Reviews - Tears in the Water

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270 reviews for:

Tears in the Water

Margherita Scialla

4.0 AVERAGE

camillephemere's review against another edition

3.5

informative inspiring lighthearted 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: Complicated

I read it in two days so obviously I liked it. Even if there's no real plot, I was there for the diverse cast and I wasn't disappointed, lesbian, bi, pan, aroace, demiace, trans,... Even if sometimes the discussion about sexuality and identity sound more informative I liked it. It was a great book with strongs friendships, and the discussion about being aroace were really well written in my opinion. On the other hand I don't really get the relationship between Tate and Alex, he was almost too perfect and okay we love him for being such a great supportive boyfriend but I felt like Alex wasn't really into it, even them said it but idk, apart from that it was a great book with great characters and no plot. I don't have enough knowledge in swimming or volleyball to know if those scene were realistic.

katherineshawwrites's review against another edition

4.25

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Romance isn't always my genre of choice, but something intrigued me about this book, and I'm glad I gave it a try. There is excellent, diverse representation throughout, with anxiety, neurodivergence and struggles with understanding gender and sexuality portrayed very well. I had real sympathy for Alex, with their difficulties feeling very real, raw, and difficult to manage. The romance is sweet, and the friendship forged between the main characters is lovely to see develop. The ending feels a little sudden and anticlimactic, and the stakes and level of conflict are pretty low throughout, but it's still a very enjoyable read.

Content Warnings

monique12's review against another edition

4.0

funny inspiring lighthearted 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

shh_fbi's review against another edition

3.0

emotional inspiring 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: Yes

Content Warnings

ex3lion's review against another edition

4.0

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

fangervert's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

I loved it

gracerichards11's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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: Complicated

strangerestnerd's review against another edition

3.5

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I didn’t hate this book, but there were some things that I was just really hung up on during. It reads as a sort of coming of age but more like coming of sexuality/gender. I swear to you though, characters were coming out every chapter. It was as if the author was trying to shove every gender/sexual orientation they could into the book. But the characters themselves were very lovable except when the MC was crying which was pretty much always.

the_other_aenor's review against another edition

2.0

emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I really wanted to like this book, but I just didn't. The characters were interesting, but the main character reminded me too much of my younger self, so much so that it was uncomfortable. It's nice to see multiple sexualities and gender identities represented, but I've read better written books with the same, if not more. I can best conpare the writing to fanfic written by a fourteen year old who has learned everything from reading other fanfics. Overall just disappointing.

kays_reading_journal's review against another edition

4.25

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: Yes

Tears in the Water is a character focused, slice of life novel that was very endearing to read. I just really loved the characters but at times it was a bit repetitive.

Alex was really well developed and it was interesting to read their thoughts about gender. Despite being cis, I went through a lil gender crisis/questioning last year so some of the points were still really relatable. When the story was nearing the end, I was sad because I just wanted more of the characters, I didn’t want to say goodbye.

I do wish there had been a bit more swimming taking place in the novel. The major event was worked up to the whole book but just kinda felt lackluster at the end. Some parts were also repetitive, causing me to skim through some stuff.

Overall, this was a very cute book with lovable characters that offered a great look into what it feels like to experience gender dysphoria. I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys slice of life or queer sports!

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