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Opening thoughts: I always thought I was going to die a romantasy hater, turns out I just needed to read romantasies written by queer writers! What really drew me in to this book was the mention of magical cartography. I absolutely LOVE when maps and magic collide, so I was hooked from the start.
Worldbuilding: The worldbuilding is fairly light in this book. Not absent by any means, there was certainly enough to keep the fantasy junky within me happy, but I did find myself wishing we got a little more information about the gods of the world and a peak at different types of magic. I also wish that we had spent just a little more time with the hunt for the elements, but this book certainly puts the character relationships first (which I'm not complaining about, more details in the next sections) which means some things world building wise got left out. Knight absolutely delivered on the map magic and I loved the descriptions we get of Max working on the maps.
Emotions: I found myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion while reading. Jak and Eli's constant jabs at each other are the perfect tension breakers sprinkled throughout. I think on average this book just gave me the warm and fuzzies. There were a few heart wrenching moments to be sure, but I'd definitely plop this book in the cozy category.
Ingenuity: Can we just talk for a second about the disability rep in this book?! The care Eli takes when moving around and with Max to not cause any extra pain, the care the crew takes to make Tempest accessible for Max in his wheelchair and crutches, and so many other big and small moments in this book put so much focus on Max as a disabled character and how that affects his daily life. It was such a refreshing view of disability in a fantasy setting.
Relationships: This is where Tempest Take Me Home shines the most. Eli and Max's relationship felt SO real and the struggles that they face throughout the book really shines because of that. They're also just incredibly cute together and then you throw Tevin in the mix and cuteness exceeds capacity. I also loved the unique relationship Eli has with each crew member and that Max develops with them. I really appreciated some of the small moments early on that we get to establish the relationship dynamics of the crew.
Descriptions: We get a few key descriptors of each character that paints a pretty good picture of who's who and I never felt lost trying to remember who each character was. Knight does a great job with the sensory descriptions and the whole book felt very atmospheric.
Engagement: This was a really enjoyable and easy read. It was one of those books that I could easily pick up in between classes or read a few pages/chapters. The pacing was great and ramped up at just the right moment (right about where I couldn't put the book down haha).
Final thoughts: I know I just said it but this really was such a fun read. If you're looking for a cozy romantasy set on a treasure hunting ship with a queer as heck cast then I'd definitely recommend picking this one up when it's released in March. I'm looking forward to see what else Knight writes in the future!
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