Beneath A Thousand Skies

Summary:

Our Bloody Pearl is a book I’ve been aware of for a long time, I remember seeing bits about it on Tumblr before it was even released, and I fell in love with the premise from the beginning – I am a sucker for pirates and sirens, especially stories that build on the idea of sirens so that they are more than just their voice. Our Bloody Pearl does that and more.

Perle is an absolutely fantastic POV character, and I love that the author chose to tell the story through the eyes of the Siren, and felt it really added an extra dimension to the story. Their voice is so distinct, and they are the bridge between the two sides, and it is through Perle that we get a real sense of the threat – and an intimate understanding of the world of Sirens, and how it has interacted with the human world in the past, and what they have endured as a result of that. Perle also suffered a debilitating injury, and we get to see them learning to adapt to life afterwards, and I like that it was a story of adaptation, rather than having it waved away. It was fantastic representation that spoke to me on a personal level, and it was well written and wasn’t the only thing that defined the character or their relationships with the others. In fact, as with Once Stolen, this book should be celebrated for its representation, both here but also for LGBTQIA+, and the fact that the main character was also non-binary made this a book that will always be close to my heart.

The other characters are just as well written, and Dejean is a wonderful character – although perhaps not what you would expect from a pirate, but I loved him, and how considerate he is of those around him, especially those close to him. It was a delight to watch the unfolding relationship between him and Perle, and it was a very natural unfolding, working through trust issues and communication issues. Murielle and Simone were great characters too – and I particularly enjoyed Murielle and Perle’s first encounter.

Also, this book is really the epitome of found family. If that is a trope you love (spoiler I do), then Our Bloody Pearl delivers that in spades and I loved it. It’s a weird and wonderful group that come together, and I love how it builds up throughout the book, it’s not instantaneous – Perle has to learn to trust Dejean and the others, and they’re learning to adapt to one another and what they’re living through. Much of Our Bloody Pearl is about learning to communicate, both within this ‘family’ but also between humans and sirens, the idea of what they achieve spilling out beyond this and expanding into the question of how can different species overcome the barriers between them to co-exist.

Of learning to understand.

‘But I’m stronger now, and sure of myself, sure of my goal. The ocean isn’t against me today. I am against the ocean.

And I will win this battle.’

In Once Stolen the Murk was a character in and of itself, and the same is true of the ocean here. While I felt some of the worldbuilding could have used a little fleshing out in some places, the setting was beautifully captured from the descriptions to the details of life on and around the water, to the way Perle’s POV and voice reflected the world they had lived in. It was a lovely touch and added not just to Perle’s character and journey, but also in making the ocean feel very much a character in the story.

Our Bloody Pearl was a fantastically fun read and one that pulls you along like an ocean current. A wonderful character-driven story, with found family, well-written representation on several levels that had me smiling from start to finish.