Juliet Marillier, in my opinion, is a hit or miss author. Throughout her Sevenwaters series, I’ve adored many of the books but a few of them just haven’t did it for me. Unfortunately, the fifth installment, Seer of Sevenwaters, is my least favorite so far. This review will have spoilers.
Synopsis:
Prior to making her final pledge as a druid, the young seer Sibeal is visiting Inis Eala, an island of elite warriors. It’s there that the Sight leads her to Felix, a survivor of a Norse shipwreck who has no memory of his past. As the island’s healers struggle to keep scholarly Felix alive, he and Sibeal form a natural bond. He could even be her soul mate. But Sibeal’s vocation is her true calling, and her heart must answer.
As Felix fully regains his memory, the ugly truth behind the shipwreck and the island that the ship came from is revealed. In a runic divination Sibeal is shown that Felix must go on a perilous mission–and that she will join him. But the rough waters and the sea creatures they will face are no match for Sibeal’s own inner turmoil. She must choose between the two things that tug at her soul–her spirituality and a chance at love…
My Thoughts:
- Rating-
This review will be pretty short and sweet because my main issue with this book is how unbelievably boring it is. I love this world and these characters but I would rather watch paint dry than read about Sibeal. I found Sibeal’s appearances in previous books to be quite dull and unfortunately, I feel the same way about her as the main character.
The one thing Sibeal had going for her was her determination to be a druid. That made her stand out amongst her more romance driven female family members. However, if you’ve read the synopsis, I’m sure you’ve guessed that Sibeal ends up with the man she rescued, Felix.
I love a good romance and could have been totally happy with Sibeal deciding to pursue that but again, I was just bored. Felix is no more interesting than Sibeal and I didn’t really feel a spark between them.
I didn’t care about the new side characters and the characters that I love weren’t in the story enough. It took me weeks to finish this book because it simply wasn’t as good as the previous ones in the series.
Final Thoughts:
While Seer of Sevenwaters was a dud, I’m still excited to read the last book, Flame of Sevenwaters. If you’ve read any of Juliet Marillier’s other books, let me know what series I should start after this one. Thanks for reading and have a great day!
The Book and Beauty Blog 
I’m just shouting in to the void here since I saw this is a recent post, but I just wanted to say that – while I love Marillier and she is one of my main ‘comfort authors’, and I also love a good romance – I also felt a bit of vague disappointment in how Sibeal’s story turned out (although I did enjoy her relationship with Felix).
My own spirituality (Catholic) is one that has given me a few things that probably influence how I feel about this story, haha. Yes, there is, a love for the simple vocations of home/hearth/family, but also a recognition of the deep calling of the spiritual life, including celibacy. It also has a tradition of women who seek that vocation (especially in the early days) instead of the marriages they were ‘expected’ to have, and in some ways, Sibeal represents my own desire to see more women in a spiritual leadership type of role in my own faith.
So while I don’t disagree on principle that perhaps Sibeal was actually all along called to some other vocation, and a type of order that combined both service to the gods with a more earthly service (also a concept I’m quite familiar with and agreeable to) it bothered me soooo much how most of the characters (and the narrative itself) seemed to keep hammering home how Sibeal could never live a ‘full life’ if she didn’t get married or have kids. (I’m married and have kids! It’s great! But I know there are other avenues for a full life.) Or that women should only enter the spiritual life until they were old or nobody wanted them or whatever else.
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