The Disability Book Archive

[ID: A book cover. The title “Once Stolen” is written in the centre in large white caps. Directly above it, in smaller, faint white caps, the name of the series “These Treacherous Tides”. At the bottom of the cover, in thinner white caps, the name of the author “D. N. Bryn”. The background is dark green and shows art of a large snake’s body winding around the roots of a tree in water. A thin dark goo is wrapping around the words of the title, with some tendrils coming out from the title towards the top and bottom of the cover. /end]

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Content Warning:

Taken from author’s website:

• Cultural Ableism
• Adolescent Abandonement
• Animal Injury
• Animal Death
• Kidnapping
• Alcohol Consumption
• Non-Violent Drunkenness

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Summary:

Return to Our Bloody Pearl‘s steampunk-inspired world of merfolk in this fun, fast-paced adventure with a hate-to-love romance, a boat-load of sass, and even more heart.

No one with half a brain would rob the jungle’s most notorious energy cartel. The vibrations of their power-producing stones are the only thing that calms the mer-snake Cacao’s agonizing sensory condition though—and after being banished from his homeland swamps for similar thefts, he’s desperate.

When his attempt fails stunningly, a chaotic escape leaves him chained to a cartel prisoner: a self-proclaimed hero with a hidden stash of ignits so large, Cacao would never need to steal again. He’s determined to get his hands on it, even if it means guiding her home straight through the mist-laden and monster-filled swamp that exhaled him, with scheming poachers and a desperate cartel leaders on their tail.

But the selfish and the self-righteous can only flee together for so long before something snaps…

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Notes:

This is the second book in the These Treacherous Tides series. Many of the books in this series can be read as standalones with the exception of the No Man’s Lander series, which according to the author’s website, is best enjoyed chronologically. However, if you wish to read these books in order storywise, this book succeeds Our Bloody Pearl and preceeds Odder Still.

There is an ebook. There is a kindle edition.

Here is a link to the author’s website.

Here are some links to other entries on the Archive regarding Bryn’s work:

• How to Bite Your Neighbour and Win a Wager
• How to Sell Your Blood and Fall in Love
• Odder Still

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Archivist Comments:

A cool detail that I’ve seen mentioned in the reviews is that, because the mersnake species in the book is deaf, their main form of communication is reliant upon scenting and sign language.

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