The Voyage to Magical North by Claire Fayers

Brine floated in on a boat with a piece of starshell in her hand.  She didn't know where she came from or who she was.  The local mage takes her in to get control of the starshell and to have a servant.  She now spends her time cooking and cleaning.  The mage has an apprentice but he's not very nice.  They seem to fight all the time.  No one is very happy but they are getting along.  Then the mage decides the apprentice will marry the daughter of a rich man and he'll give Brine to the man as a gift during the wedding ceremony.  Peter doesn't want to marry anyone.  Brine doesn't want to be someone else's servant.  All they can do is run away.

Macmillan Publishing Group and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published July 5th.

Brine and Peter throw themselves in a boat and row away from the island.  They row so far they don't even know where they are.  As they sit and wonder what to do next, a boat hails them and comes to pick them up.  The problem is that the rescuers are pirates...

The captain of the boat is female.  She's nice enough when she wants to be but she's only interested in her own welfare.  She's not as bad as the mage she thinks she killed who shows up again.

There are all kinds of monsters in this story.  Birds who will eat you, invisible bears, a magical north where you can see the world, and more.  The mage is very, very dangerous and uses Peter for his own purposes.  It doesn't look like anyone will get out alive but they do.  They have a very usual prize acquired at the very end of the story that could lead to another story in this world.  I'll have to watch and see if there if there is sequel.

The story starts a bit slow, but when it picks up it races to the end.  There's lots of action and a good batch of fantasy in the tale.  I can see a young one starting to read this tale and then not wanting to quit.