The Sea Spinner (Reign of Remnants, # 2)
By: Julie Johnson
Publication: April 28, 2026 by Ace
544 pages
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Fae, Romantasy
Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)
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Goodreads description--Blazing with reawakened magic, a young woman challenges the tides of fate in this highly anticipated installment of Julie Johnson’s romantasy series.Everything changed for Rhya Fleetwood in the battle of Fyremas. Her grief is heavy, her rage volatile. Caeldera lies in ruins. Her friends are dead or wounded. And Pendefyre, their newly crowned king, is shutting her out. The Remnant of Fire needs all his focus for his kingdom, his people, and—perhaps more than anything—his insatiable need for revenge.
When a twist of fate leads Rhya to the last place she expected—the Water Court—the novice wind weaver is forced to confront the limitations of her untrained power as well as her increasingly complicated relationships. For enigmatic King Soren of Llŷr is as different from Penn as sparks are from the sea. The more insight he offers into the maegic that binds them together, the more confused Rhya feels—about her future as a Remnant, about her deepest desires, and about her role in the coming war.
Enemies circle close, ready to strike. And if Rhya isn’t careful, she’ll lose more than just her heart.
She’ll lose her life.
I enjoyed The Wind Weaver, but maybe I didn't look at it as closely as I should have. I nailed some of the "twists" that I expected to come, but I felt like The Sea Spinner was deeper and more poetic than I was expecting, given that I didn't pick up on those things when I was reading The Wind Weaver. I highlighted a ton. I honestly felt like I was highlighting something nearly every page. Part of that was trying to see if my predictions would come true.
The Sea Spinner had a lot of water-related language. For example:
-Emotions swirl in the depths of his deep blue eyes as he stares down at me, but I cannot read them with any more success than I can his empty expression.
-Deep currents wash through me, rhythmic as the tides.
-I think one would have to be either very brave or very foolish to plumb the depths of such a man. Surely, you would drown just trying.
Now that I've seen the poetic language in The Sea Spinner, I feel the need to go back and see how much air and fire language was used in The Wind Weaver. I know that when Rhya is in scenes with Pendfyre, I noticed fire-related language as well.
For example:
-It is a charred current of unadulterated energy that scorches a path from his heart to mind.
As with The Wind Weaver, some pieces of this story were so utterly predictable that it was frustrating how the characters could be missing pieces. I mean earthquakes, really?
And of course, I have pieces of the story that I'm dying to "review" and talk about, but those pieces are spoilers.
I also noticed that several side characters check all of the diversity boxes. If you read my reviews enough, you'll know how I feel about this. But I can't say more than that for offending the AI community standards on the various sites that I share my reviews on.
A couple of times I got frustrated with the characters. One is feeling guilty about their inability to control an outcome that resulted in someone else getting hurt, and the other is telling them it was beyond their control. And then the roles reverse. And yet neither can see they're doing the exact same thing. And also, neither calls the other out on it. This annoys me. Surely the author knows. Why not call it out? It's one of those obvious things. Again, I say "earthquakes."
I didn't have any issues with the direction that The Sea Spinner took in regards to plot except the very end. But there were some inconsistencies. Rhya is completely blown away by Soren's lack of pomp, courtiers, staff, etc. But what does she really have to compare it to? Penn's court wasn't his court so much as his "sister's" when she was there before the keep was destroyed. And since then, he hasn't exactly been operating with pomp, staff, or courtiers either. So I didn't feel this was a fair comparison. Or even worth her taking note of. Or at the very least, she could have noted that while she was surprised, it also isn't all that different with her limited knowledge of other courts/kingdoms.
Other favorite quotes:
-There is nothing calming about our bond in this moment. Nothing remotely comforting.
-"I swear, nothing kills my affection quite so fast as someone expressing an overabundance of their own."
-I feel, quite suddenly, that the star by which I have guided my life these past months since I came to Dyved has flickered out, leaving me alone in the darkness.
-"I have always been honest with you. Since the first day we met." "There's a difference between honesty and transparency."
-Reliving my losses will not dull them. Endlessly replaying the past darkness does nothing to ensure a brighter future.
-"I told you once before: you cannot live as Pendefyre does. A life of repression and restraint is not what you were created for. The more you push down your grief instead of processing it, the more you bury your guilt instead of exposing it to the light, the longer it will fester in the shadowy corners of your mind. And the worse the ramifications. Not only for you, but for everyone in your path."
-No poison in the world more lethal than the fear running through your own veins...
-In my experience, the only known cure for fear is to grit one's teeth and carry on in the face of it. Be scared; live regardless.
-"You aren't ready for the things I want to say to you," he says finally. "So, I'll wait. ... Gods know, I've had enough practice at it."
-"You can find fault without condemnation."
-"Passion alone is not enough to sustain a partnership," I whisper. "At least...not the kind I want."
-I do not want to tell him how to win me. ... I do not want to hand him the cipher he needs to crack the secrets coded into the subtext of my soul. I want him to know, in one look across a room, how I am feeling.
I often felt like The Wind Weaver reminded me of other books--although I don't remember landing on a specific book--The Sea Spinner also reminds me of other books. I was reminded of A Court of Thorns and Roses (the series, not just the book).
I briefly mentioned it, but I was so annoyed with the ending of The Sea Spinner. Everything else I could get behind for the most part. But the ending frustrated me. It is what I call "a negative cliffhanger." Characters that I've come to love aren't in a good place. Those types of cliffhangers leave me unexcited about continuing the series. Of course, I will. The Sea Spinner gets 4 Stars. Have you read The Sea Spinner? What did you think? Let me know!
