aloud, much to the amusement of my students and my own personal embarrassment. What I really wanted to do was jump on top of my desk and yell, "I LOVE THIS BOOK!" But I feel as though that may be frowned upon withing the confines of school..whatevs, let me tell you why I love this series:1. There are end notes! End notes people! Little numbers that lead you to a glossary of information in the back of the book to explain all sorts of magical terms to us lay people. It is fabulous.2. She does not shy away from using big words. Wonderful words. Words that even I, as a teacher, had to look up and add to my vocabulary.3. The world is amazing. This time around I would love to mention the unique point of view that she chooses. Half of the chapters are told from the end. The other half are told in flashback, which I don't always love but this time around, it was so different, it was amazing. Also, let me take a moment to talk about how great the magic is. It is great. Comforting in its normalcy (for magic, I realize that's kind of a contradiction, but you get what I'm saying, right?) but also singular in some of it's creations and creatures.4. The characters are simply perfect. How can entire novel center around two main characters without getting monotonous or boring, when the characters are these two, the answer is: sheer awesomeness.The Perilous Sea was equally as fantastic as its predecessor The Burning Sky.Final Recommendations: if you like epic magic, great characters, a little bit of romance, and a simply wonderful story, everyone, just. go. buy. it....like NOW!

I finished reading this a moment ago, and that ending left me SHOOK. The first of this trilogy was a very solid entry to the fantasy genre. The Perilous Sea was a beyond excellent entry. The overlapping timeline structure kept me entranced from cover to cover, and the romantic nature of Iolanthe and Titus' relationship felt so much more earned and tangible than it did in the first book.I can't wait to move on to book 3!