I very much enjoyed Compass Rose. This is not a shock, since the book features lesbian pirates and giant squid and thus has “Carrie Bait” written all over it. However, I did not find the end to be entirely satisfying and I had a heck of a time keeping up with the plot. The heroine, Compass Rose (yes, that’s her name) never gets lost, but I got lost in this plot all the dang time.

Our story begins in a post-apocalyptic world. The seas have taken over much of the planet’s landmass and are so heavily polluted that sea life is drastically diminished. In some areas the air is breathable but in others it is not. People live at sea on boats or on a small set of islands. Rose is a navigator with the Archipelago Fleet. She has an instinctual and unerring sense of direction as well as an ability to sense the most subtle changes in the ocean and the air. The descriptions of her navigating, and how she mingles knowledge of maps with attention to the most minute shifts in temperature, air pressure, salinity, and the presence and patterns of wildlife, are the most interesting passages in the book.

Rose’s boss, Admiral Comita, sends her to work undercover for a mercenary/pirate Captain, Miranda (though Miranda knows that Rose was sent by Comita). Miranda was hired by Comita to find out what threats lie along the coasts, which are famously difficult to navigate, hence the need for Rose to do the navigation. In the course of the assignment, Rose’s loyalties are tested, and she slowly develops a sense of found family with Miranda’s crew. She also develops an enormous passion for Miranda, who is as smoking hot as one would expect a Pirate Queen to be.

Readers should know that this book is hella violent. There is no sexual assault but there is a lot of hands on violence (beatings) as well as ships fighting each other and leaving bodies in the water. There are murder attempts, successful and otherwise, and lashes are delivered (because pirate ship). Also, there’s a no-holds-barred giant squid vs. ship scene so if your “no violence towards animals” extends towards giant squid this is probably not a great book for you. Themes include class and race discrimination, but based on the standards of a different society. This means that skin color, gender, and sexual orientation are not major factors in discrimination but your place on a specific ship or station and that ship’s place among (or outside of) the fleet are a big deal. The characters have a variety of skin tones but are more noted by their tattoos, their eyes (Compass Rose has yellow eyes, which are unusual and noted by most people who meet her) and their roles aboard ship.

I enjoyed the world-building, which was clear without resorting to huge exposition dumps. The culture is interesting and the description of a polluted world chilling. Above all, this story is immersive. The world is rendered with plain language with abundant appeals to the five senses. I felt like I was on the ship, and while it was not always an enjoyable place to be (squid fight!) it was always interesting.

When it comes to the romance, the book falters a bit. The book is told entirely from Rose’s point of view, and Miranda is intentionally enigmatic, so the reader gets to know Rose very well and Miranda barely at all. Certainly they have great chemistry and amazing sex, and the power imbalance is at least somewhat offset by having Rose always make the first move, but I just didn’t feel like I knew Miranda well enough to root for the couple. Even Rose can’t put faith in them as a couple. The end is only shakily resolved, but a sequel is coming in 2021.

Ultimately, I found the plot to be incomprehensible. I never understood what the characters were doing, or why (it is possible my Covid-19-Stress-Brain is at fault). I also longed for illustrations since the ships are at least partially enclosed due to areas of toxic atmosphere and I’d love a picture of that. The romance was sexy but not emotionally satisfying due to the trust gap and power gap between the characters, who never seemed to really know each other.

However, I would absolutely read this book again because I loved the characters and the setting. I’m a sucker for found family stories, and the crew is complex and interesting, funny and sometimes horrifying in ways that I did not expect and which nevertheless seemed plausible. Rose’s fight for acceptance is gritty and slow and I fully believed in every step of it. I found myself cheering for the crew regardless of what was actually going on. I enjoyed the LGBTQIA representation and the depiction of the kinds of friendships that can only come from fighting giant squid together. This would be a good book for anyone who has ever wished that 20,0000 LeaguesUnder the Sea and Firefly and Mad Max could have a grimy and heavily tattooed baby.