Review: The Drowning Eyes by Emily Foster

Summary:

When the Dragon Ships began to tear through the trade lanes and ravage coastal towns, the hopes of the arichipelago turned to the Windspeakers on Tash. The solemn weather-shapers with their eyes of stone can steal the breeze from raiders’ sails and save the islands from their wrath. But the Windspeakers’ magic has been stolen, and only their young apprentice Shina can bring their power back and save her people.

My thoughts:

The Drowning Eyes by Emily Foster is all kinds of amazing and I’m very upset that it is only a novella. I hope we get to read more by Emily Foster very soon because this woman knows not only how to write captivating fantasy but combines all my favorite things AND totally rocks at diversity.

When I first heard about The Drowning Eyes my eyes were instantly drawn to the cover. A woman of color isn’t something you see all too often and look at her! That dress, her sword and how mighty fierce she looks. I knew I was going to like a story that is going to feature that character. Nevertheless, I also read the synopsis which sealed the deal for me: Dragon ships and weather magic!

That was a while ago though and I already forgot what the story was going to be about which made reading The Drowning Eyes all the more exciting. And to be honest, I was not prepared for the thing with the eyes. I mean, yes the title says something about the eyes but the details! I loved how disgusting it was, if that makes any sense.

The world building with its weather magic was fantastic. I can’t believe what an amazing world Emily Foster sets up in such a small amount of pages. If that’s going to be it, if there is not another story set in this world, I would be disappointed. I need more! I’m amazed how many things I get to know about this world, how much I felt like I know it, and all that packed into less than 150 pages. The amazing part: it never felt like info dumping to me.

World building isn’t everything though. It also needs great characters to make me enjoy a story and The Drowning Eyes comes with a set of amazing ones. Emily Foster created people that I liked right from the start. This tight-knit group is constantly bickering but you know they care for each other a lot. They were authentic and exactly the kind of characters I like to read about. Kick-ass women, who know what they want and go for it.

If you are looking for diversity, you’re at the right address! The Drowning Eyes has it all. The cover already features a women of color but it gets even better than that! We have characters of different ethnicities and guess what! They are either gay or bisexual! And the cherry on top? This is almost an all-female cast.

There is only one thing I did not like about The Drowning Eyes and that was its length. Emily Foster wrote an epic novella that makes me crave more. The story is perfectly executed within these few pages and I wouldn’t mind reading another story set in this world. I’m definitely looking forward to more stories by the author.