Caroline Oresteia is destined for the river. For generations, her family has been called by the river god, who has guided their wherries on countless voyages throughout the Riverlands. In Song of the Current, Caro is seventeen, and has spent years listening to the water, ready to meet her fate. But the river god hasn’t spoken her name yet—and if he hasn’t by now, there’s a chance he never will.

Caro decides to take her future into her own hands when her father is arrested for refusing to transport a mysterious crate. By agreeing to deliver it in exchange for his release, Caro finds herself caught in a web of politics and lies, with dangerous pirates after the cargo—an arrogant courier with a secret—and without the river god to help her. With so much at stake, Caro must choose between the life she always wanted and the one she never could have imagined for herself.

From debut author Sarah Tolcser comes an immersive and romantic fantasy set along the waterways of a magical world with a headstrong heroine determined to make her mark. (via Goodreads)

I received an eARC from Netgalley courtesy of the publisher, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Song of the Current, but it wound up having everything I wanted from it – sea monsters, beautiful ships (of all kinds *wink wink*), frogpeople, learning to recognize privilege, enthusiastic consent and true familial love.

I also really loved that this was hate-to-lovers. The love interest drove me a little bit crazy until he pulled his head out of his ass, and I loved that both he and Caro changed quite a bit during this story.

I loved that Caro’s mom was not necessarily the warmest of people, but that she still works to show Caro she cares about her. I really liked her as a character, and I look forward to seeing how she grows in future books. Her business smarts are something that Caro could learn a lot from as a privateer. I also can’t wait to learn more about Kenté. She’s a badass.

I also loved that both Caro and the love interest realized that a traditional marriage would not work for them, and that they still wanted to do whatever they wanted in the meantime. These are two things that I rarely see in YA.

All that being said, I found the use of “be” constantly to be a little bit grating at first, especially since it was only in Caro’s speech, not her thinking. However, I got used to it pretty quickly.

I really wanted to know more about Fee, and I’d loooooove to read the novella of how Caro’s parents met. I recommend this book for fans of the Bloody Jack series and True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, and those who just enjoy a good, rollicking journey.

Overall, this was a fun story that I’d happily read the next installment in! I’m giving this a four star rating. You can grab a copy on Amazon, Indiebound or your other favorite bookseller!

Disclaimer: All links to Indiebound and Amazon are affiliate links, which means that if you buy through those links, I will make a small amount of money off of it.