I just finished this beautiful book, the first one in The Year of Sanderson.

From my review on Goodreads:

5/5

This book is great at so many levels. After having read Sanderson's all Cosmere books reading this narrative with such a different voice is mesmerising. Being a tale narrated by a character in the Cosmere, who is at the same time a secondary character in the story, brings a different perspective that I enjoyed very much.

The characters are great, from the girl that embarks on an adventure to each of the named characters. Sanderson is able to take care of real world situations and human characteristics, I loved the deaf character and the one with very bad aim (😉).

And the plot, oh I loved it! Look, I get bored of a love story told like they do in romance. That's just boring most of the time. Love is just an, albeit important, part of a human live, so it needs to be just a part of a story. For Tress love is what makes her embark on and amazing journey do discover herself and grow. Yes this is not an epic story with armies, but is a romantic journey on the seas, with battles and death! so is not that far <3

To tip it off, the Cosmere. This book may not be a core story of the Cosmere, but it seems quite important to get to know more about what's going on. I love two things: 1) Sanderson doesn't get shy anymore about including Cosmere things in the story. Things that don't break the immersion if you haven't read the rest (I think), but that are like a juicy fruit for any of us that love this universe. and 2) how this little details are included in such a natural way with the narration. The narrator just mentions it like if they were not important; while as reader I was here screaming of excitement and highlighting lines that gave us more details about an important back story.

I've loved Tress of the Emerald Sea, a well rounded book in many aspects and a great start of the Year of Sanderson. I think I will be very fond of this story for many years to come.