When the Sea is Rising Red by Cat Hellisen

After seventeen-year-old Felicita’s dearest friend Ilven kills herself to escape an arranged marriage, Felicita chooses freedom over privilege. She fakes her own death and leaves her sheltered life as one of Pelimburg’s magical elite behind. Living in the slums, scrubbing dishes for a living, she falls for the charismatic Dash while also becoming fascinated with the vampire Jannik. Then something shocking washes up on the beach: Ilven's death has called out of the sea a dangerous wild magic. Felicita must decide whether her loyalties lie with the family she abandoned, or with those who would twist this dark power to destroy Pelimburg's caste system, and the whole city along with it. I had no idea what to expect out of When the Sea is Rising Red as I dove into it. I knew there would be vampires, and a bit of magic, but I was nowhere near prepared for the elaborate and beautiful dark fantasy of Cat Hellisen's world. If you put the writing of Neil Gaiman, H.P. Lovecraft, and Tamora Pierce in a blender, you'd closely approximate the reading experience of When the Sea is Rising Red.  I was immediately drawn in and hooked on the story, fascinated by Felicita's cloistered High Lammer world, and the dreadfully dim prospects for someone like her, despite her privilege and magical gifts.  I adored the ragtag family that adopts her on her first unfortunate night in the city, and found each of the characters to be uniquely fascinating—there was not a single filler character, or at least, it didn't feel that way. I feel like I could walk away knowing what each of them would do in any given situation, they were so full of personality and life. The romances in the story were captivating. I was entirely bewitched with Jannik, and his quiet, thoughtful interest in Felicita, and even more so with his secrets. Dash was a bold, brash, and an unrepentant dreamer, unable to see the senseless destruction in his fantasies. The relationship conflict is a refreshing entanglement that goes beyond love triangle/square, with each character deeply connected in some way to each other. I wasn't sure how I wanted it to end, frankly, once the secrets were uncovered, but I think Hellisen's conclusion was as close to a realistic ending as I could have hoped for. The great news is it seems to open the door to further stories with at least two of the main characters (I won't say which to avoid spoilers) and I sincerely hope we get them!