Exile of the Seas

Three and a half stars. I haven't read the first book in this new series which may be the reason I didn't feel connected to this story. Okay, I have no looked up the first book and it was clearly all about Jenna and her husband - I would recommend reading that one first because I definitely felt that I was missing a lot of the story. We first meet Princess Jenna of Dasnaria on board a ship, she has run away from her abusive husband and is fleeing her homeland. Having been brought up in a seraglio she has no concept of money, reading, writing or living in the real world. She doesn't even know how to open the portholes or light the lanterns until one of the other passengers shows her. We travel with Jenna as she learns about life outside the backwards, misogynistic society of Dasnaria where women have no voice, no power and no rights. Outside Dasnaria women can be warriors, priestesses, they can buy things, they can walk around alone, they can walk with young men. They have freedom. But always in the back of her mind Jenna knows her husband will not stop searching for her. She changes her name and becomes a Priestess of Danu but still she waits for him to find her. As always, Jeffe Kennedy's writing is seductive, it draws you into a fantasy world so completely you feel disorientated when you look up and find you are sitting at home instead of living in a foreign land. Nyambura reminded me of Sri Lanka, maybe it's because I saw elephants washing in the river there at the Pinnewella Elephant sanctuary and the way that Jeffe Kennedy describes their skin and the bristles which are so rough and such a shock just transported me back there. Overall, I feel that not having read the first book in the series left me at a disadvantage because I was curious about Jenn's previous life, how she escaped her husband etc. Had I read that book I expect my rating would have been much higher. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Please cease all other projects and focus on this series, the Twelve Kingdoms Series, and the Uncharted Realms. I am so addicted and beyond thrilled at everything interwoven within all these books. With the Dasnarian chronicles I was excited and yet pained by the mysteries solved and questions answeres which came from the other books. Delightedly, i only have more questions and really look forward to where this is all headed (no pressure). I also am enjoying the uniqueness of the exotic locations- so different from the average dreary medieval castle set up. I think this book and The Pages of the Mind are my favorites in the series for that reason. I am dying for the rest like Dafne itching for her scrolls.