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aftoncyrus's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.0
lochanreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
The Deep is an imaginative, haunting and captivating piece of speculative fiction that imagines an aquatic life, deep beneath the ocean for the progeny of drowned Black women slaves, during the transatlantic slave trade.
timinbc's review against another edition
3.0
This is good as a novella, where–for me at least–an author can explore a single idea without having to dive into the vastness of a novel. Where worldbuilding can be a hasty sketch with plenty of handwaving. It comes into focus a bit more at the end, when we read the explanation of the story's development. Such things have never worked really well for me, but if RS and friends want to do it, great.
As the book developed slowly, I went from, "C'mon, that ain't EVER gonna happen!" to "I know, but what if it did?" to "but really, come ON, it's nonsense" to "I know but what if it wasn't?" Because really, is this so far from "once upon a time there was a woodcarver, and he made a little boy who could talk, and whose nose grew if he told a lie." Of course that ain't EVER gonna happen, but didn't we have a time reading about yeahbut what if it did anyway? It's an adjustment we routinely make when we read SF/F than leans to the /F, but somehow this time was harder than elves and ghosts and golems.
Anyway, eventually I was able to settle down and read.
Meeting the Two-Legs, immediately being able to speak and understand English, yeah, yeah, never mind. For all that, Yetu's story is compelling because we can believe that IF such people existed AND had a historian system that worked that way, yeah, it WOULD be a really tough job. And now, NOW I can believe that one might react that way, and these things might happen. And it could end like that, and when I close the book I can say what I always want to: "They told me a story." And for a bonus it made me think.
As the book developed slowly, I went from, "C'mon, that ain't EVER gonna happen!" to "I know, but what if it did?" to "but really, come ON, it's nonsense" to "I know but what if it wasn't?" Because really, is this so far from "once upon a time there was a woodcarver, and he made a little boy who could talk, and whose nose grew if he told a lie." Of course that ain't EVER gonna happen, but didn't we have a time reading about yeahbut what if it did anyway? It's an adjustment we routinely make when we read SF/F than leans to the /F, but somehow this time was harder than elves and ghosts and golems.
Anyway, eventually I was able to settle down and read.
Meeting the Two-Legs, immediately being able to speak and understand English, yeah, yeah, never mind. For all that, Yetu's story is compelling because we can believe that IF such people existed AND had a historian system that worked that way, yeah, it WOULD be a really tough job. And now, NOW I can believe that one might react that way, and these things might happen. And it could end like that, and when I close the book I can say what I always want to: "They told me a story." And for a bonus it made me think.
j_e_n_n's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
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
4.0
cor_luz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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
5.0
jaysfly's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.5
epsilonecho's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-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
culpeppper's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
- 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
3.75
I already wrote out a review and it didn't save, so I'm gonna do a bullet point style thing here:
- The metaphors were immense, sometimes clever and sometimes a little too on the nose, but largely the use of weaving those metaphors into the story was done well and enhanced the reading experience. As an example, the descriptions in the underwater mimic the setting, relying on feelings and ideas to form the world before Yetu goes to the surface where descriptions change to more solid things rather than concepts.
- The story has multiple perspectives. Though I do feel it worked thematically to have these other perspectives, and the stories they told enhanced our perspective, but it was always jarring and confusing in a way that took me a bit out of the story sometimes.
- It's a work of creative wonder, filled with countless concepts, and it's inspired me to read more of Solomon's work so I can have a longer experience that I think will suit their style of writing better.
Overall, there were some things it lacked that could have built out the world a bit more, and the pacing felt weird and off at times, I think that's partially the form and maybe some stylistic elements I don't fully understand. But I liked the experience of this world, of this look into our world, and the use of history and remembering as critical to it. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Abandonment, Genocide, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Grief, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Xenophobia, Colonisation, Animal death, and Confinement
Minor: War, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury
lottie1803's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.25
copascribe's review against another edition
2.0
Intergenerational trauma, painful histories that shouldn't be forgotten, a study of perceived history versus true history, the importance of belonging and a sense of community and identity, the importance of culture, the meaning of freedom and what society sacrifices for those freedoms...are all themes I thought I'd find in these pages, and yes, there were some snapshots of them weaved into the story, but not fleshed out as I hoped. At the end of the day, the writing wasn't for me; it was repetitive, went off on some narrative tangents, was hard to follow without the use of individual pronouns, and, I think, missed a lot of opportunities. The storytelling itself didn't flow well for me, but the afterword about the origins of the story was interesting and worth a read/listen.