ARC Review: Song of the Current (Song of the Current #1) by Sarah Tolcser

Caroline Oresteia is destined for the river. For generations, her family has been called by the river god, who has guided their wherries on countless voyages throughout the Riverlands. At seventeen, Caro has spent years listening to the water, ready to meet her fate. But the river god hasn’t spoken her name yet—and if he hasn’t by now, there’s a chance he never will.

Caro decides to take her future into her own hands when her father is arrested for refusing to transport a mysterious crate. By agreeing to deliver it in exchange for his release, Caro finds herself caught in a web of politics and lies, with dangerous pirates after the cargo—an arrogant courier with a secret—and without the river god to help her. With so much at stake, Caro must choose between the life she always wanted and the one she never could have imagined for herself.

From debut author Sarah Tolcser comes an immersive and romantic fantasy set along the waterways of a magical world with a headstrong heroine determined to make her mark.

Disclaimer: A huge thanks to Bloomsbury India for providing me with a review copy. The thoughts, opinions and feelings expressed in the review are entirely my own!

It has been quite a while since I had gotten into the fantasy world; a factoid I didn’t realize until I got an ARC of this book – a fact that made me disappointed in myself!

It again took me time to get into this book – mostly because like all fantasy, it takes time to build up its plot, the world it inhabits and the characters that will play a pivot role in the journey!

Caroline Oresteia is a girl from a family of wherrymen, just waiting for the River God to speak to her; but fate forces her hand when her father gets held hostage and she is tasked by the ruler of Kyntessa (wonder how we pronounce it?) to deliver an important crate to another nation. But this task embroils her in a political conspiracy that she really doesn’t want to be a part of!

The first person POV of Caro makes it a fun read as well – it is easy for the reader to enjoy Caro’s company; not only is she bold and plucky, her sassiness is through the roof! And even while that makes her intimidating on paper; it’s her insecurities, her inner war with her supposed heritage that makes her entirely human and entirely relatable to the readers.

There a hint of romance as well for our Caro – and it’s the guarded skeptical start of the relationship that had them at odds with each other that makes it all the more entertaining to read about. But it’s how they handle that relationship, their communication with each other, that makes it a mature relationship, making it easy to forget that they are just after all teenagers.

It isn’t to say that it was predicatble – Caro earned my respect when she decided that their feelings and relationship would never come in the way of her independence and her future; and it was heartening to see her partner respect that decision; making me quite eager to know ea\xactly how they handle the relationship going forward!

I have rarely read a fantasy that inhabits the world of water – and the way the author especially weaves the folklore into the world building makes it a very action packed, brilliantly written read! A marine adventure with some fierce and irrepressible characters, a world that has its foundation in Folklore makes the Song of The Current an gorgeous read; and even though the book ends with some closure, I can very say that I am still looking forward to the adventures Caro and her shipmates will have in the future!