Reviews

the half-drowned by Trynne Delaney

augoost's review

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Like nothing I've read before. Incredibly inventive use of language and imagery - immersive and textured. The story meanders in a way that makes you feel like you're being intermittently submerged in the ocean only to be greeted by a new perspective of the same setting when you resurface. Beautifully gritty vision of black futures on the Atlantic

readnext's review

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

stephsbookedout's review

adventurous reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

ethantw00's review

4.0

4.5 Stars

This is absolutely perfect for Jeff VanderMeer fans (I found it through his recommendation) and those of Rivers Solomon, as well.

Delaney packs a lot in this novella, and practically all of it is quietly compelling. There were moments were I felt adrift, but patience is a buoy that serves this story well, as revelations do come.

The world-building in this is also done really well. It’s sparse in a way but gave enough to allow me to really color this world’s story. It’s a world ravaged by the climate crisis and feels all too pertinent now.

Also, I just think the polyphony works pretty well, with only a few moments where I needed to reorient which character the narrator was referring to.

I will say though there are definitely some typos in this thing, but hopefully if this does well, it can get a reprint with those fixed.

I definitely want to see more from Delaney. I’d even love to see more from this world they’ve crafted.

vlrieg's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

jimgibreads's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

atticmoth's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

In my opinion, a good rule of thumb for experimental fiction is that the audience shouldn’t be questioning what happened, but why it happened. The Half-Drowned left me too busy trying to figure out what the concrete events of the narrative were to indulge in the rich and multilayered symbolism woven into it. The Half-Drowned was set at a post-apocalyptic commune set on the edge of the sea which reminded me of the Karen Russell short story “The Gondoliers”. The concept was intriguing, especially as a reference to Black Loyalist refugees in New Brunswick. I also like that Delaney let the world-building take a backseat to the character drama, between a pair of siblings and their respective partners. But the way the story is told is in this fractured style found in a lot of contemporary science fiction that I don’t find very interesting or clever. It’s hard to tell what’s going on because it’s almost intentionally obscure. The narrative shifts between first, second and third person (shared between three or more characters, I couldn’t tell) for no apparent reason. I also find it kind of unsubtle when science fiction authors use the world they construct as exemplary or aspirational, like when Delaney randomly uses therapy-speak like “to make and hold space for our communities to move through responsibility to each other.” Is this climate fiction or a yoga class? 

mashedpotato's review

adventurous challenging reflective tense 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

Amazing!

maia_ep's review

mysterious slow-paced

2.75

raz_daram's review

emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Atmospheric, poetic prose. Sounds bring image to life. This story lingers.