The Bright and Breaking Sea by Chloe Neill

Chloe Neill brings her trademark wit and wild sense of adventure to a stunning seafaring fantasy starring a dauntless heroine in a world of magic and treachery.

Kit Brightling, rescued as a foundling and raised in a home for talented girls, has worked hard to rise through the ranks of the Isles' Crown Command and become one of the few female captains in Queen Charlotte's fleet. Her ship is small, but she's fast--in part because of Kit's magical affinity to the sea. But the waters become perilous when the queen sends Kit on a special mission with a partner she never asked for.

Rian Grant, Viscount Queenscliffe, may be a veteran of the Continental war, but Kit doesn't know him or his motives--and she's dealt with one too many members of the Beau Monde. But Kit has her orders, and the queen has commanded they journey to a dangerous pirate quay and rescue a spy who's been gathering intelligence on the exiled emperor of Gallia.

Kit can lead her ship and clever crew on her own, but with the fate of queen and country at stake, Kit and Rian must learn to trust each other, or else the Isles will fall...

 

 

Book 1
Buy Links

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Audiobook (US)  ~  Paperback (US)
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆☆
This is such an insanely fun read! It’s the story of Kit, an orphan turned ship’s captain and secret agent, as she fights pirates and enemies in the name of the Queen. Set in a historic fantasy world that almost resembles our own, the story is full of fabulous characters, thrilling action scenes, and a little bit of magic.

Kit is my new favourite leading lady. An orphan with a chip on her shoulder, Kit is formidable, competent, and highly entertaining. I love her adopted family as much as the sailors she leads and I love her tumultuous relationship with Rian.

While there is a hint of romance in this story, the focus is on the action. Kit works directly for her queen as a secret agent of sorts. I love Kit’s adventures and the exuberant battle scenes. There’s a sense of fun behind her brave escapades that I thoroughly enjoyed.

This is a book that completely rewrites and defies genre. It is almost fantasy, almost historic fiction, almost a romance, almost a comedy, and almost an action thriller. It is none of these things and all of these things. It will take some time for readers to fully engage with Kit’s world, though much of the history is loosely borrowed from early 19th century Europe. This feels like the start to a new series and I’m already eagerly awaiting the next book. This is a completely new side of Chloe Neil – but it is definitely a great read.


Erica – ☆☆☆
The Bright and Breaking Sea is the first in a new series by Chloe Neill.

I need to be quite frank, I struggled for months to read the beginning portion of the novel. I wasn't hooked at all. I would barely make it a page before my eyes crossed. This happened several times per week, attempting to persevere.

The reason is because it felt as if I was dropped in the middle of the second or third book in a series, amid a major event that was occurring on page, and I had no idea who these people were, what they were doing there, where they were going, or how they got there in the first place.

It was a majorly confusing beginning with zero hook for me. I wasn't eased into it, just dropped into a ship and expected to float. Battles are info-dumped as if I read them in real time during the last installment. A mass of characters are spoken about as if I know who they are and what they mean to the main character.

To be honest, time and time again, I got frustrated and just closed the book. I was unsure of what I just read needed to be retained, like I was reading a textbook and should take notes for later.

I was at a precipice where I either just gave up or gave in. Being that Chloe Neill tops my all-time favorite list, I gave in. What does that even mean, I skimmed past it, retained or not didn't matter.

In my quest to be completely honest, I struggled to stop skimming. The issues didn't abate for me. I never fully connected to the storyline because I was always inundated with too much information, unsure what I needed to retain. Chaos, because there wasn't much downtime for me to digest what was happening on the pages before Kit was yet again thrust into more action.

I like to think myself as intelligent, hoping it was my mood at the time. Being that I struggled for months, at least twenty or more attempts to finish the novel... overall, I just felt it was too complicated, no easing into the information, the setting, or the characters.

Kit was exactly my favorite type of heroine. Strong and capable and loyal, deeply emotional but doesn't let anyone in. A strong role model. Add in pirates and ships and adventuring and forbidden romance and political intrigue and magic, it should have been a page-turner for me.

I just couldn't connect with the story, and that truly upsets me. I wanted to love it. I so badly wanted a new series by Neill that I'd be just as hooked with as Chicagoland and its spin-off. Sadly, that wasn't the case. In the future, I'll attempt a reread, hoping by then my view of the story will change.

Definitely recommend readers check out The Bright and Breaking Sea, assuming responsibility that it just wasn't for me.

 

 

CHLOE NEILL was born and raised in the South, but now makes her home in the Midwest. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the Chicagoland Vampires series, the Heirs of Chicagoland series, the Dark Elite series, and the Devil’s Isle series.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Bright and Breaking Sea (Captain Kit Brightling #1) by Chloe Neill to read and review.