Non-Spoiler Review
First of all, I would like to thank the author for gifting me this book in audio. I really appreciate it. In exchange, I will give an honest review of the book. Beautiful and Deadly is a pirate fantasy where we follow Estella as she runs away from an arranged marriage with a prince that her father set up. But her partner in this runaway is... the prince himself.
This was a very fun read. I don't read a lot of pirate fantasy, so this was refreshing to me. I like Estella as our FMC; she is your typical tough, warrior-like FMC but has a soft heart inside. The journey she takes to run from her father's crew and build her own connection was inspiring.
My favorite part of the story is actually the female friendship that was portrayed; I feel like we don't get enough of that in fantasy, even when our main character is a woman. The organic bond that comes from Estella saving Lidia, and the character development of Lidia throughout the story despite being a side character, was a pleasant surprise. I love that the main climax of the story was women saving women, uplifting each other in the best way possible.
I do have to say I'm not a fan of the ending and the romance. I think the romance was rushed and wasn't fully developed, nor did Estella sacrificing everything for a prince she just met a few weeks ago feel satisfying. Not to mention that Estella has better chemistry with other men in the book, and I don't think our love interest deserved Estella; I think she could do WAY better than him. However, this is the first book, so I am hoping to see more development in the second book.I did not expect there to be a plot twist in this book, but it completely caught me off guard and honestly made sense.Definitely recommend this book if you are up for a fun ya pirate fantasy and want to support indie authors.
