A Had Me At Hello Kind Of Books..."Tress of the Emerald Sea" Book Review

"Tress of the Emerald Sea" was hands down a five-star read. It takes a lot in my mind for a book to be five stars, it's not just about the story or characters, but the writing as well. And this book exceeded my expectations in every single regard. Now I have been reading Sanderson since I was in high school, and even though I am not the biggest fan of high fantasy, I’ve always enjoyed his books. 

But I had no idea what to expect when I picked it up. I had heard it was very much a cozy fantasy, inspired largely by "The Princess Bride", so I was a little lost because none of the Sanderson books I’ve read had ever even remotely resembled that kind of read. 

This book felt like the perfect one to begin the new year with. People normally love books with a lot of angst and drama and passionate/tumultuous relationships. ( I am certainly no exception) But reading this made me realize the wonderfulness and need for simple fantasy. 

I don’t mean simple, in regards to world, plot, or character development, by those standards this book was by no means simple. As expected from Sanderson, he really brings it with the world-building, tying it in perfectly with the plot. I mean simple in that it didn’t need a ton of drama or angst to tell a beautiful engaging story.

It had simple truths and simple morals that we sometimes forget, so a reminder was nice. Now I’ve heard from some people this was a turn-off, the blatantly stayed morals and life lessons, but for me, it was a wonderful addition. It reminded me of younger me reading books like The Chronicles of Narnia, simple stories that tell true truths and make you feel warm and fuzzy once you finished, and a little bit sad as all books make you feel when you’ve finished them. 

I’ve also heard people mention problems with the show-not-tell rule that Sanderson breaks. But I honestly feel like you learn the rules to break them. And Sanderson as a writer I feel tends to break that rule a lot but I feel like it fits perfectly with the story, seeing as Hoid was interacting directly with the reader. I found it to be a nice touch like I was actually in a room listening to Hoid telling a story. 

As far as everything else, I’ve just finished reading this book so it will be a bit of a gush but oh my gosh a story narrated by Hoid was not something I thought I needed. But oh my goodness it was. And cursed Hoid who thinks socks and sandals are a good idea, even better. There was such beauty in the simplicity of it all, the obvious foreshadowing where he literally told you what would happen later in the book, but somehow I still managed to be surprised. And I loved seeing…well reading about his interactions with the people on the ship, especially Tress.

And oh Tress, I loved her. Now I love a good old heroine who can kick ass or outsmart a whole army, but it was so refreshing to read a character whose strength wasn’t found in her intellect or fighting ability but in her character. I think she was a relatable character, while still managing to survive in a fantastical world and gaining really useful skills along the way. 

The best way I can describe it is, you know how you think about all the fantasy books you’ve read. At Least for me I’m always like those worlds are so cool but I probably wouldn’t last long in any of them, but Tress is a character that makes me believe maybe I could. She is that kind of character if that makes sense lol. 

I loved that by the end of the book Tress didn’t gain any new skills and completely changed. I feel in a lot of books, the story takes a meek and possibly weak female character and by the end of it turns her into this super tough fighting machine. And there is nothing wrong with that, but it was nice to read a character who did indeed learn some really cool skills, but she mostly used the gifts she already had to get from the beginning to end. She grew into the leader she was meant to be rather than just changing to fit the stereotypical hero she should be. 

Maybe this book was just perfectly timed because I had recently been looking for a book where the heroine wasn’t some badass fighter, again not that I don’t like that, I love those books, Spensa from "The Skyward" series comes to mind, as a character I really like. But I had just wanted to read a book with a female character whose strength wasn’t in her fighting skills or intelligence but in her character, who she was as a person and I think Tress was that character. 

And not to mention the designs!! I actually almost cried when after I bought the book I realized there was actual character art in the first few pages. From the cover to the beginning of the chapters, it was gorgeous. 

Overall this was just one of those books that had me at hello books and a great way to start off the new year. I would highly recommend it!