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tenshiwing07's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
It was fine.
It's pretty interesting. Enemies to sort of lovers in a messed up world. (I hope the captain and several others die in the next book or It's not worth it)
Cassandra and Swift had a lot of development though I can't say a lot of their choices were good ones. The choices in the end were, yeah, okay make sure things go badly, gotcha.
Pokémon if you take away the cuteness and make it all sea monsters and pirates. Trainers taking sea monsters from hatchlings and teaching them to battle to the death (It's Pokémon, okay). There's even a Team Rocket, also without the cuteness.
It's pretty interesting. Enemies to sort of lovers in a messed up world. (I hope the captain and several others die in the next book or It's not worth it)
Cassandra and Swift had a lot of development though I can't say a lot of their choices were good ones. The choices in the end were, yeah, okay make sure things go badly, gotcha.
Pokémon if you take away the cuteness and make it all sea monsters and pirates. Trainers taking sea monsters from hatchlings and teaching them to battle to the death (It's Pokémon, okay). There's even a Team Rocket, also without the cuteness.
charlieteuthis's review
5.0
This book is action-packed and filled with characters who have their own interesting motivations, which I’m eager to delve more into in the second book. While one of the two plot twists was instantly obvious to me, it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the book. The second plot twist I didn’t see coming, and while it wasn’t a “what??? that’s so unexpected!!” feeling, it was still an effective “oh no...that makes a lot of sense...ouch” feeling. The protagonist also develops a lot as a character, and the book ends in a satisfying way, with an appropriate amount of things wrapped up and new problems that will hopefully be addressed in the next book.
swaye's review
2.0
I'm so looking forward to getting this review over with so I can move on with my life! That being said, if you enjoyed this super kawaii dumpster fire please do not read any further. This is NOT intended to hurt anyone's feelings, it's just my humble opinion.
Disappointing doesn't even begin to cover it. The writing is so amateurish that it reads like a fanfic.
This book was like Twilight for lesbians but with pirates instead of sparkly vampires so, why did I bother finishing it? Well, it definitely wasn't for the endless cruelty inflicted on the made-up sea monsters, that's for sure! Alas, I must unabashedly admit it was for the lesbians, and sadly, not even they made it worth my while. There is nothing subtle about the cringey, tropetastic, stereotypical YA romance plot conjured up for Cassandra and Swift. BUT, I will say this in The Abyss Surrounds Us' favour, 2020 has been a depressing shitshow of note and this little book did become quite an effective distraction from the actual dumpster fire that is life in lockdown. I went from hating it to actually loving to hate it. For the exact same reason I read every book in the Twilight series, I will probably end up picking up the sequel at some point just for the sheer joy of making fun of it with my bestie and laughing hysterically at the ridiculousness of it all. Jesus, that ending... I rolled my eyes so hard I thought they'd permanently stay that way.
Perhaps the naive, high school babydyke version of myself would have thoroughly enjoyed this book, because, after all, lesbian content was so rare and hard to come by back then. But we have come so fucking far, gays! We can do better than this!
Disappointing doesn't even begin to cover it. The writing is so amateurish that it reads like a fanfic.
This book was like Twilight for lesbians but with pirates instead of sparkly vampires so, why did I bother finishing it? Well, it definitely wasn't for the endless cruelty inflicted on the made-up sea monsters, that's for sure! Alas, I must unabashedly admit it was for the lesbians, and sadly, not even they made it worth my while. There is nothing subtle about the cringey, tropetastic, stereotypical YA romance plot conjured up for Cassandra and Swift. BUT, I will say this in The Abyss Surrounds Us' favour, 2020 has been a depressing shitshow of note and this little book did become quite an effective distraction from the actual dumpster fire that is life in lockdown. I went from hating it to actually loving to hate it. For the exact same reason I read every book in the Twilight series, I will probably end up picking up the sequel at some point just for the sheer joy of making fun of it with my bestie and laughing hysterically at the ridiculousness of it all. Jesus, that ending... I rolled my eyes so hard I thought they'd permanently stay that way.
Perhaps the naive, high school babydyke version of myself would have thoroughly enjoyed this book, because, after all, lesbian content was so rare and hard to come by back then. But we have come so fucking far, gays! We can do better than this!
princzukos's review
4.0
SO HAPPY THAT I FINALLY GOT A HOLD OF THIS BOOK AND FINISHED READING IT!!
This isn't going to be a proper reviewwhich isn't surprising because I never write those, so I'll just state some things I liked about the book:
1) CHARACTERS - Although it's hard for me to get attached to characters with such a small book like this, Emily Strutskie did an amazing job in making me fall in love with all the characters with only 273 pages.
2) DIVERSITY - As a WLWoC, one of the first things I search for in the book is diversity. I can't remember if it's stated in the book, but Cas is for sure eastern Asian, Santa Elena is African American/Latina, Varma is Indian, and I believe Chuck is also a PoC(?). So, right away this book is very diverse with characters of different ethnic backgrounds, and there are no stereotypes! Also, Cas and Swift are both WLW. I liked how it was stated to casually and smoothly in the book, whereas in most other books I've read the protagonist seems embarrassed by it or provides the backstory on why they're gay (which in my opinion isn't necessary).
3) FRIENDS TO LOVERS - This trope is one of my weaknesses(I mean, there's a few weeks left until 2018 and I'm still extremely disappointed that Zutara wasn't endgame). At first I was worried that Cas and Swift's relationship would start of abusive and toxic, but the understanding and bond that they have for each other completely goes against that. They both start off by hating each other (which is understandable), but eventually they rely on each other's existence in order for both of them to stay alive.
Yeah, so that's about it but I highly recommend this book for people who are interested in pirate lesbians that have turtle sidekicks!
This isn't going to be a proper review
1) CHARACTERS - Although it's hard for me to get attached to characters with such a small book like this, Emily Strutskie did an amazing job in making me fall in love with all the characters with only 273 pages.
2) DIVERSITY - As a WLWoC, one of the first things I search for in the book is diversity. I can't remember if it's stated in the book, but Cas is for sure eastern Asian, Santa Elena is African American/Latina, Varma is Indian, and I believe Chuck is also a PoC(?). So, right away this book is very diverse with characters of different ethnic backgrounds, and there are no stereotypes! Also, Cas and Swift are both WLW. I liked how it was stated to casually and smoothly in the book, whereas in most other books I've read the protagonist seems embarrassed by it or provides the backstory on why they're gay (which in my opinion isn't necessary).
3) FRIENDS TO LOVERS - This trope is one of my weaknesses
Yeah, so that's about it but I highly recommend this book for people who are interested in pirate lesbians that have turtle sidekicks!
lilywilly07's review
adventurous
mysterious
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? No
4.25
msrcreation's review
4.5
It's just too short. This book needs some more pages just so you can understand the world and the characters a bit more and grow attached to them. Outside of that I loved it. What we do get of the characters I loved. The relationship is cute and entertaining. The idea of trainers of these genetically modified sea beasts is really interesting. I really liked the plot and the grittiness of the story. It was great read and with that ending I definitely want to pick up the sequel and see what happens next.
dunder_mifflin's review
5.0
Lesbian pirates? Count me in.
Sea monsters (who are actually very lovable)? Count me in.
EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK? COUNT ME IN.
Sea monsters (who are actually very lovable)? Count me in.
EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK? COUNT ME IN.
lecute_reads's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25