Sequel All the Tides of Fate offers a bittersweet but satisfying conclusion
By Lacy Baugher
Adalyn Grace’s debut novel, All the Stars and Teeth, was one of the best YA fantasies of 2020, telling the story of a princess desperate to prove herself and the pirate ship on which she sets out on an adventure to do so. Its sequel, All the Tides of Fate, brings Amora Montara’s story to its conclusion, and its bittersweet ending is a generally satisfying one.
As the sequel begins, Amora has taken her rightful place as the queen of Visidia. But she’s also lost her magic, and is suffering under the strain of multiple curses – one, which taints her family’s bond with soul magic, and the other which has split her soul in two, and housed half it in Bastian, the roguish pirate boy she might love.
And no one can know the truth. Especially not as she sets out on a tour through the islands of her kingdom, ostensibly to find a husband to rule by her side. In reality, she is sending herself and the crew of the Keel Haul on a mission to track down a mysterious magical artifact that Amora is convinced can fix all her problems. (Of course, she doesn’t tell anyone that last part.)
To be fair, perhaps any attempt to finish Amora’s story was always going to pale slightly in comparison to the novel that began it. She’s a queen now, after all, not a princess chasing her throne, and that comes with certain new responsibilities and stresses she – and the story – didn’t have before.
Given Amora’s largely sheltered upbringing, her hesitance as Visidia’s new ruler is understandable, but at various points, it almost feels as though her character has taken a step backward. Her insistence on pushing everyone away, including the found family she created for herself in the previous novel, is deeply frustrating, particularly when Ferrick, Vataea, and Bastian keep repeatedly offering their help and telling her they want to be involved in her plan(s).
Much of the novel is also centered on Amora’s struggle to break the curse she shares with Bastian. But her journey in this sequel is also a story about grief, as the young queen struggles to figure out how to mourn her father and make peace with the way he died. (As well as her role in it.)
She has trouble sleeping, as her dreams are plagued with visions of his death, and that of the many others who perished on Aridia at the end of the first book. Yet, Amora stubbornly refuses to talk to anyone about those either, and the lines become uncomfortably blurred between whether she’s actually working for the good of her kingdom or simply trying to assuage her own feelings of responsibility about her father’s death.
Furthermore, given how certain she was in the first book that her father was not a particularly good king, Amorea’s seemingly endless desire to have him back on the throne in her place feels very strange indeed.
Perhaps this is simply Grace’s way of illustrating the PTSD that Amora is clearly experiencing – after all, this book sees her ill, injured, and repeatedly threatened by assassination attempts from the very people she’s working so hard to serve. But, unfortunately, her stubborn refusal to accept help when it’s offered or, more importantly, to trust the very people who have already risked their lives for her several times over – well, it can make her a heroine that’s very difficult to understand at times.
That said, All the Tides of Fate expands on many of the best aspects of its predecessor, exploring more of the vast kingdom of Visidia and its supremely interesting residents. Freed now from their ties to just a single type of magic, many of the islands are thriving as their people figure out how to best use their newfound skills and abilities.
The secondary characters that Amora and her friends encounter throughout the story are varied and deeply interesting, and Grace’s worldbuilding skills remain first-rate. I’d have loved to have spent some more time in some of the other lands, and seen some more of the new combined magic abilities that their peoples have discovered. Grace has truly created a world that feels fresh and unique in the world of YA fantasy, and that’s certainly no easy task.
All the Tides of Fate remains a breathtakingly addicting read – despite any quibbles you may end up having with Amora’s choices or characterization, you’ll be hard-pressed to put this one down once you start, and it’s a propulsive, exciting journey from start to finish. I can’t wait to see what Grace does next.
All the Tides of Fate is available now in print, audio, and digital formats. Let us know if you’re planning to add this sequel to your to-read list for the month!