The Edge of the Abyss

Edge of the Abyss is the kind of sequel that really depends on the previous book to enjoy. I loved the premise with The Abyss that surrounds us, fun depictions of pirates and a lot of differing motivations driving characters to their actions. My intention to read the sequel came as soon as I finished the first book. Every author will quote the saying that narratives should be the master of the author and not the other way around. In a nutshell what this means is that the author should allow the story that develops to lead the way rather than trying to force that story back into whatever box it crawled out of. All authors say it, but do they all do it? This question is the biggest one to answer with Edge of the Abyss, as it seeks to grow from the source material and grow on it. Here is my review.There was a lot going on in the previous book and if you have not read it, stop now and read it. The book is excellent, but also this book is nothing without it. Writing a direct sequel that highly depends on the previous work is a sketchy proposition because you’re cutting your possible readership by the people who have already read your first one. A truly good second book will backfill you and be satisfying as a stand-alone. This book does try to backfill you, but it feels like a messy and incomplete attempt and the payoffs are instantly call backs to the first book, so much so that they would have no impact, rather they would have negative impact if you didn’t read the first book. The reason the payoffs detract on their own is because book two has hooks, but these hooks are not call backs, they’re new hooks, new friends (or rather further development of old friends that were left kind of shallow in book one). This promise of learning about Lemon, for example is a great first hook and the book practically begs the author to dedicate time here. Instead? Back to Swift, our supporting lead from book one. Yes this already answers the above question, the author is not a slave to her narrative, she doesn’t let the book develop how it feels organically rather dives right back into the previous volume’s plotlines.For those who did not read the previous volume, spending time with Swift, undeveloped in book two, is going to feel really dull, in fact pointless. All of the chemistry and depth comes out of the first book for these two characters. What about these other people we’ve been speaking to up till now? An unresolved relationship which ended poorly is a great hook, almost no one does this. It would have taken courage, and the author would have been forging something exciting and interesting, plus it felt more natural than where the book goes almost right away. Every moment the author plays with the possibility of conflict it falls into the familiar and tired tracks of every other YA book ever. It turns out bad romance knows not sexual orientation, it is very much equal opportunity. The lengths and efforts this book goes to introduce conflict between Swift and Cas is cringe inducing. There were so many organic opportunities, like making either, or both of them move on, or actually developing others, that the fact it doesn’t is really disappointing. Were the book willing to not focus on that relationship so heavy handed it could of ironically made that relationship better to read about and feel more realistic and less author forced.One of the things that made book one so good, was that the world seemed to care about balance. When one shift occurred, it was reflected in other parts such as the reckoner a pirate ship may have. Since you cannot enjoy book two without really having read book one, it seems fair to judge them together and this time the world does not really work quite so well in concert. The big plot about this book is what will happen with feral reckoners, but the book pretends this problem belongs entirely to the main cast and their friends, rather than treating it as a world wide problem like the first book does. Sure they call it worldwide, but then were are the big major powers trying to fix it this time? How come we only have the rag tag bunch dealing with it and not a much better funded and organized.This isn’t to say none of the genius of the previous book comes through into this one. For instance, when the pirates come into the bigger picture and alliances are shown, it seems reminiscent of nobility with marriages and hostages and wards. This portion, though short, was quite interesting and could have been expounded on greatly. The whole section brings more questions than anything, who are the officers and what happens to them when they go to the ships they are supposed to serve on, are all, most or many of the pirates trained this way and if so, why aren’t the veterans who aren’t supposed to succeed the ship better regarded, even given names? The fleeting brilliance is short lived as a character utters a “Merry Christmas” for no reason in the middle of a tense situation.The romance is the plot in this book that just won’t die. No matter how big the city or unlikely the circumstances, our main will always run into the romantic lead. There are so many better narratives that could have come about from denying this story line or altering it, but you can see it a mile away, deus ex machina moments are constant. Conflict between the two mains drives the story, but the conflict is far and away the worse parts. None of it feels organic to the characters, nor the plot, rather it feels like the author had something in mind, or a formula they wanted to use no matter how well it fit with the narrative.In the end, with all that goes on in this book, the most poignant feeling is missed opportunity. Perhaps the length was too short, or too much devoted to one thing and amazing not enough at the same time. The what will Cas become plot, doesn’t have enough time to mature due to the move over romance plot. The Reckoners in the ocean plot doesn’t have the fully thought out attention needed thanks to the move over romance plot. The move over romance plot is also rushed, in the haste to keep things a simmering hot rather than let them develop naturally, the plot that stalls the rest of the book from greatness also stumbles and none of the resulting storylines feel fully fleshed out. The first book was worthy of praise and love, but this book feels more like an attempt to milk that praise and love without putting fourth the same level of effort or shine as the predecessor. The review may sound harsh, but since this book leans so heavily on the foundation of the first, it impossible not to measure it against that book. The first was brilliant, full of ambiguity and moral grey and a lot of new ideas and concepts, it was an ocean of possibilities, this book by contrast feels like a specter of the genius. The author responsible for this book is great, it would be tragic to ignore her works, but this book may have been too rushed, too truncated to truly demonstrate her talent.

