Book Review

Sweet Black Waves by Kristina Perez

Sweet Black Waves by Kristina Perez is a YA retelling of Tristian and Isolde, and while it contains romantic elements, it is not a romance. If you know the story of Tristian and Isolde, then you know it’s not a happy story. I’m not sure what direction Perez is ultimately going to take the legend as this is the first book in a trilogy, but I walked into it knowing enough not to anticipate  a HEA.

That said, if you’re interested in books about pre-Christian societies empowered by a matrilineal magic and women tapping into that power, you’ll probably like this book.

This story takes place in Iveriu (a pre-medieval Ireland) and the heroine is Branwen, companion and cousin to Princess Eseult (Essy), daughter of Queen Eseult. The Queen is a powerful figure who represents the Goddess Èriu and draws ancient magic from the land she is born to protect. Although there is a King Óengus, we rarely see or hear from him as Queen Eseult is the real leader to her people. The Queen has also been teaching Branwen skills as healer.

When the book opens, Iveriu is in conflict with Kernyv (Cornwall). One day Branwen finds a man washed up on shore beyond the castle, half dead and badly wounded. The man, Tantris, is from Kernyv and tells Branwen that his ship was attacked by pirates. Branwen has no love for Kernyv: her parents were killed by raiders from the enemy nation, but she feels she has a sacred duty as a healer to uphold, and she hides Tantris in a cave and heals him.

As she sneaks off to treat Tantris, the two begin to fall in love. Meanwhile Queen Eseult is arranging a marriage for her daughter Princess Essy. Neighboring royalty will compete in a trial by combat in order to win Essy’s hand in marriage. So imagine Branwen’s shock when Tantris turns out to be Tristian, the surrogate fighting for King Marc of Kernyv. If he wins, then the marriage between Essy and Marc will ally their warring nations, but will also mean Essy and Branwen will leave home forever. If he loses, he dies.

There’s a larger story arc entwined in all of this, and that’s Branwen tapping into the magical powers that have been dormant in her system. As more conflict arises from the trial and from Princess Essy’s frustration at an arranged marriage, Branwen relies more and more on her magical abilities to smooth the way under the tutelage of Queen Eseult. When Tristan is poisoned, Branwen heals him by magically drawing the poison out of him and into herself. She discovers that she has the ability to heal by touch, but also to destroy by it.

Click for serious badassery

At one point she melts this entitled guy who, all butthurt over her romantic rejection, attacks her. That’s right, I said she melts him. With her bare hand. Raiders of the Lost Ark style. It’s so SATISFYING, and Queen Eseult is like, “Well, shit, we gotta hide a body now, I guess. Get a wheelbarrow.”

I wasn’t especially interested in the Tristan/Branwen romance, to be honest. Part of it is, I know where this story goes. The other reason was that Tristan is a fairly shallow character. He falls in love with Branwen almost immediately, he is charming and flirty, and that’s about it. There wasn’t enough depth to his character for me to really care about him in any meaningful way – he was just sort of a stand in for “romantic prince character.”

I was really, really invested in Branwen melting dudes with her bare hand though. I really loved The Mists of Avalon when I read it ages ago, and I think this book tapped into that catnip a bit. I like the idea of women who are magically empowered and who pass that magic on to the next generation. I liked that the powers of creation and destruction were tied together, making Branwen’s gift multi-faceted. I loved the relationship between Branwen and Queen Eseult.

The relationship between Branwen and Princess Essy was frustrating to me, though. Princess Essy is spoiled and childish and she often puts Branwen in situations that are uncomfortable or dangerous. Branwen is endlessly patient with her and forgives her over and over again. One example was when Essy offers to sew a dress for the doll of an orphaned child. She makes the promise, then gets bored and of course Branwen actually finishes the work so the child won’t be disappointed. I think Essy was supposed to be far less emotionally mature than her cousin, but her behavior was irritating and the fact that Branwen just went along with it even more irksome.

We also have a cliffhanger but I expected that knowing that this was book one in a trilogy.

There’s a lot of action in this book and a lot of time spent developing Branwen. If you’re looking for a YA romance, then I wouldn’t recommend Sweet Black Waves. But if the time period or the story of Tristan and Isolde intrigues you, then you might want to pick it up. Overall Sweet Black Waves transported me to an ancient Ireland and I loved its heroine. I just wished it’s other characters were better developed and more nuanced. I still have the next book in pre-order though.

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Sweet Black Waves by Kristina Perez

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  1. Melissandre says:

    This reminds me of The White Raven by Diana L. Paxson, which I read several years ago. I don’t think any dudes get melted, but it had an ending that was about as satisfactory as this story can allow for.

  2. MirandaB says:

    Sweet Black Waves makes me think of The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes “Oh, sweet black waves in the moonlight”

  3. Lostshadows says:

    From what I remember of Tristan and Isolde, I’m not sure I’d rule out a HEA based on this review, since the author seems to have removed the element that prevents it.

  4. Another Kate says:

    Oh my, this sounds like Kate Catnip! Feminist magic, pre-history British Isles… I had ready been comparing it to the Mists of Avalon in my mind, and then you made the comparison.

    (Fun note – back in the day, my Grandma had a copy of the MoA to read as she recovered from a hip replacement, and then the copy was passed between the females of the family. I blew through it in 2 weeks – I have a distinct memory of reading it in grade 9 French class taught by a teacher who had no fucks left to give, thinking that reading the MoA was much better than listening to aforementioned French teacher lecturing us in English about how he shouldn’t be speaking English to us and how much better his students at his last school had been.)

  5. Vasha says:

    The story of Tristan & Iseult isn’t a romance in the modern sense because, rather than loving each other, they have an uncontrollable passion that they aren’t really happy about– that isn’t conducive to a happy ending even if they’d been free to marry. Thinking about that makes some sense of why I don’t care for the “fated mates” trope, and why a romance that starts out with wild attraction is going to have to work hard to convince me that the couple deserve to be together. Love based on understanding, caring, etc. is sounder.

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