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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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:
Yes
emotional
reflective
fast-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
#OWLsReadathon2020
Defence Against the Dark Arts: Book set at the sea
3.5 stars
Wow, this is such a unique story of merfolks originating from pregnant African slaves being thrown overboard by salves owner. Whales nurtured their babies, and they adapted to underwater life. Moreover, while reading the acknowledgment, it took me by surprise that this book was inspired by the song "The Deep by clpping." You have to listen to it, it's great. The song was based on the underwater mythology of the 90s Detroit electro band Drexciya.
The writing is beautiful, and it's a relatively short book. However, don't let the length of the book deceive you. Even though it was quick, there are so much to digest.
I enjoyed the historian part more than Yetu's part. In the historian part, we get to know about the origin of the merfolks, how language was found, their culture, and how they build their community. Plus point, merfolks had both female and male organs, and they have the choice to be either (basically they don't have a gender, which is incredible!). For the rest of the plot, please read the book for yourself as I do not want to spoil it further.
The reason I didn't give this a higher rating is that the pacing can be a little slow at some parts, and I find it very difficult to connect with the characters (maybe if it was longer, we could get to explore more of the characters).
Despite it being dark, this book still filled with hope. Merfolks coming together as one to share this pain and overcome it. The message of this book is very important too. The importance of carrying those memories even though it is painful, to not forget about their origin and the places they came from. If the memories perish, the entire culture and the community will be erased and no one to remember it.
Overall, this is such a haunting, beautiful and emotional book, and if you like a new take on merfolks, you should read this!
QUOTES THAT I LIKE:
"Forgetting was not the same as healing."
“What is belonging?” we ask. She says, “Where loneliness ends.”
"A people needed a history. To be without one was death."
“You say madness such as mine doesn’t exist, but it would exist in you, too, if you had to experience the ugly things I do all the time."
"I know you have a complicated relationship with the past. I do too. But if I don’t protect what is left of it there, I will have no homeland. It will just be another place."
"Nothingness was a fate worse than pain."
"At least with pain there was life, a chance at change and redemption. The rememberings might still kill her, but the wajinru would go on, and so, too, would the rest of the world."
"We cannot understand a people that would willingly choose to cut itself off from its history, no matter what pain it entails. Pain is energy. It lights us. This is the most basic premise of our life. Hunger makes us eat. Tiredness causes us to sleep. Pain makes us avenge.
We are not wajinru if being wajinru means distancing ourselves from pain. We embrace pain, seek it out.
We make a path through the water, people splitting their parties to accommodate us. They fear us. This reaction doesn’t bother us. We aren’t to be trifled with. It is good that they recognize this."
Defence Against the Dark Arts: Book set at the sea
3.5 stars
Wow, this is such a unique story of merfolks originating from pregnant African slaves being thrown overboard by salves owner. Whales nurtured their babies, and they adapted to underwater life. Moreover, while reading the acknowledgment, it took me by surprise that this book was inspired by the song "The Deep by clpping." You have to listen to it, it's great. The song was based on the underwater mythology of the 90s Detroit electro band Drexciya.
The writing is beautiful, and it's a relatively short book. However, don't let the length of the book deceive you. Even though it was quick, there are so much to digest.
I enjoyed the historian part more than Yetu's part. In the historian part, we get to know about the origin of the merfolks, how language was found, their culture, and how they build their community. Plus point, merfolks had both female and male organs, and they have the choice to be either (basically they don't have a gender, which is incredible!). For the rest of the plot, please read the book for yourself as I do not want to spoil it further.
The reason I didn't give this a higher rating is that the pacing can be a little slow at some parts, and I find it very difficult to connect with the characters (maybe if it was longer, we could get to explore more of the characters).
Despite it being dark, this book still filled with hope. Merfolks coming together as one to share this pain and overcome it. The message of this book is very important too. The importance of carrying those memories even though it is painful, to not forget about their origin and the places they came from. If the memories perish, the entire culture and the community will be erased and no one to remember it.
Overall, this is such a haunting, beautiful and emotional book, and if you like a new take on merfolks, you should read this!
QUOTES THAT I LIKE:
"Forgetting was not the same as healing."
