Reviews with content warning for Death - The Seep

Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Seep by Chana Porter

49 reviews

bluberrybooks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

3.5

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katherineshawwrites's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.0

This book promises a surreal experience of a utopia brought on by the softest of alien invasions, and it does deliver that, but I must admit I expected a little bit more.

I love the weird world we find ourselves in at the start of the story, and Trina is a very relatable and endearing MC. The story is a hugely thought-provoking 'what if' scenario - which I am a huge fan of - and I think I could quite easily sit and ponder how I might respond to the Seep for some time. Trina's loss and grief is understandable and heart-wrenching, but once she embarks on her 'quest', the rest of the story flies by in a flash, and the whole thing has more of a short story feel to it than a full novel. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I expected a more fleshed out story, and what we get is extremely light on plot.

I did enjoy the book very much, and I would recommend it, but I was left wanting more, and would love to read more stories in the world of the Seep.

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aely's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

It was a good book, I’ll give it that. It made me reflect on my own life, which is always a good thing, in my opinion. I just didn’t care all that much about the characters, other than the boy and he didn’t end up playing that much of a role in the story. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes dystopia and living in the present. I didn’t connect much with the characters, but I didn’t dislike any of them either. It was a good book, just not a great one.

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spiderwitch's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

4.0

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ramreadsagain's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This is such an interesting book full of love, grief, existentialism, and humanity.

There was a point around the 75% mark where it lost me slightly but I did end up really liking the ending after that.

A really quick read but it’s left me with a lot to think about.

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tigger89's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.5

This book was incredible. I can't think of any other piece of media I've consumed that has featured a middle-aged trans women who isn't particularly femme as the protagonist, so that alone was unique. I also enjoyed the take on a utopia, where you can see how much better things are while at the same time spotting the cracks where maybe there's something less-than-perfect under the surface. Yet there isn't some grand conspiracy to uncover. This isn't the story of how the alien invaders were unmasked and repelled. The utopia is presented as a good thing, probably(though, like all good speculative fiction, it does leave you wondering a little).

Rather, this is a story that deals primarily with grief, as we follow Trina mourning not just the loss of her wife but also that of the world she remembers. She rejects the Seep, choosing to do things the old way whenever possible, a perspective that leaves her unable to cope when confronted with new views on death and rebirth. Her devotion to the old ways is ultimately so destructive that it puts her own health at risk, an apt metaphor for what humanity is doing to our planet and each other with the way we live. It's a sad story, but beautiful as well.

The one thing I thought was a little odd was how Trina's heritage was handled. She's half Jewish and half Native American. My apologies, if the nation was specified I've forgotten it and can't locate it now. While her Jewishness is reflected upon somewhat in the narrative, her Native American heritage didn't seem to be explored to any degree beyond her name: Trina FastHorse Goldberg-Oneka. Now, I'm not trying to say that a character's heritage has to be important to the plot. Of course they can just be Jewish, or Chinese, or Ojibwe, or whatever. What stood out to me here was the lopsidedness of it, where one half of her identity was recognized in the story while the other was kind of just...there. Perhaps this is a fault of the reader, that I didn't know enough to recognize the moments when it was made relevant. It's very possible.

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