Week 5 of the Voyage of the Damned Readalong is meant for final thoughts, so I wanted to review the book overall. I’m glad I read this book as a readalong, because the most fun part was getting to discuss theories for how the book would end.
For those just tuning in: Ariana with The Book Nook is leading this year’s Wyrd and Wonder readalong of The Voyage of the Damned by Frances White: a magical cruise ship murder mystery. You can read my answers to the first 3 weeks questions here:
Wyrd and Wonder is an annual month-long fantasy celebration held every May. This year’s hosts are Imyril with There’s Always Room for One More, Lisa with Dear Geek Place, Jorie with Jorie Loves a Story, Annemieke with A Dance with Books, and Ariana with The Book Nook.
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Author: Frances White
Genres: mystery, high fantasy, romance
Series: N/A
Pages: 464
Audiobook length: 15 hrs 22 min
ISBN: 9780778387909
Content Warnings: strong language, political conflict, parental abuse and neglect, child endangerment , mental illness including suicidal ideation, attempts and depression, amputation, grief, scenes of physical violence and murder, drowning , alcohol consumption, class based discrimination
Blurb
For a thousand years, Concordia has maintained peace between its provinces. To mark this incredible feat, the emperor’s ship embarks upon a twelve-day voyage to the sacred Goddess’s Mountain.
Aboard are the twelve heirs of the provinces of Concordia, each graced with a unique and secret magical ability known as a Blessing.
All except one: Ganymedes Piscero – class clown, slacker, and all-round disappointment.
When a beloved heir is murdered, everyone is a suspect. Stuck at sea and surrounded by powerful people and without a Blessing to protect him , Ganymedes’s odds of survival are slim.
But as the bodies pile higher, Ganymedes must become the hero he was not born to be. Can he unmask the killer and their secret blessing before this bloody crusade reaches the shores of Concordia?
Or will the empire as he knows it fall forever?
Review of Voyage of the Damned
- Format: ebook
- Pacing: fast
- Plot or character-driven: plot
- Multiple POVs? no
- Representation: bi/pansexual main character, m/m romance
Annemieke pointed out right away that the characters in this book read younger than they actually are. Voyage of the Damned is aimed at an adult audience, but Dee’s insecurities on top of the melodramatic romance and other blessed often seeming like caricatures instead of people gave the impression the book was written for a younger audience. Having such a large cast of characters in a story packed with multiple plot lines meant there wasn’t a lot of room to develop each character.
I still found the murder mystery very engaging, and the characters having such simple, yet distinctive personalities gave the story a clue-like vibe. Trying to guess who was behind all the murders felt like a game.
Dee’s humor added to the fun of the story. There were many times I laughed at his antics or something he said about the other passengers. That said, I don’t think his character development was ever fully resolved in Voyage of the Damned. Dee had a lot of trauma being from the lowest providence and having to pretend to have a blessing to cover for his father’s infidelity. Dee’s self-esteem issues and suicidal ideation seemed too heavy for the type of book Voyage of the Damned was and they weren’t treated with the care they needed.
Voyage of the Damned gets points for being the only lighthearted fantasy mystery I’ve ever read. For that reason, I may recommend it to others interested in that type of book. Otherwise, I don’t think this is one I recommend.
Additional Spoilery Thoughts
Click for spoilers
I WAS TOTALLY RIGHT ABOUT CORDELIA!
You’ll Like This Book if You Enjoy…
- A fast paced murder mystery set in a fantasy world
Where to find Voyage of the Damned by Frances White
Have you read Voyage of the Damned? Let’s chat in the comments!
Comments
6 responses to “Review: Voyage of the Damned by Frances White”
LOL at your spoiler note… 😉
I didn’t think about how the stereotypical character portrayal gave the book a clue-like feel, but you’re right. The characters were mostly caricatures, and that made guessing whodunnit hard for me, since I didn’t want to narrow anyone down to the stereotype being presented. (And yet, they often were no deeper than that.) I’m glad to have read this with a group discussion to go with it, too!
I may have been wrong in almost all my other theories, but that one was right!
And yeah, I think if you just look at the story as a fun mystery where you get to try to guess at whodunnit it’s a lot of fun! The group discussion made it a lot more enjoyable for sure.
Oh interesting point you make about the clue-like feel! It did make mystery fun but it lack depth because of it yeah.
Yeah, definitely seemed like it lacked depth
It’s a shame you didn’t like this more. I read it a while ago and the sense of humour really worked well for me and I had a good time reading but I totally see where you’re coming from about the characters feeling young.
Lynn 😀
This was definitely one where I thought maybe if I read it at a different time I would have liked it more.