For September's book club, we read Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn. Here's what I thought!
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You know how the plan was only to read the first book in Elemental Blessings? Well, I did the exact opposite of that. I binged the first three books in less than a week. Next, I bought all three in hardcover and then I pre-ordered the fourth. Needless to say, I love the series! But for today's discussion, I'm going to stick to talking about Troubled Waters. I have so much I want to say though so I'm going to break it down because I think that's the only way I'll remember to say everything!
1. The world building
In Sharon Shinn's world, everyone receives blessings after they're born that are based on the elements of air, fire, water, wood and earth. The characters live by these elements but they also go to temples to pull blessings to help guide them with their day-to-day. I loved the blessings and how Shinn created special words to describe each person's affiliation with an element. The heroine Zoe is ruled by water and is therefore considered coru, which means she's adapts easily to change. Which brings me to my next point ..
2. Zoe is a new favorite heroine
Zoe was the heart of the book for me and even as I sped through the entire series, she continued to be my favorite. (FYI: The other books are more like companion novels that each focus on a new heroine. But don't worry, old characters continue to make appearances.) One day she's a simple coru woman living in a small village, the next some man from court shows up announcing she's to become the king's fifth wife. And even though in her shock she initially follows him to the royal city, she escapes when the right moment presents itself. She chooses to carve her own path and that's when the adventure truly begins. She follows her heart and insists on uncovering the truth. She can also be a little (okay, a lot) reckless but I liked that about her.
3. Jaw-dropping plot
I read a lot of young adult and typically in YA fantasy, things move fast. Adult fantasy admittedly begins with a lot more set up IMHO. I expected the same here but that wasn't the case at all. Shinn found a happy medium that expertly balanced world-building with moving the plot forward and developing the characters. Plus don't even get me started on all the surprises. I must've gasped out loud at least five different times.
4. Romance
My other favorite thing was the romance so I have to say a little something about that. I can't tell you who he is but I will say he intrigued me as soon as he appeared on the page. There's no insta-love or even insta-attraction. There's just something there that's hard to ignore (at least I couldn't!) and I appreciated the slow burn of their relationship.
1. The world building
In Sharon Shinn's world, everyone receives blessings after they're born that are based on the elements of air, fire, water, wood and earth. The characters live by these elements but they also go to temples to pull blessings to help guide them with their day-to-day. I loved the blessings and how Shinn created special words to describe each person's affiliation with an element. The heroine Zoe is ruled by water and is therefore considered coru, which means she's adapts easily to change. Which brings me to my next point ..
2. Zoe is a new favorite heroine
Zoe was the heart of the book for me and even as I sped through the entire series, she continued to be my favorite. (FYI: The other books are more like companion novels that each focus on a new heroine. But don't worry, old characters continue to make appearances.) One day she's a simple coru woman living in a small village, the next some man from court shows up announcing she's to become the king's fifth wife. And even though in her shock she initially follows him to the royal city, she escapes when the right moment presents itself. She chooses to carve her own path and that's when the adventure truly begins. She follows her heart and insists on uncovering the truth. She can also be a little (okay, a lot) reckless but I liked that about her.
3. Jaw-dropping plot
I read a lot of young adult and typically in YA fantasy, things move fast. Adult fantasy admittedly begins with a lot more set up IMHO. I expected the same here but that wasn't the case at all. Shinn found a happy medium that expertly balanced world-building with moving the plot forward and developing the characters. Plus don't even get me started on all the surprises. I must've gasped out loud at least five different times.
4. Romance
My other favorite thing was the romance so I have to say a little something about that. I can't tell you who he is but I will say he intrigued me as soon as he appeared on the page. There's no insta-love or even insta-attraction. There's just something there that's hard to ignore (at least I couldn't!) and I appreciated the slow burn of their relationship.
Book Club Questions
For every series we read, we'll be answering the same three questions at the end of our mini-reviews.Favorite book | Even though I enjoyed all the books so far, Troubled Waters is still my favorite.
Favorite character | Zoe!
Would you read more from this author? | Yes! I plan to read the fourth book which comes out next month and will eventually look into her other series.
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For those of you who read the series with us,
what did you think?
Also, make sure to check out Alexa's thoughts on the series!
Yay for loving this series! I'm so glad you found a new series to binge ;) I'm definitely planning on reading more of these books too!
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