Scan barcode
lilifane's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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 thought I would love this. The beginning, maybe the first 30%, was excellent. I loved the world building, the beautiful writing, the intrigue of the story and most of the characters. Sadly, it went into a direction I didn't fully enjoy and left me with a disappointing ending.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
beccaand's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Slavery, and Murder
Moderate: Rape, Suicide, and Pregnancy
ska1224's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Rape, Trafficking, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Pregnancy
More...