Wow. My eyes are sore, from all the crying I did. This book was a swashbuckling, romantic, adventurous fantasy and a practically perfect YA. I was enraptured every moment of the book, and it ticked off so many of my boxes when it comes to what I look for in a book. I was stunned, hopeful, pensive, brooding, shocked, and elated all at different points. There were twists and turns I didn't see coming, and some I had hoped were true, and then absolutely giddy that they were. There were pirates, and magical women, sirens, and villains and villainesses galore. Even though the pace was relatively slow for a pirate fantasy romance, I enjoyed every bit of time spent reading it, and it didn't drag like I suspected it might in the first few pages. This will be one I think of often, and reread just as much. 

For me, this book is a lesson in actually reading the summary before picking up a book. I thought this was about sapphic pirates and it definitely is not. But that doesn't mean it's bad! It's just different than what I was expecting.

I will say, this book has one of my least favorite tropes (basically insta love), so that kind of took me out of the story a bit. I don't believe someone call fall in love in like 5 days. I just don't. But! The themes about power and who is controlling the power and taking the power back for yourself were great. Especially from Rosa's POVs. Overall, I liked her as a character more than I liked Mariano. 

By the end, there are some great twists and turns in the plot that kept me reading. Overall, it is pretty fast paced, keeping the reader engaged the entire time. All in all, this wasn't quite what I was expecting, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

What a debut book, thank you for opportunity to read it early as an e-arc. The world building was well thought out and felt real from the first page. It was refreshing to have queer characters simply be. I'm auDHD and can usually guess what the big reveal will be pretty early on, but the reveal in Sinner's Isle really surprised me. When authors are able to do this, the book instantly becomes a five star from me. I'll be thinking about these characters like they're old friends. To sum my review up: yes this book is absolutely worth the hype.