“What is belonging?” we ask. She says, “Where loneliness ends.”
"A people needed a history. To be without one was death."
“You say madness such as mine doesn’t exist, but it would exist in you, too, if you had to experience the ugly things I do all the time."
"I know you have a complicated relationship with the past. I do too. But if I don’t protect what is left of it there, I will have no homeland. It will just be another place."
"Nothingness was a fate worse than pain."
"At least with pain there was life, a chance at change and redemption. The rememberings might still kill her, but the wajinru would go on, and so, too, would the rest of the world."
"We cannot understand a people that would willingly choose to cut itself off from its history, no matter what pain it entails. Pain is energy. It lights us. This is the most basic premise of our life. Hunger makes us eat. Tiredness causes us to sleep. Pain makes us avenge.
We are not wajinru if being wajinru means distancing ourselves from pain. We embrace pain, seek it out.
We make a path through the water, people splitting their parties to accommodate us. They fear us. This reaction doesn’t bother us. We aren’t to be trifled with. It is good that they recognize this."
challenging
dark
emotional
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
I’ll be honest, this book made me stop my 575 day reading streak. It's really heavy, a lot to deal with, so it's perfect technically. Despite this I didn't connect with it as much. It was too much sorrow and too much grief and forgetting and repeating those things, and honestly the ending took too long for everyone to realize which also took me out of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide, Torture, Suicide attempt
Minor: Sexual content
reflective
reflective
fast-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
The Deep by Rivers Solomon is a thoughtful and emotionally resonant novella that explores generational trauma, memory, and identity through the story of an underwater society descended from African women thrown overboard during the slave trade. Centered on Yetu, a merfolk historian burdened with the collective memories of her people, the book raises powerful questions about the cost of remembering and the right to live unburdened. While its pacing is slow and the plot minimal, the writing is vivid and the themes are deeply impactful, making it a compelling read that stays with you.
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Welp, that ended abruptly.
I absolutely enjoyed the author's prose and her ability to immerse me into the protagonist's mind so easily. The flow of the story felt so natural, like a slow moving ocean. My only dislike was that the story was cut short. There was an emphasis on the character's journey and growth that doesn't get quite resolved. There is an ongoing theme about loneliness and pain, knowing your history, and the burden of knowledge. Somehow the author touched on topic that has limitless capacity and tightened into a single breath. I found The Deep to be as multilayered, complex, and intriguing as the wajinru. I recommend this read.
Memorable Quotes
“What is belonging?” we ask. She says, “Where loneliness ends.”
The deep will be our sibling, our parent, our relief from endless solitude.
Down here, we can pretend the dark is the black embrace of another.
because when you are in pain, sometimes the only escape is another different pain.
Nothingness was a fate worse than pain.
At least with pain there was life, a chance at change and redemption.
Pain is energy. It lights us. This is the most basic premise of our life. Hunger makes us eat. Tiredness causes us to sleep. Pain makes us avenge.
She’d never felt so synchronized with the ocean before. Her emotions were as dark and tumultuous as the deep.
I absolutely enjoyed the author's prose and her ability to immerse me into the protagonist's mind so easily. The flow of the story felt so natural, like a slow moving ocean. My only dislike was that the story was cut short. There was an emphasis on the character's journey and growth that doesn't get quite resolved. There is an ongoing theme about loneliness and pain, knowing your history, and the burden of knowledge. Somehow the author touched on topic that has limitless capacity and tightened into a single breath. I found The Deep to be as multilayered, complex, and intriguing as the wajinru. I recommend this read.
Memorable Quotes
“What is belonging?” we ask. She says, “Where loneliness ends.”
The deep will be our sibling, our parent, our relief from endless solitude.
Down here, we can pretend the dark is the black embrace of another.
because when you are in pain, sometimes the only escape is another different pain.
Nothingness was a fate worse than pain.
At least with pain there was life, a chance at change and redemption.
Pain is energy. It lights us. This is the most basic premise of our life. Hunger makes us eat. Tiredness causes us to sleep. Pain makes us avenge.
She’d never felt so synchronized with the ocean before. Her emotions were as dark and tumultuous as the deep.