A Jewel Bright Sea by Claire O’Dell - NO

A Jewel Bright Sea by Claire O’Dell, 328 pages.  Kensington Books (Rebel Base Books), 2019. $16.

Language: R (96 swears, 6 “f”); Mature Content: R; Violence: PG13

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - NO

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

As a bonded servant because of her father’s debts, Anna must obey her master -- but that is not the only reason she has for going on this dangerous quest. If she is successful in getting what her master wants, Anna will finally earn her freedom. Months of following clues has gotten Anna closer, and she knows she will be successful, until another group shows interest in the thing she seeks and puts the reward of her freedom at risk.

I found the beginning confusing, something to slog through hoping that the story would get better and make more sense. It did, for a while, but I’m still a little confused about how everything worked out in the final battle of the story. I was also disappointed in the short-but-descriptive-enough sex scene that was randomly inserted in the middle of the book. Everything resolved nicely, though, in the end. The mature content rating is for that sex scene, groping, and implied rape; the violence rating is for battle gore.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen