The Perilous Sea by Sherry Thomas
Title: The Perilous Sea
Author: Sherry Thomas
Series: The Elemental Trilogy #2
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: September 16, 2014
Genre: Fiction; Historical Fiction; Adventure; Fantasy; Romance; Young Adult
Pages: 414
Format: Hardcover
After spending the summer
away from each other, Titus and Iolanthe (still disguised as Archer Fairfax)
are eager to return to Eton College to resume their training to fight the Bane.
Although no longer bound to Titus by a blood oath, Iolanthe is more committed
than ever to fulfilling her destiny—especially with the agents of Atlantis
quickly closing in.
Soon after arriving at
school, though, Titus makes a shocking discovery, one that makes him question
everything he previously believed about their mission. Faced with this
devastating realization, Iolanthe is forced to come to terms with her new role,
while Titus must choose between following his mother's prophecies—and forging a
divergent path to an unknowable future.
Yep. Sherry Thomas still got it.
Iolanthe (how do you say that? EYE-OH-LANthhh? EEE-uh-LAWNT? I wish I knew. It would make the book so much better if I wasn’t always thinking “DAMMIT WHAT IS THAT NAME?”) and Titus come back together after spending a summer apart after the crazy events of The Burning Sky. Iolanthe is still acting under the pseudonym of Archer Fairfax. She and Titus continue to work together, reading spell books, practicing magic, and a little something extra, if you catch my drift (*wink wink*). Things are going good until Titus decides to have a realization that will ruin all their plans and their relationship. Way to go, Titus. You put the im- in impossible romance. Iolanthe aka Archer can no longer serve the purpose she was originally promised. Can she recover from being tossed aside after everything that’s happened?
I had doubts. It had been a while since I read The Burning Sky, and I wasn’t entirely convinced that I would remember all that I was expected to remember. Like when you go back to school after summer break. Unrealistic expectations of you retained from last year’s chemistry class is inevitable. Lucky for me, this book was very different from a chemistry class (thank God). The story was surprisingly easy to catch up on with skillfully placed reminders.
The sequel was just as fantastic as the first book. The key to a successful series is to write the separate installments as separate stories with their own personalized story lines. Otherwise, readers are stuck with a boring continuation of a story to which they already said goodbye. Readers want new, exciting, suspense. They can’t have that if they are caught into reading a prolonged conclusion to a washed-up plot line. Sherry Thomas knew this and played it up. Her Perilous Sea story was exciting and filled with its own set of problems. I was just as entertained with the dazzling magic in this book as the previous.
The characters were built and written fully. They were well rounded and complex. Their romance was held back just enough to keep my intrigue and left me wanting just the right amount of more. Respectfully clever and hard to put down, this novel an overall success. With the bar set to sky-scraping heights, I can’t help wonder if Sherry Thomas can keep up with the standards she’s set for the final book.
October 13, 2015
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