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cday13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Trafficking, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, and Child death
zoe_archambault's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Slavery, Grief, Trafficking, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, and Alcoholism
Minor: Abortion
audreylee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Violence
chrisannemd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Moderate: Violence
Minor: War, Trafficking, and Sexual violence
jenthebookgeek's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Child death, Slavery, Violence, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Rape, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Grief, Murder, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, and Kidnapping
lilifane's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I'm glad I read it though because the world building and atmosphere are among the best I encountered in dystopian literature. After a massive flood, the majority of earth's surface is underwater. Only a few managed to survive and flee to the highest regions still above water, many live on boats and ships trying to get by with fishing, scavenging and trading. Myra and her 8-year-old daughter Pearl live on a small boat, surviving, fishing and searching what is left of the North and South American continent for Myra's firstborn daughter, Row. When the flood came, Myra's husband kidnapped Row and disappeared with her on a boat, leaving the pregnant Myra behind.
At the beginning of the book, Myra gets a hint where her daughter might be and tries with all her power to get there. It's a long journey and Myra needs a bigger ship, provisions and help to reach her destinations.
At first the story is rather calm and hopeful with a focus on world building and a beginning adventure. The atmosphere shifts however when Myra encounters obstacles, hardships and dangers. I liked the themes like love, especially motherly love, loss, grief, found family, trust and betrayal, sacrifice and selfishness. But in addition to these themes, there was also a lot of action with very high stakes. Unfortunately, the plot lost me when everything that can go wrong actually went wrong. It got really depressing, really quickly. And the ending dragged for such a long time, I thought it would never end.
Overall, I loved a lot of the book, but there were too many things that weakened my enjoyment in the end.
Graphic: Kidnapping, Medical content, Slavery, Child death, Death, Pregnancy, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Violence, Alcohol, Death of parent, Suicide, Abandonment, Colonisation, Sexual content, and Animal death
betsygrace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Gun violence, Medical content, War, Xenophobia, Death, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual assault, Confinement, Sexual content, Trafficking, and Violence
This book is set in a world where the entire place is flooded. I guess drowning/oceans/etc could be a content warning for some.krys_kilz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Side note: I found all the characters very unlikeable, but that's not why they felt flat. I don't mind unlikeable characters and often find them incredibly interesting. The problem for me was that none of the characters felt believable. I never felt like I truly got to know them. This on top of spotty world building really sunk the book for me.
Graphic: Child death, Kidnapping, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Suicide