I received this book from Edelweiss in exchange of an honest review.

I just couldn’t resist this book when I spotted it up on Edelweiss! I love reading about shipwrecks and finding out more about them, the treasures, the stories, everything! So I just had to get this book and I am happy that I can read it!

In this book we travel along with a fictional professor called Beatrix Profundo, but we can call her Trixie! She is going to guide us to various places. But first preparations and what defines a shipwreck, how some boats stay good and others just crumble, and a map of the world with dangerous places. I love these parts, I thought we were going instantly to shipwrecks but we are truly going to travel and I got even more excited to read this book! I learned quite a few new things with this introduction, like Lagan which a like jetsam but attached to a buoy or marker. Or that thing I said about why some ships crumble/stay good, there are so many factors! I knew a few things but I didn’t know there were that many factors to it.

And then we get into the shipwrecks! Some shipwrecks get the full treatment of two pages, other pages feature a collection of shipwrecks lost in certain areas. From very old boats like Viking ships to steamboats to more recent ones like the famous Titanic or MV Dona Paz. We read about who survived, what was lost, if they were found and in what condition (some of these ships got lifted to museums while many still rest at the bottom of the waters they sank in and some still are largely undiscovered), about mysterious treasures (gold, pearls, and other shinies), what kind of boats they were/what they were used for (like we get war ships but also transport or passenger ships) and more. There is a ton to discover on each of the two pages spread you get. It was super interesting to read and I love the writing style. Sure, at this the whole professor Beatrix thing was not entirely clicking, but thankfully that isn’t that much present (just some bits here and there). I learned quite a lot of things, I knew about some of these wrecks but most? Nah. So that made the read for me even more fun/interesting. I love discovering new things! I am definitely going to do some more research later on if my ADHD remembers, haha.

Oh, and I love that we also learn how the wrecks are doing now and what is done to protect them/the ecoystem around them.

And then lastly we also get some spooky things! With ghost ships! Yup. You know the ones. Missing crew. Mysterious sightings. This was a fun section to read and I even found a new ghost ship that I didn’t know about!

The book is gorgeously illustrated with borders around the pages and beautiful illustrations from big ones to smaller ones to maps. It made the journey through shipwrecks that much more fun/interesting.

The only thing I would have liked? Either the shipwrecks by country/part of the world or by age/time.

All in all, I would highly recommend this book to everyone. This is a feast for people wanting to learn more about shipwrecks/history of seafaring.