These Rebel Waves audiobook

Some thoughts in response to what other people are saying, particularly as a critique.1) Bland gay characters. Honestly? I hadn’t heard much about this book and didn’t realize it was pitched as an LGBT book. Was it? I don’t know. I can see why people who expected this would be disappointed but for someone who definitely enjoys good LGBT representation, this was not a factor that bothered me. Because that isn’t an expectation I had. Because this was not the POINT of the book. So honestly. If you’re expecting something that the book doesn’t promise, I’m not too sure why the upset. (My assumption that it isn’t promised because it’s not even tagged on Goodreads) I’m not sure why people were expecting gay pirates 🤷🏻‍♀️Ben is our main gay character and I thought he was such an interesting and well rounded character. Of all 3 main characters he grew the most.2) Unexplained magical system. I don’t quite understand this problem either. It felt very well explained to me: different herbs have different magical properties. You can mix different concoctions like you would any other magical potion. How much of an explanation do you need about herbs? How is this not obvious and make immediate sense? What further explanation am I missing here?In fact, there is something really fascinating about the magic essentially being herbs. Essentially people are at war for several reasons. The first major waring factor is that Agridians are fanatically religious and pray to a Pious God. They are on a crusade against people who perform magic because to them it’s “evil.” It’s interesting that the magical system that they are trying to cleanse is not occult, “devil’s” magic but something that literally grows on earth. It’s natural. This is not supernatural Harry Potter magic. This is not “dark” versus “light” magic.This is a religion that’s against HERBS that produce magical properties.That to me is an incredibly important detail.I loved the political and social prejudice commentaries prevalent throughout this book. They were definitely “this is important to think about in real life” without hitting you over the head with it. It was integrated in such a way that felt authentic to the plot line but also wildly relatable to the real world. It didn’t feel like an unnatural soapbox moral tale.Personally, I loved the characters.Adeluna aka Lu is wonderful. I loved her wit and her resourcefulness. I love that she can step outside of her own beliefs and ignorance to re-evaluate her stance in the light of new evidence. She knows when to hold her ground but she isn’t so stubborn as to let it blind her actions. There are moments when she realizes just how truly ignorant she has been and apologizes on behalf of an entire Council. She battles between being a lady who no longer takes away life and the person she once was: an assassin and spy.Overall I really loved the author’s writing style. It was full of charm.I thought the plot twists were well done.

rep: gay mc, bi li, wlw side characters, poc casttw: torture, child abuse, death & murderi came here expecting gay pirates but what i got was a bunch of traumatised kids with ptsd trying to win a war and whom i must protect at all costs. also a gay prince. main point: all those prejudices, all those reasons for hatred & division in this made-up land and yet not a single mention of homophobia?? *chef kisses*anyway, admit that vex is bi and we have ourselves a perfect book!

At first I didn't flow with These Rebel Waves. The first 10 chapters was kinda weird.It took a while before I understood the political situation; It was a mess but later the novel got interesting and fun. When I started the novel I was so sure of my self that I was never ever ever going to read book 2 but things are different now.Book 1 started making sense half way. Four stars to These Rebel Waves

entre 4,5🌟 y 4,75🌟Reseña completa -> https://thewordsofbooks.blogspot.com/...«Somos más fuertes de lo que ellos jamás soñaron. Tú eres más fuerte.»He terminado Las aguas rebeldes, y si ya me gustó la autora con su otra trilogía en este libro se ha superado. Me ha encantado TODO, absolutamente todo de principio a fin. La trama, la ambientación, hay mucha acción, aventuras pero sin duda los tres protagonistas son de lo mejor. Pd: Vex es mi nueva obsesión y adoro las historias de piratas 😍😍😍

Holy crap. That was so good. Vex is a babe and officially on my book boyfriend list. The world was complex but well explained and thought out. I enjoyed both the political side and the magic system. There was just enough balance to make it interesting.

