“It’s not about blood. It never was. Your magic, our magic, was born of sacrifice.”
In Mists of Memory, N.C. Scrimgeour takes everything that was so brilliant and uniquely captivating about Sea of Souls, and then somehow takes it up a wee notch. It’s an exceptional sequel full of revelations, consequences, betrayals, redemption, conflict and tragedy that will leave you drowning in a whirlpool of emotions by the end.
Mists of Memory picks up roughly three months after the brutally bittersweet events at the end of Sea of Souls, and it wastes zero time diving straight back into treacherous waters with these characters. The conflict between the humans and selkies reaches new heights and darker depths, all while both sides are slowly being torn apart by friction and threats from within. A storm is coming, and soon both new and old bonds are tested beyond belief as the stakes rise higher than the tides.
Now, as much as I adored exploring this dark yet breathtaking world through Isla’s eyes in Sea of Souls, I was beyond delighted to discover that Mists of Memory brings another perspective into the mix; none other than the legendary Darce Galbraith himself. To me, Scrimgeour pulled the dual POV storytelling off with effortless grace, which just made every aspect of this multi-layered masterpiece even more nuanced and complex than it already was.
Even though it pained me to see some of my favourite characters separated for large parts of this sequel, I absolutely loved how it allowed everyone’s individual journeys to shine so brightly. Exploring the selkie history, culture and magic so intimately with Isla while she desperately tries to gain their trust was more fascinating than I ever could have dreamed of, and then couple that with Darce’s dangerous mission to sabotage the Grand Admiral’s quest of hunting down the precious pelt that Isla now calls her own. And when all the threads interweave and paths start to cross (again) around the midway point, everything just unravels in the most nerve wracking and satisfying way possible.
But what I loved most about Mists of Memory is how it hones in even more on its core theme of family, be that blood or found. This tale is just soaked in bloody history and complicated emotions, and I really enjoyed how all the character dynamics and interpersonal relations became even more complex and realistically messy than they were in book 1. It’s exactly that level of moral ambiguity that makes these three-dimensional characters so believable and understandable in their motivations and actions, even if I sometimes didn’t know if I wanted to hug, strangle, slap or drown some of them for the choices they made.
Scrimgeour’s storytelling and prose is honestly more entrancing than a siren song, and I think Mists of Memory easily is one of the strongest middle books I have ever read. So, if you love the sound of an emotionally charged high seas fantasy adventure that embraces both its horror and the romance aspects, all while never losing sight of its wonderfully mystical and folkloric heart, then please just do yourself a favour and dive into the Sea of Souls Saga already. This series has me so hoooked, and it will be lingering in my memory for a long time to come.
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Mists of Memory is scheduled for release on March 5, 2025.
