Hello my lovely bookworms. It’s the start of the Summer Holidays for me and I can’t wait to read all of the books! Today I’m so excited to be part of the TheWriteReads Ultimate Tour for a gorgeous new middle grade book, The Ship and the Shadows by Maria Kuzniar. Maria is known for her cosy themed bookstagrams across social media. I was so excited to be able to read her book as part of this blog tour. I pretty much spent my whole weekend reading this book and loving it. So I will be sharing a very glowing review of this book. But before that is here is a little bit more about the book.

The Ship of Shadows by Maria Kuzniar
Published by Penguin Random House Children's UK on July 16, 2020
Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Middle Grade
Amazon | Book Depository | Waterstones
Goodreads

Aleja whiles away her days in her family's dusty tavern in Seville, dreaming of distant lands and believing in the kind of magic that she's only ever read about in books. After all, she's always being told that girls can't be explorers.
But her life is changed forever when adventure comes for her in the form of a fabled vessel called the Ship of Shadows. Crewed by a band of ruthless women, with cabin walls dripping with secrets, the ship has sailed right out of a legend. And it wants Aleja.
Once on board its shadowy deck, she begins to realize that the sea holds more secrets than she ever could have imagined. The crew are desperately seeking something, and their path will take them through treacherous waters and force them to confront nightmare creatures and pitch-dark magic. It will take all of Aleja's strength and courage to gain the trust of her fellow pirates - and discover what they are risking everything to find.

My Review

Ever since reading Rooftoopers recently I have been enthralled by middle grade books. These books, these are the ones that inspire children to dream, to imagine and best of all explore all the worlds. The debut novel from Maria Kuzniar, The Ship of Shadows is no exception to this.

Aleja has yearned for the excitement of adventure all of her life. It’s her dream, but it is just that, a dream. Adventures like these aren’t reality especially living in Sevilla. Aleja has lived through the famous adventures written throughout history. She has delved and learnt the adventures of explorers through the pages of books. She has become a little explorer herself, she just needs the opportunity. When a sees an injured ship, conjured of magic and legend that enters the Spanish Harbour, she can’t help but investigate further. And she does, Aleja is caught in trouble and the captain of the ships rescues her. But the ship doesn’t just welcome anyone. The Ship of Shadows is a legend of the seas, and so are it’s explorations, and it picked her. Sailing across the seas, travelling to whole new worlds, finding lost treasures, fighting krakens amongst an all female crew.

Who remembers Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans, the old movies?! Those were the movies I grew up on with the classic tales of adventures and mythical creatures. Those seem slightly old fashioned now and like Aleja, books are pages of millions of worlds that we want to explore. There are very few pirate books, I know I have read mainly YA like Viper by Bex Hogan and Seafire by Natalie C. Parker. The Ship of Shadows is one a classic feminist voyage story. One the best pirates books out there and the perfect introduction to the dreams of adventures and becoming little explorers.

Little explorers that will resonate with strong characters like Aleja and her contagious excitement and thirst for adventures. Travelling the earth and various voyages to discover lost treasures. Who wouldn’t want to be?! I love Aleja’s passion, curiosity, never giving-up and courageousness. She is an unstoppable, knowledgeable force and the perfect pirate for the ship of shadows. Then there’s Frances the fun and curious pirate that I think leads Aleja astray. Among the all female crew, theirs is a fantastic all-girl crew that each have their own persona and place on the ship. It’s their home.

I was simply entranced by, the adventure. You can’t have one without the other, but as a debut writer, Maria has certainly outdone herself. I felt transported to onboard the ship of shadows. The world building of the book, travelling to Morocco, Spain, Sevilla, and North Africa. I don’t travel very much in literature unless it the UK or the US, or a new world completely. So I loved the rich, sharp, vivid imagery and description of life is second to none. As if you were there yourself. The genuine excitement of being a pirate throughout the entire book was just contagious. It just makes my inner child smile giddy with excitement and if I’m like that imagine what younger audiences would be like. I loved the magic and the originality behind her writing, I don’t know I’ve read anything quite like for such a long time. There’s something about middle grade books and the essence and imagination of magic that captures the reader completely and Maria does that.

I am absolutely middle grade books and I wish I had these when I was younger. I miss being that young and really resonating with the characters or feeling that genuine excitement. I think as a reader and librarian, and older I feel I appreciate books more. When they take you away from you for a bit and let you be your inner child. I will definitely be recommending this book to all my students on par with Helena Duggan, J.K. Rowling, Cornelia Funke and Katherine Rundell. The Ship of Shadows is jam packed full on adventure, entwined with magic and secrets, and will let every child dream for their own adventure.

Thank you to The Writes Reads/Dave for organising this blog tour in exchange for an honest review.