3.5* *I received this ARC in exchange for honest review*The story follows our 3 MCs as their lives intertwine in a Spanish Inquisition inspired post-War setting. >Adeluna: Former rebel spy, magic expert,badass lady>Devereux: Pirate/ Stream Raider, mischievous bugger, secretly a cinnamon roll>Benat: Gay Prince of Argrid, science nerd, hereticI really loved all of the MCs. That being said, I had a very difficult time connecting with them. This isn’t your typical action packed pirate book, it focuses more on character development and politics. It is also quite religion heavy (not my fave.) The intense world building made the first half of the book a bit slow but the second half of the book was action packed and full of twist and turns. Overall I enjoyed it and I’m interested to see where the sequel will take this story Full review video: https://youtu.be/jSKfVJAWIEc

El inicio me costó mucho, era muy lento, tedioso y con palabras desconocidas; un mundo totalmente nuevo. Pero a pesar de eso, había algo que me mantenía pegada a las páginas y fueron sus personajes.Una revolucionara. Un pirata y un príncipe. Estos tres personajes me encantaron. Tienen sus grandes momentos y fui muy fan de ellos. Les voy a confesar que no soy una fanática de las historias sobre piratas pero la sinopsis me dio curiosidad y creo que hasta el momento ha sido el mejor libro de piratas que he leído.EL FINAL. Vaya final, es un final muy shock, jajaja. Espero no tarden tanto en publicarlo porque fue un final de infarto y los giros... demonios, no me esperaba ninguno de esos giros Y LOS AMÉ.Léanlo.

So. Good. HIGHLY SUGGEST READING THIS!!!!!!There is so much going on and it makes everything a lot more deepthful and meaningful and perfect. The book is circled around all the politics which allows for more action and magic (especially the plants!). And I can't get enough of Vex and Lu and Ben and Jakes, and I need the next book now!!!!!!

Without a doubt on of my top reads for 2018. Holy plot twists Batman! I loved the characters in this book so much. Omg I need Book 2 right now because I am not ok!

I highly recommend this book if you love: political intrigue, pirates and slow burn romance

The audio performance was really good and I liked the storyline with Lu and Vex but I couldn't get into the parallel storyline with Benat and the heretics, not at least until the end when their stories intersected on the ship. If I had a dollar for everytime they said 'Pious God' I would be rich.

Pirates books are big this year and this is one you should definitely add to your list. It had everything I wanted and more than I was expecting. Firstly, such a big yes for gay characters in fantasy. It really doesn't happen too often, the main ones I can think of being Six of Crows, A Darker Shade of Magic and The Raven Boys - which are all big series. But gay or bisexual characters are never implemented into the lowkey fantasy releases so I was SO happy that it was done. I also loved that the fact that one of our main protagonists was gay wasn't said in the synopsis. His sexuality wasn't used as a selling point, you know? It was just there and it was great. One of the main reason I liked this book so much is that I love when there are more than 2 points of views within a book and these characters slowly start interacting and helping each other out but we still get to see inside their head. It's a really entertaining perspective to read from. I think it also helps with the pace of the book as there's always something going on. Yes, some multi perspective books can get tedious as there's always that one character who you really don't care about, but in These Rebel Waves, you care about all three tremendously. Their stories intertwine slowly but surely. The characters themselves are the driving force behind this book. Lu being strong willed but naive as she's grown up from a unsure child solider into a politician, Vex who is literally the embodiment of Captain Jack Sparrow - witty, but wickedly brilliant - and Ben a scared prince who has knowledge of botanical magic that he shouldn't possess. The botanical magic is also worth mentioning as I've never read a book where the magic of the world is derived from plants. It was so interesting and pretty damn bad ass. You know that fuzzy, warm feeling you get in your stomach when you're reading about a romantic relationship and you just want them to finally get together so badly? Well that's exactly how I felt about the friendships within this book. With Ben and his new friend Gunner, Lu and Ben and Ben and Vex obviously being my favourite (that plot twist has me reeling). So yes, there was a cliffhanger and no, I'm not okay with it. I'm so happy that this has been announced as a duology as I think I prefer those to trilogies?? There's no filler middle book - sorry not sorry. I'm extremely excited and and sad that I have to wait a whole year for the next one.