Pirates and ninjas are staples of adventure novels and I honestly thought there wasn't much one could do with them. But Emily Skrustkie takes has an innovative look at this old trope, adds in some giant sea monsters and hey presto! she's come up with an excellent series. Cas Leung is an imperfect heroine, surrounded by broken people and one nonetheless roots for her to find a path through uncharted and unchartable waters of piracy and politics and human relationships.Cas' relationship with Swift is rocky and realistic and the fact that they are both women is never the issue. They have to deal with a lot of issues between and round them, but that one thing is never part of the conflict, which is appealing.I'd recommend this especially to YA readers looking for female leads with active roles in adventure settings *not* set in a dystopia.

I'm really excited that this book wasn't a huge disappointment. Usually sequels, especially ones that might not have initially been planned, fall a bit flat in comparison to the first one. I've read sequels where the characters don't quite seem like the same people, and sometimes the plots are a stretch and desperate grab for anything even remotely as interesting as the first plot line. This book was definitely entertaining and had a lot of its own strengths that kept it as amazing as the first. If you read the first book and enjoyed it, then you definitely won't be disappointed by this one!!

I really enjoyed reading this. We got to know more about the characters we met in the first book. I especially enjoyed seeing the change and growth of our main character Cas. There were some shocking moments (one of which truly had me sitting back with a WTF look on my face). I'm very happy I took a chance on this story, and if you love pirates and sea monsters, you will be too.

This one felt a little more rushed compared to the first novel in the duology. I think the ending needed a bit more work as it came across as an ending-of-convenience rather than earned.

Complicated and exciting. This book, along with its predecessor, are two of my favorite SFF books out there.

If you loved the first book, you need to read this sequel. It expands the world so well and we get to know so much more about what the earth looks like - plus, of course, so much more Cas and Swift. The ending was really satisfying, it leaves you wanting more but there's no annoying cliffhanger either. I really don't want to give away too much but please trust me, if you like TASU, you're going to like this.

Kinda hopeful, kinda wanting more, kinda anticlimactic, but kinda good. I like it, a lot, there was just that a little bit of thrust missing.

As soon as I finished The Abyss Surrounds Us I jumped straight into The Edge of the Abyss; I needed to know what happened next, especially to Cas and Swift’s relationship after the revelation at the end of the first book.I’ve been wary of series, and stayed away from them, for a few years, but this year they’ve welcomed me back with open arms and I’m pleased to say I enjoyed this second book even more than I enjoyed the first one.Cas and Swift’s relationship is complicated, so I appreciate that Skrutskie writes it like it is. They have moments where they’re madly into each other and moments where they don’t know if they’re right for each other or not, because as much as we might want to see characters get together they don’t know how well matched they are. This isn’t a story to them, these are their lives, and I like to see them being played out realistically.Or as realistically as a story about sea monsters can be.Having realised that Santa Elena isn’t the only pirate to have purchased a reckoner of her own, and discovering that vicious, untrained reckoners are now loose in the ocean where they’ll disrupt the ecosystem and kill both sailors and pirates alike, Cas, Swift, Santa Elena and the rest of the crew are on a mission to stop these creatures before the ocean becomes too dangerous for any of them to make a living on. This can’t happen in a world where there is no future for many people on land anymore.While the first book is a little slower, and I don’t have a problem with that at all, The Edge of the Abyss was so much fun to read because it was constantly moving. There were quieter moments, moments where Cas got to contemplate where her life was headed now that she’d become a pirate herself and what kind of future she could have with Swift, but the plot was always moving forward.As long as it’s done well I don’t mind if a book is slow or fast-paced, but I tend to lean towards slow books because I’ve read plenty of fast-paced books where the characters were left behind in favour of the plot, and I will always choose character over plot. This didn’t happen with The Edge of the Abyss.I can’t say I got answers to all of the questions I had – we didn’t learn everything about how the world ended up the way it is here and there were some side characters I’d’ve liked to know more about – but everything I didn’t know I had enough information to make a guess at, and I’d much rather that than a lot of explanation that made zero sense.It wouldn’t have made sense for Cas to relay the history of the world when she’s thinking so much about her present and her future – her concern is what comes next, not what’s already been. Similarly, the side characters we didn’t learn much about are characters Cas didn’t know well enough for her to know everything about them, she hadn’t earned their stories, and it would have been a disservice to those characters if they were to open themselves up to someone they didn’t trust.For me the important thing was what Cas’s future was going to look like now that she’s so much more morally grey than she was at the beginning of The Abyss Surrounds Us, and what was going to happen to her relationship with Swift. Personally I thought Skrutskie brought this story to a close beautifully, I was so satisfied with the ending and with the fates of Cas, Swift and even Santa Elena. Swift, especially, I grew to love even more in this book, and I still think she’s such a fantastic spin on the typical YA ‘bad boy’.If you’re looking for some LGBT+ sci-fi, or you’re in the mood for a new pirate book, I highly recommend this duology!

The sequel was just as incredible as the first book. I am so blown away. Every part of it held me captive from start to finish. I could not love this book any harder if I tried.

This book (with the first one) are easily my favourite books out there! The entire universe is amazing and it's the kind of book you just read in one go, completely devoured the thing!

Couldn't put it down. Didn't want to put it down. Deserves all the praise. Such a beautiful story and something that isn't very common.

What a ride! This book is even better than the first, I adored it. Cannot wait to see more books on the shelves from this talented author!