Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness

6 reviews

hazel_t23's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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2shadowsdeep's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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peggy_racham's review against another edition

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5.0

The world building, the characters, the plot. All of this lore and rich story in just 160 pages. I fall in love in the first few pages and read it in one sitting. (All the TWs are verry mild and its high school apropriate) 
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librarymouse's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

And the Ocean Was Our Sky is a really interesting twist on Moby Dick.
The idea that there is a single source of evil that gathers more power the more harm, anguish, and death it creates is something that's explored in a lot of fantasy settings from Lord of the Rings to table top role play games, but I've never seen it done this way. Bathsheba's insistence on being the dissenter against the common beliefs of her community is an interesting inversion of YA tropes where the dissenter is proven right in the end. Demetrius and Bathsheba's interactions caused a fundamental fissure in her core beliefs about the natures of men and whales. It pushes her to questions whether fighting for the sake of tradition is fighting the monsters or turning themselves into monsters. I think the way this book deals with questioning sense of self and the idea of loyalty to tradition and rank will make it a modern classic.

I didn't love this book in the way I normally do to give a five star rating, but it was beautifully and lovingly crafted and the questions it poses are going to stick with me for quite a while.
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jeminnycricket's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

It was a challenging book to wrap my head around, because the entire book is told from a perspective wildly different, and i spent every other sentence trying to realign my view of the world to match the characters. It was a brilliant book in the way that it asked me to do this very seamlessly and it was very thought provoking for this perspective shift. Loved the book overall and had a very interesting message at the end. 
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books_and_fairy_lights's review against another edition

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

4.0

Fast read, but not too fast. Love the concept at the heart of the story (whales hunting men as men hunt whales) and the reflection it brings. The illustrations are gorgeous and they help both to imagine the setting and carry the atmosphere.
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