In Over Raging Tides, the pirate crew of the Lady Luck lives by many rules, but chief among them is this: they do not allow men on board.

That’s a rule that quartermaster Grace Porter is willing to break when a shipwrecked young nobleman offers her information of an omniscient map, stolen from his warship by an enemy vessel. Until now, the map was only the stuff of legend… but with its help, Grace may

finally be able to hunt down the Mordgris, the sea monsters who stole her mother away from her.

Unfortunately, some members of her crew have other plans…To find the map and face the Mordgris, Grace will have to confront her past, put the Luck between warring nations, and uncover treachery aboard the ship. And ultimately, her revenge and the destruction of the Mordgris will come at a hefty price: the betrayal of her crew.

Grace promised them they wouldn’t regret this.

She just isn’t sure that she won’t. (via Goodreads)

I received an eARC of Over Raging Tides from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I had high hopes for Over Raging Tides. With the description of a ship full of lady pirates with a badass cover, I was sold right away.

I liked the characters in Over Raging Tides, and I think there was some good plot in the story. However, there was a point where things got really shitty for me

When I say shitty, I mean it literally. One of the rules in the ship’s charter is that no one can relieve themselves on the deck. Because that’s nasty, right? As pirates, they may not be the most civilized bunch of women you’ve ever heard of. However, they’re still able-bodied adults who wouldn’t just shit on the deck they work on. Right?

Apparently, no. When Gracie puts her foot down and keeps the two boys aboard, about half of the crew decides that their method of protest is going to be LITERALLY SHITTING ON THE DECK that the older boy has been charged with swabbing. And then it was kind of never dealt with again. It was ridiculous, and is honestly the only big thing I remember from the book.

I liked the idea of the Mordgris, and the story had elements that could have been really awesome if they were expanded on. That never happened though, to my disappointment.

Overall, Over Raging Tides had too much binarist gender essentialism and too much LITERAL SHIT for me. It didn’t have enough awesome plot to make it worth recommending for me. It could have used a couple more edit passes before being published to be a better book.