The Navigator's Touch follows Ragna's story of revenge on the men who raided her village and the reconquering of said village. It has an element of Norse mythology, specifically Loki and their creations.

Almost the entire book, I thought that Ragna was incredibly infuriating. She believed that in order to gain control and be a good captain, she needed her men to fear her and in doing so, she disregarded Ersel's feelings. I didn't like how she would apologize for being an asshole and then continue to be an asshole. I love Ragna's backstory, but I felt like I just didn't connect with her character because of how she was acting.

This sequel felt out of place. It was a mix of another point-of-view on an already told story, but also what happened after Ersel leaves her hometown. It could have been a sequel or a companion novel. The premise of the story is interesting, but execution could have been better. It felt as though the entire book we were learning about Ragna's goals and her plan, but then when she actually goes through with it, everything happened very quickly. The ending also felt unsatisfying because there was still so many questions left unanswered ( )

I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

To lead this crew, I had to promise them the world and dangle their nightmares from the top of my silver hook.

Before I learned that The Navigator’s Touch was a retelling of Peter Pan, specifically Captain Hook, I wasn’t sure if it would be a sequel, or more like a companion novel that tells the story of what Ragna was doing while Ersel was fighting for her own freedom. In the end, it was both. It’s mostly a sequel, but a few flashback chapters tell us how Ragna lost her hand and got her own crew… that she doesn’t trust.

A lot of this book is about Ragna’s relationship to her crew, which I really enjoyed. Their development in the second half of the book makes you wonder about how reliable Ragna is as a narrator, and whether she was really judging her crew correctly up until that point.

Ragna is a flawed person in many ways – she is motivated by revenge, trauma holds her back from trusting people, and she has the tendency to treat those around her quite badly, including her crew and Ersel. This changes somewhat towards the end, and her progression was interesting to see.

(...)

Overall, I enjoyed both The Seafarer’s Kiss and The Navigator’s Touch, and I actually ended up rating this one a star higher than the first book. I am eager to see where the story goes, because it didn’t sound like the end is anywhere near.

(Also: I would love to see good fanart of Ragna’s marks, because damn.)

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