This was an amazing and unexpected surprise. I say that even knowing that I am a huge fan of Brandon Sanderson, so in retrospect, I'm not sure why I was surprised. The summary of the book probably put me on my guard as I wasn't sure if it was going to be something that I liked, and to be honest, for the first several chapters, I wasn't sure I would. Boy was that wrong. Something happens along the way with this story. You slowly get sucked into this brilliantly descriptive story until it doesn't even feel like you are reading or listening to a story. It actually feels like you are in the middle of it as things are unfolding. The characters are so uniquely interesting, the world building is fantastic, and the storyline has a quick and easy pace that when there is a twist at the end, it completely comes out of left field (or at least for me it did). I actually listened to this on audio and the narration was absolutely spot on - thank you Michael Kramer. Afterwards, I listened to the acknowledgments and when Mr. Sanderson talked about the actual print version, I then went out and got that as well. I am still looking forward to going through and seeing all of the illustrations that are included with the book. I have only peeked at the first few chapters, and they were amazing. I'm excited to see what else is in store with the rest of the book. I think that if I had seen them while reading, it would have made the experience better at the time in that the illustrations would have made the unusual world building even easier to understand and picture. But, trust me, it was still amazing with just the audio. About the book, whimsical is a good word, but I'm not sure it gives the right connotation. We see the incredible growth of Tress as a character throughout the entire book and also see how her character impacts all of the others that she comes into contact with. Other than that, you don't need to know anything else other than give this a go - you won't be sorry.

I liked the original concept of a world of spores. The characters were interesting. I like how the main characters have names and the rest were Doug’s. It was funny. Sometimes the story got a little preachy. For example, two pages explained irony and what to look for in irony. The story was fun to read overall.

I liked this book and I feel like Tress is much smarter than a lot of other typical main characters. The best part of the story is probably the narrator in my opinion. The ending has an intriguing twist although for me personally it left a little more to be desired. But, I still think it’s definitely worth the read!

I stared reading Tress while in the midsts of another great book only to not be able to put it to read the one I originally started. It’s really cute book a little predictable at times but that didn’t stop it from being enjoyable.

Witty, amusing, exciting… every chapter has you hooked for the next! Highly recommend this book to everyone, ever.

Cephandrius 🍻

Excellent read. I couldn’t put it down. Read this in one day!

A whimsical tale told from the perspective of Hoid. Getting to know Hoid a little more through his narration is fun and builds up the curiosity of who Hoid is and his backstory. Tress is a delightful character that focuses on the good of humanity.

My goodness, Sanderson has done it again! Tress of the Emerald Sea provides everything I expected going in and more. Great world building, light humor, lovable characters, cool magic, and—of course—an amazing story. Then there was the art. My gosh, the art was GORGEOUS! This book is awesome, simple put. Truly awesome in its most literal definition. Just…WOW. Tress goes off on an adventure to save her loved one from the evil sorceress. On the way, she ends of with a pirate crew who (as a category) really don’t seem to be bad. Hoid plays a more prevalent role in this story than in most (arguably all) others, which I liked. And there was a dragon. Not really super important, but… there was still a dragon. Once again, the magic system was hard. I LOVED how I could totally understand how the spores worked. It was super cool! If you’re looking for a nice, faster (by Sanderson’s standards), happy, whimsical, read, than this is for you. It was beautiful.

Sanderson has another home run. This book is a fantastic read for the whole family.