Review: Flintlock (Cutlass #2) by Ashley Nixon

Title: Flintlock
Author: Ashley Nixon
Series: Cutlass
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: StarSeed Press
Source: received from author (Thank you!!!)







Barren Reed hopes to protect the Orient from his tyrant uncle, but his plans to make the King's life a living hell aren't supported by the Elders of the pirate community. As it stands, Barren has earned the Elder's disdain for his carelessness, and they threaten him into exile if he makes one more mistake.

Barren's not the only one feeling the Elder's wrath - they don't trust Larkin either. Wors, Barren can't comprehend Larkin's wish to have a relationship with her father, and the secrets she's forced to keep create a tension that may pull them apart forever.

When the Pirates of Silver Crest begin to die, bullets laced with dark magic are to blame. With more and more of these weapons infiltrating the Underground, discovering who's behind the dissemination is no easy feat. As fear and tension mount among the people of the Orient, Barren and his crew find themselves in a race against time to stop the spread of dark magic before the world of Mariana spirals into collapse. 

Goodreads

Cutlass was one of my favorite reads of 2014. Ever since reading it I have been anxiously awaiting the sequel, Flintlock. So when the Ashley Nixon approached me to ask if I wanted an early review copy of it I did not have to think twice.

Again I was swept away to the wonderful world of the Cutlass series. The book picked up a few weeks or months after the events in Cutlass. Barren finds himself once again in trouble but as usual his crew and Larkin have his back. It is easy to say that he is still the same reckless character from the first book. Barren always first acts before he thinks. In some ways Larkin is the same but there are other moments were she overthinks everything.  Larkin is a great heroin, she is total kick ass; I would not want to mess with her. And she has grown a lot since the first book; she is strong both physically and mentally. But at the same time she is still struggling to get fully accepted in the new life she has chosen for herself. I really love seeing Barren and Larkin together, they keep each other on their toes and they bring up the best in each other. And that is exactly what I am looking for in a couple. I loved that Ashley also showed that every relationship has its ups and downs. Not everything is rainbows and unicorns in Barren’s and Larkin’s relationship but that is what makes them stronger in the end.
The secondary characters were also well-developed. We got to see a lot more of Cover and I have to say that I really like his character. I believe that he has grown into one of my favorite characters of this book. Besides the old characters, and I loved seeing them all again, a lot of new characters were introduced. Some were created to despise or even hate but others were loveable like Sarah. I have a feeling that she can grow into something really amazing in the next book and I hope that I am right.

The world building of this book is wonderful. I cannot get enough of the world that Barren and his crew live in. If it was possible I would want to sail the sea of the Octent and the Orient myself. Ashley describes all the details really vividly. One of my favorite scenes was the one of the Autumn ball, she described all the different dresses and mask in such a detail that it took my breath away.

I enjoyed Flintlock immensely. Everything Ashley wrote fitted perfectly together, the characters, the world… Everything was just perfect. To top it all of Ashley her writing style is really addictive and I found it impossible to put this book down. She wrote an amazing sequel to a great first novel and I cannot wait until the next book comes out. I would highly recommend this book and it’s prequel to everyone. Especially if you are a fan of Young Adult fantasy than this is a series that you have to read. 

El