This has held true for most of the history of Boneyard, “a wild, unpredictable sea wracked with storms and shipwrecks”—even before the gaping Breach split open the seafloor, releasing sea monsters into the island-spotted waters. But 18-year-old Captain Rayleigh doesn’t need to be warned about Maren, whose personality is hotter than her red hair. Even when 17-year-old Maren is on land, where she has “starlight-white” hair and a pair of legs instead of a tail, she’s full of fire. But it turns out that the two young women have the same goal: collect the three keys of the Pirate Kings and reach the Sea Witch. Maren needs the keys to release her brother’s soul from the witch’s clutches, while Rayleigh wants to retrieve the heart of Red-Handed Roger, to pay her debt to the sea god and break the curse that binds her to Roger’s ship, the Revenant. As the pair reluctantly work together, they grow to see more of themselves in one another—grieving souls who just want to belong. Vedder’s worldbuilding is vast, exciting, and packed with action. The story contains many intriguing ideas; unfortunately, they go by too quickly to be fully savored. Still, the characters come to touching realizations about grief, and the slow-burn romance is fierce, just like the two leads. Tan-skinned Rayleigh has black hair, and Maren is pale-skinned.
