Beyond the God Sea

Betrothed

By: Elora Morgan

Narrated by: Madison Alcala

No man may touch Zaria. Not even her own father.

Envy of the other girls, Zaria was born for the sea. Nobody questions her fate as the chosen braenese to marry Keroe, God of the Sea - least of all her.

And even if she did, she has no choice.

When Zaria’s wedding day finally arrives, she'll become the only islander of her generation permitted to cross into the God Sea. There’s nothing more she could possibly want.

Until a curious boy washes up on her palm-fringed paradise, and Zaria defies sacred law to hide the unconscious stranger.

There are only two possibilities with his strange (and strangely handsome) face: He’s either a village anomaly or the Sea God himself, in disguise. The alluring boy-creature couldn’t have come from anywhere else, because there is no other land in all the ocean.

But when the scoundrel awakens, he has the gall to ambush Zaria.

As three pageants leading up to her wedding turn unexpectedly deadly and the enigma of its true purpose looms, Zaria is torn between her long-desired fate as Sea Queen and the infuriating boy who tells her that everything her people know is a lie.

©2020 Elora Morgan (P)2022 Elora Morgan

VERY GOOD STARTING OF A SERIES

VERY GOOD AND PROMISING START OF A GREAT STORY. THIS BOOK IS DEF FOR YOUNGER AUDIENCE. WOULD RECOMMEND FOR YOUNG ADULT. DEF KEEPS YOUR INTEREST AND DEF DID NOT DISAPPOINT! GREAT WRITING AND STORY! AFTER A COUPLE CHAPTERS I WAS HOOKED!

Exceptional!!

This book was amazing with an excellent story!! I have received a free copy in exchange for an honest review, which I am happy to give! the story captivated me, and I didn't want to put it down. I had the pleasure of listening to it, which made this book more realistic and enjoyable!!!

Beautiful writing, immediately engaging

This was a breath of fresh air after several extremely boring duds. I loved the writing and the characters and the pace was exciting! Getting book 2!

Meh...

Maybe it was triggering for my own experience of distancing myself from religion, maybe it was just a story that I could see coming from the start. But I'm sad I used a credit on it.

Interesting world building

This is a very intriguing story of a young woman about to become the apparent bride to a sea god. Her whole life, she’s been preparing, unable to be touched by males in any way, she has led a very isolated and sheltered life, but she is excited for her destiny with the sea god. Until a mysterious boy washes ashore on her island, and suddenly, everything she’s ever known to be true slowly starts to unravel, even if she doesn’t want to see it.

This is a very interesting world, a seemingly singular island, with nothing beyond it’s borders and the sea surrounding it, but for the sea god and his realm. But Kirwyn, the boy who washes ashore, tells of a different story, one of a future Earth where the continents are land masses filled with clans and sects, where few are free, hundreds of years removed from the days of cities and countries, technology and excess. But it all seems so far fetched and unreal, Zaria is certain he is telling her lies, but doesn’t know to what end. Meanwhile, as Kirwyn learns of Zaria’s future as the supposed bride to the sea god, he is convinced that something else is going on, and as he falls for this girl, he’s determined to convince her to leave the island with him instead.

It’s mostly an interesting story, what I found most frustrating was how Zaria vacillated between believing Kirwyn and not believing him, still wanting her wedding to the sea god, and then not, even up until the end, she still seemed to be questioning everything, even after everything was essentially laid out in front of her in ways she couldn’t deny. I have to chalk it up to the character being incredibly young and naive, and having been manipulated and lied to her entire life, that she just isn’t capable of reconciling things fully. I did quite enjoy the world building, and the mystery surrounding the island and it’s inhabitants, with a cliffhanger ending that definitely had me wanting to come back for more to see where this whole thing is going. I’m just hoping for some big character development for Zaria as the story progresses.

The narration for this story actually works well. The narrator definitely does a good job bringing across the youth of Zaria, and the myriad of emotions she is dealing with as her understanding of the world seems to crumble around her.

An exciting and fresh story!

I really enjoyed this book. It's a YA, so angsty and fluffy. It is the story of a first, forbidden, love with trust, the fear of getting caught, and some pretty tame romance elements. I loved the world building. It's hard to explain without giving it away, but hearing the characters explain common items to the MC was entertaining and I loved how she reacted to learning them. Their rules about touching kind of reminded me of Poppy/From Blood & Ash. The narrator is perfect and gives off that feeling of innocence and ignorance. I'm excited to see what happens next!
*I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Can't wait to listen to the next book in the trilo

Wasn't caught right off. Since it was different than the books I normally read. I think it was chapter 3 where I got hooked and didn't want it to end. But once it ended I was happy to learn that there was more to come in the next book. Also, the narrator surprised me with so many different voices. That's what especially made the story really come life.

What an amazing book!

Wow! I'm not sure what I expected from this book, but I have to say I was certainly not disappointed!

On a secluded island, Zaria is prepared to become the bride of the sea god Keroe. But when she meets an unusually strange boy, everything Zaria thought she knew and believed is called into question.

The world is not what she thought. Nor is her future...

I absolutely loved this book from start to finish! Zaria is a fantastic character, the setting is so unique, and the world-building is amazing. If you love romance, fantasy, and a hint of dystopia, you NEED to read this book!

I listened to the audiobook version, and the narration was great at capturing the voices of the characters. I am looking forward to the release of the next audiobook in the series!

Not the worst, not the best

While the story is somewhat engaging, the narration was at times hard to listen to. The affect was occasionally flat and the characters weren’t greatly differentiated.