Horn Book Review
When Caro's father is arrested for smuggling after he refuses to transport a mysterious crate, she concedes to transport it herself--despite danger from the Black Dog pirates--in exchange for his release. But no one mentioned that the crate contains a young man. Intricate politics and classism inform this mysterious but mesmerizing fantasy world where humans control shadows and gods speak from the bottom of rivers. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Caroline Oresteia, a wherryman's daughter and granddaughter, knows that she's meant for the riverbut at age 17, she has yet to hear the voice of the god at its bottom. When pirates burn several wherries, Caro's smuggler father is arrested. To gain back his freedomand maybe attract the god's attentionCaro agrees to use her father's wherry to transport a mysterious cargo: a young man named Tarquin Meredios who claims to be a royal courier. Pompous and overbearing, highborn Tarquin sneers at both Caro and wherrymen. But as he and Caro change course from Caro's contracted destination to one Tarquin insists on, he grows on both her and readers. Caro's narrative voice is smart and colloquial; worldbuilding details are imparted naturally through dialogue and her reflections on it. Caro describes herself as having a mixed heritage, noting the varying shades of brown in her relatives from her mother's side. Most of the other, presumably white characters' skin tones are not described, with pale Tarquin's "strange foreign coloring" a notable exception. The frogmen, descendants of the river god and a sailor's daughter, have brownish-green skin; Fee, a taciturn female frogman, works for Caro's father. Caro's description of her boat home, the Cormorant, will make even readers unfamiliar with sailing feel as though they belong on the water with her. Tolcser blends the right amount of epic fantasy, sea voyage, and romance for a rollicking, swashbuckling adventure. (Fantasy. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
