Dark Shores (Dark Shores #1)

Content Overview

Overall Content
Severity
4.3

Language

7.8/10

Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking

1.1/10

Intimacy, Sex, Immodesty

3.3/10

Violence, Weapons, Crime, Blood

7.8/10

Potentially Intense Themes

1.7/10

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

My Opinion

3.5 out of 5 stars (3.5 / 5) I had to read this book purely because I loved her Bridge Kingdom series. I feel that maybe comparing the two (which I tried not to do but it was hard) was unfair due to BK being adult and this being YA. That being said, it was entertaining and fun.  Teriana tells some secrets to save her crew, and it brings them on an adventure like no other.

It didn’t flow quite as well as I would’ve liked or grip me like I wanted it to. I never quite fell in love with Teriana and didn’t understand her. Marcus however was interesting and exciting. 

When looking at the cover and reading the blurb, you get a feel for all things pirate. However, I don’t feel there was quite enough pirating going on! I wanted more info on the Dark Shores and Lydia too. When a romance started to happen, in my head they were still enemies and it was unconvincing. All in all, a fun read but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I have high hopes for book 2!

Dark Shores (Dark Shores #1)

Danielle L. Jensen

High seas adventure, blackmail, and meddling gods meet in Dark Shores, a thrilling first novel in a fast-paced new YA fantasy series by USA Today bestselling author Danielle L. Jensen.

In a world divided by meddlesome gods and treacherous oceans, only the Maarin possess the knowledge to cross the Endless Seas. But they have one mandate: East must never meet West.

A SAILOR WITH A WILL OF IRON

Teriana is the second mate of the Quincense and heir to the Maarin Triumvirate. Her people are born of the seas and the keepers of its secrets, but when her closest friend is forced into an unwanted betrothal, Teriana breaks her people’s mandate so her friend might escape—a choice with devastating consequences.

A SOLDIER WITH A SECRET

Marcus is the commander of the Thirty-Seventh, the notorious legion that has led the Celendor Empire to conquer the entire East. The legion is his family, but even they don’t know the truth he’s been hiding since childhood. It’s a secret he’ll do anything to protect, no matter how much it costs him – and the world.

A DANGEROUS QUEST

When an Empire senator discovers the existence of the Dark Shores, he captures Teriana’s crew and threatens to reveal Marcus’s secret unless they sail in pursuit of conquest, forcing the two into an unlikely—and unwilling—alliance. They unite for the sake of their families, but both must decide how far they are willing to go, and how much they are willing to sacrifice.

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings. 

Detailed Content Review

Language 

F***- 1

H***- 

S***- 28

A**- 8

B****- 2

D***- 23

Bas****- 15

Religious Cursing-

J****-

Chr***-

G**- 11

L***-

Derogatory terms etc-

One fingered salute

Prick 

Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking

A woman smokes a pipe. 

A man is drunk.

Two young women drink wine. 

Two men drink wine. 

A young woman drinks a few sips of rum. 

A man drinks wine. 

Men are drinking. 

Men and a young woman drink rum.

Intimacy, Sex, Immodesty

A young woman worries about a man’s intentions with her. She also worries he will sell her or kill her. 

A naked man runs around. 

A man watches a young woman undress behind a curtain then looks away.

A man sees a young woman “near to naked”  as she sleeps in a camisole stretched tight across her chest. “Before his body could betray him” he moved away. She felt her body betray her when his hips pushed against her and she wanted to rip his clothes off. 

A man flips a coin to some prostitutes. He hopes she will bring friends when she comes later. They come later and once ensuring payment, many take to tents. One man and woman kiss before he puts her over his shoulder to go to his tent. There are men and women prostitutes. 

A young woman helps a man undress from his armor. She watches him undress to his undergarments, admiring his body. She kisses him. He kisses her back deeply and tears off her clothes. They groan. “relishing his hand against the curve of her breast.” He takes off her pants. They are naked as he lowers her down. He kisses her and asked her if she was sure. She kisses him. No more details.  They wake later from sleep and their bodies are sweaty and tangled. 

Violence, Weapons, Crime, Blood

A mother whips off her belt and makes her teen daughter brace to be whipped with it. 

A woman punches a man in the face. 

A young woman is taken captive. Her captors feed her foul food and water which makes her sick, then they kick her and backhand her. 

A young woman finds many bodies, most with signs of torture. A woman is found with torture wounds. A man rips off all the fingernails of a young woman. A man punches a man. 

A man thinks back onto when he drowned a young woman. 

A man throws a spear at a running man. It gets him in the back and the body falls. People are trampled trying to escape, some die, a lot are injured. 

People are hung in the gallows. Some cut them down to let them out to sea. 

A crew see bodies hung from a mast of a boat. A survivor is naked and delirious. A man shoots him with a crossbow in the chest. They kill him and burn the ship. 

It is rumored young boys are taken as sacrifices. 

Blood and pieces of bodies are everywhere. A young woman steps in blood. She passes out. It is a large massacre.

A young woman holds a knife to a man and threatens him. 

Thieves have a finger removed. Others are sentenced to death by hanging. Their snapping necks are heard while a crowd watches. 

100 kids bodies are found. 

A man is shot with arrows. Men pour out, battle ready. Many are cut down. Men are left so others can run. One man is hit in the chest with a knife. A man holds a man by the neck and he ages then is thrown at a tree with a crunch. A young woman throws a knife in a man’s arm. She fights many more and many are killed. A dart pierced her skin and she passes out. 

A man punches a man. 

A young woman is taken captive. A man threatens to send her back in pieces. He smacks her head many times against the cage bars as she screams. 

A knife is thrown at a man’s chest, he falls dead. Men are fighting with weapons, many are dead. A man stabs a man in the lung, then kidney and ribs. One chokes the other, then blood sprays and one dies. 

A man commands prisoners’ throats slit. 

There is a battle. Men smash into stakes, killing them. Men are injured and dying, one side is very outnumbered. The dead are burned. There are battle details but no blood/killing details. 

Men bring in injured, covered in gore and screaming. Many more wounded men come. Blood is everywhere. Open guts. One man has “ruined legs”  and he dies while talking. A young woman provides comfort as men die. 

Potentially Intense Themes

A young mother had been found dead from a knife wound in front of a house. A small child crying in her arms. The baby was adopted by the people in the house. 

A young woman sees a few bloated bodies in the water. A woman tells a young man to steal rings off a body’s hand even if he has to cut off the fingers. 

Many ships attack a ship and catapult metal balls. 

Many men drown. One man comes very close but is saved. 

A man dreams of dead bodies attacking him. 

A man remembers babies dead in mother’s arms. Others would hang themselves, or fall on a sword. Many killed their families.

A man has breathing problems (asthma?) and has a lot of scary moments from it. 

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

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