Reviews with content warning for Racism - Skin of the Sea

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen

30 reviews

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Skin of the sea is a beautiful fantasy read, which will keep you on the edge of your seat and reading late into the night. The world building and intertwined elements of mythology resulted in an unforgettable epic journey of love, loss, and justice.
To any fantasy enthusiasts, I would highly highly recommend!
*please check trigger warnings prior to reading!

Content Warnings

afi_whatafireads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

"Because if you act on loving a human, your form will be revoked and you will be nothing but foam upon the sea."

One of my anticipated reads, but sadly, it fell short. A retelling of the Little Mermaid with a South African take, filled with mythical creatures and adventures, but sadly the execution of the book, overall, just fell a little short for me.

Personal Ratings: 3🌟

This book was something that I had high hopes for. A mermaid retelling, with a POC character as the main character? Honestly, I love reading about cultures that I am not usually used to see in books. Its not only interesting, but it serves as a history lesson that I loved to see. Unfortunately, the execution of the book fell short for me and boy, was I dissapointed.

Short Summary
Simidele is a Mami Wata, a mermaid that serves to bring souls lost in the sea, in aiding them and continuing the journey to the after life. When fate has it that she saved a boy, that was still alive, Simidele can't help but save him. Things turned to worst when Simidele found a secret that can ruin the livelihoods of her sisters and her creator, and thus, begins the journey of Simidele and the boy in saving her kind and his as well.

Personal Thoughts

Mind you, this will be a LONG one. Since I had high hopes for this book and just everything fell short, I wouldn't say this would be a ranty review, but more on, how this book could have SO MUCH POTENTIAL but everything, again... just .. fell.. short..

Lets talk about the good things about this book first.

Mythology Wise , I can't say that I am familiar with it so I can't comment on the accuracy of the stories, but really, it was fun to learn a new culture and a mythology that I wasn't familiar with. I spent a few hours looking into the meanings of certain words, the creatures that were introduced and a whole expansion of the Yoruba religion and beliefs. It was something that made me so very invested when I started this book. I loved when authors integrate their culture in the book and in a way, introduce readers in something new and also serves as a representation for people of colour. Would say kudos to this, because I actually read up about the history, myths and the beliefs of the Yoruba. Again, I can't comment on the accuracy in the book, hence, a google search can do wonders, so, my advice, do have a read on it because it is so very interesting.

Well.. That was only the nice thing that I had to say about this book :') Again , all these points on here afterwards are things that I felt had so much potential, but in a sense, the author just went on with the generic route of a YA formula book. 1) insta-romance 2) an overachieving male lead 3) the innocent one 4) the one who would sacrifice everything

I would say the Romance in here was just... so ...... not what I liked. It felt so instant, and not in a bad way. Honestly, the insta-trope its not my favourite tropes, but if done right, it could actually be cute. But for this book, the execution was just iffy and just so ..very.. generic Not only I have no connections whatsoever with the Characters, the romance just felt off. There was no buildup, no indication of love, and just one that I just felt ... eeeeeeh? ... after reading it.

The Writing Style of this book was not very consistent. I would say when the author is describing about the world and the history of the book, it was beautifully explained. However, with the addition of the sudden flashbacks (that really disrupts the pacing of the story) and the inconsistent way in portraying the characters, overall, it fell short.

The Lack of Glossary at the back of the book was one that I felt the author could have put out to be more inclusive. Again, google is just a search away, but really, it would be nice if there is a glossary at the back of the book to make it feel more inclusive to readers. This is not a major problem for me (as I would have googled everything that I am curious about, but not everyone is like me), but I think for beginners or anyone looking to start their first fantasy book would be a tad frustrated with some of the words.

Lastly, the Villain Arc was not very convincing. I always believed, for a book, especially a fantasy book will need a strong villain to complement with the story. For this book, not only that I feel the villain was misunderstood and poorly written, I just couldn't understand nor be convinced of what he was accused off.

Overall, I would say, this book had SO. MUCH. POTENTIAL that I was actually sad that I had to give it a 3🌟. Honestly, if not for the interest that I had with the myths, I would give this book a 2🌟
yes thats how mad I am with the execution of this book

But overall, I would say, this book would be a great first entry book for beginners who are just starting to read a fantasy book. The writing is straightforward, with all the usual tropes that we see in a YA Fantasy and with a very interesting mythology and creatures. Take my review with a grain of salt and do try out this book or have a read on the history and the culture that is integrated in here. A good read for my second entry to Black History Month.

Thank you to Times Reads for generously providing me a review copy of the book.

Disclaimers: All my reviews are my thoughts of the book and according to my personal preferences. Even though I had received a review copy, it does not affect my review and honest thoughts for the book.

Content Warnings

robin_leeann's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

bandysbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is a beautifully written fantasy which was clearly inspired by the Yoruba religion. The Orishas are actual characters in this story and quite a few Nigerian mythological creatures pop up in the story as well. It reminded me a bit of reading a modern retelling of Greek mythology, similar in vein to Circe. I loved learning more about Yoruba and Nigeria.

Content Warnings

jenna36's review

Go to review page

I feel sad that I did not finish this because it seems like a really important book to read. But YA is just not really doing it for me at the moment and it felt like it was going to be a slower read, so I decided to move onto things that I knew I would enjoy. I may come back to it someday because the 6% that I read before putting it down was good.

Content Warnings

beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark informative mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Content Warnings

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Oh I wanted to like this more than I did! With that beautiful cover, such an interesting premise. I will say, the world building and mythology were great in this book. I loved the changing of the Little Mermaid story with the addition of West African mythology. All of those aspects of the book work seamlessly together.

However, I wanted more development in the characters throughout. By the end, there were a lot of characters to keep track of, and I think this meant that some of their development faltered. The romance aspect also didn't quite feel like it wanted to go all the way. Maybe to save something for the sequel? Who knows.

I will say, the audiobook narrator for this is great. She has an accent that lends itself well to this particular story, and I'd recommend it if you're looking to read this one and like audiobooks!

Content Warnings

tahsintries's review against another edition

Go to review page

Content Warnings

anushar's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Overall this was pretty good. I loved the richness of the Yoruba incorporated into the book and the descriptions of the West African folk lore and culture, it was so bright and colorful and fun to read about. That being said not a whole lot happened in this book that was a shocker, it felt pretty predictable but it also felt like more of a fairy tale than most other fantasy ya books that have come out recently (which gave it a different vibe that I thought was pretty cool). also this book had mermaids which was great for me to vicariously live out my childhood dreams. the depiction of slavery from the 1600s and the historical factors were also really cool to read about, I just wish there was more exploration of that especially since both of the main characters were captured by slave traders at one point. anyway, this book was pretty good, I would read it if you’re into mermaids, soft boys who also know how to use a sword (not an innuendo don’t come at me), and making deals with angry gods.

Content Warnings

offbrandclubsoda's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I highly recommend the audiobook!

Content Warnings

More...