I been shook to my core! HOLY BALLS! This was better than Snow Like Ashes and I LOVE Snow Like Ashes!I super need to get my shit together and read the sequel but that would require me to be a responsible human.Rep: m/m romance

4.5Las Aguas Rebeldes nos entrega una historia bastante simple, pero muy bien estructurada y desarrollada, sobre todo en lo referente a sus personajes. Necesito leer el segundo con desesperación, pero creo que esperaré un poco más de tiempo para poder asimilar esas últimas páginas :'(

**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes were taken from the advanced readers copy and as such may not be accurate or present in the final version**I buddy read this book with the super awesome Amy from A Magical World of Words. We had the best chats and I always enjoy a buddy read with a #squad member.I really adored this book. Having not read anything by Raasch before I wasn't sure what to expect but These Rebel Waves exceeded anything I dared hope for. I really enjoy complex and well thought out fantasy worlds, and this is a seriously intricate world with a rich history and as a bonus it's chock full of diversity - we have various cultures and religions as well as sexual orientations. I loved the magic system which is as unique as it is intriguing - there are certain plants with magical properties that can be used in different ways to produce various effects: medicinal, explosive etc. It was great seeing the blend of science with fantasy here as well as seeing the effect that such commodities had on the world - religiously, economically and long term effects on people from the use of the botanical magic. “If you control something first, it isn’t as scary.”“I don’t want to control it. I want to understand it.”“Same idea, better approach.” There are three main point of views to follow; Adeluna (Lu), the rebel; Devereux (Vex), the pirate; and Benat (Ben), the Holy Eminence Prince. There's also a lot of supporting characters but each of the characters is so individual and specific that I had no problem keeping track of everyone in my mind. It wasn't clear how Ben's story would weave into the stories of the other two main characters, but he was still easy to root for and when the fusion occurred it was seamless and fantastic. I loved that Benat, as the Prince, was in a relationship with another man, a Defensor of the church and the only real problem with their relationship was that of the sin of sex before marriage. It was interesting and refreshing that Raasch chose to have sexual orientation a complete non-issue in this heavily religious world. Whatever you fear so much about yourself, it’s part of you. You can either keep fighting or change your expectations There's plenty of detail and to be honest, a bit of info dumping in the first few chapters. But there really is so much to learn about the world and the characters. It's complex and can be difficult to unravel the politics and sometimes the plot seemed to be weighed down from all the political info which gave a bit of a flow and pacing issue but there's enough action to keep readers interested and the stakes are high enough to remain invested.There's a slow burn romance which develops so sweetly with a lot of chemistry and tension. It was just so shippable and full of flirtatious banter but I also appreciated that the relationship didn't really come to the forefront of the plot. These Rebel Waves is a compelling book with a detailed, politically heavy plot with plenty of action, adventure and betrayal as well as breathtaking twists and a cliffhanger that will have you crying out for the sequel.

4.75 stelle! CHE LIBRO MERAVIGLIOSO!Ho These Rebel Waves in TBR da anni e continuavo a rimandarne la lettura perché volevo prima finire l'altra trilogia della scrittrice, ma grazie al fatto che era disponibile l'audiolibro su Storytel mi sono buttata e sono felicissima di averlo fatto. Questo libro ha tutti gli elementi che mi piacciono in un fantasy: una storia avvincente, dei personaggi scritti bene, che riescono a rimanere impressi nella memoria del lettore e una coppia che è riuscita a fare una cosa quasi impossibile, cioè conquistarmi. La storia si divide in due filoni narrativi. Da una parte abbiamo Ben, principe di Argrid ed eretico, mentre cerca di destreggiarsi nella politica del padre e capire il suo ruolo nella società.Dall'altra parte abbiamo Lu e Vex, figlia di politici lei e pirata lui, i due non hanno niente in comune, ma per uno strano gioco del destino si troveranno a lavorare insieme per salvare Grace Loray. Tutti e due i filoni sono stati molto interessanti, ma ammetto che quello di Lu e Vex mi ha completamente conquistato. I loro battibecchi mi hanno fatto morire dal ridere e li trovo una coppia che può dare ancora tante soddisfazioni. Alla fine le due vicende collidono in un modo che non mi aspettavo, ma che rende tutta la storia ancora più interessante. Ma devo dire che tuti i plot twist sono stati ben pensati e hanno creato una narrazione adrenalina che riesce più di una volta a sorprendere il lettore. Parlando di plot twist non si può non parlare del finale del libro che dichiarare illegale sarebbe un complimento, così si finisce un libro se vuoi che i tuoi lettori bramino il seguito!Quando ho iniziato il libro non mi aspettavo che mi piacesse così tanto, ma è successo e ne sono veramente felice.