To live on the sea and wake up to the waves hitting your boat is a dream I once had. Just the thought of being able to live on the very thing that has a part of my heart makes me smile. I never really gave any consideration to the negative side would be for my day dream. I forget about the storms and trials the ocean puts people through and the constant distance of nothing looming all around the ship. But I have always lived on the land and can come and go from the water’s edge as I would like. In Madison Wade’s The Ocean’s Daughter, there is a young woman who has spent her entire life only seeing and experiencing the ways of the ocean and only day dreamed about what the land was like. This is a story about Carter Ellen Key’s adventures and the problems she runs into along the way.
So here’s the story:
She isn’t like other young women. In fact up till now she hasn’t even met another woman! Carter Ellen Key has lived her fifteen years of life on the sea, calling the Adventurer her home. Surrounded by her crew who are basically her family, and her Captain who became her second father, Cater knows she is always safe aboard her home. They have taught her all the ins and outs of a ship and she spends her days helping them where she is needed. And when she can sneak away, she swims with in the water with dolphins. Her favorite place on the ship though is the crow’s nest. Seeing the peaceful, forever going blue waters and every once in a while a speck of land, Carter has a part of paradise surrounding her all the time. However, even living on the ocean has its trials to watch out for. With a storm on its way, newly found feelings, pirates sailing the waters, and lives on the line, all one can do is brace, trust, escape, and ride it out.
Carter might be young, but she is a fierce as a shark and unbreakable. She gives her all when faced with each challenge. And that attitude just might keep her alive. Or perhaps put her into some hot water.
My Thoughts
This book was a lot of fun to read! It was a quick read for me, but I can also chew through some books if I really sit down and put time into them. Carter is such an outgoing and carefree young woman on her ship the Adventurer and I loved all the spunkiness and quips that she tossed around. I was living through her as she shimmed up and down the main mast to the crow’s nest and every little thing she did on the ship. I can understand why these men became her family and the ship her home with the amount of pride Carter had towards them both. This book was able to give a great feel for what it is like to live on a ship and be a part of the crew both as a passenger and crew member. I also was surprised by, but still loved, the dolphins! I wish I could understand dolphins! There are so many days that I miss the sounds, sights, and smells of the sea. This book was able to bring that part of my ocean world home to me!
Wade has done a lovely job at capturing a lot of action and moving scenes throughout her book. I really appreciated the fact that I was always tossed into a new event around every turn. The only part that caught me a little off guard are the length of some of the scenes. In particular, and all I’ll say so not to spoil, would be the “in your face shark moment” (when you read the book you’ll should know what I mean!) that happens fairly early in the story. I was so amped for this scene thanks to all of the drama and tension that was written just before it. Then it was over super fast. This could just be me as a reader of essentially world building books with a smaller portions being the actual story; however, I would have loved to have seen this one at least drawn out longer than what we were given. Other than that I really enjoyed the variety of locations and the travel we went on during the story of Carter Ellen Key.
I would suggest this book to anyone who is feeling a little homesick from the sea. Any one who wants a great story of surviving pirates and the ocean. Careful of the cliff hanger! It is a perfect quick read and all around a really good book! So really anyone would like it! Thank you for the good book Madison Wade!
Favorite Quote
The ocean has swallowed the sun
And now it is finally night.
The ocean is singing the lullaby
And now I tell you sleep tight (130)
