Reviews

Like Water by Rebecca Podos

girlreading's review

4.0

4.5* Like Water is the kind of book that’s equally as heartbreaking as it is heartwarming. It’s a gorgeous story of grief, identity, growing up, falling in love, family, friendships and discovering who you are amongst all these things. I’d not heard anything about this going into it but I adored it. I loved the easy, comfortable writing style and found myself flying through it within two sittings. I warmed to diverse and complex characters instantly and thought the layered relationships and plot were superb. I loved how inclusive the cast of characters was, with the main character being a Latina girl, who although never totally confirms her label, discusses the possibility being bi and a love interest who identifies as genderqueer and a lesbian. I adored Savannah’s body positivity and her sarcastic sense of humour and thought her narrative of discovering herself, whilst also feeling lost within herself and her life was incredibly powerful and I’m sure relatable to a lot of people in many ways. Like Water is something I would without a doubt recommend if you’re looking for a book with depth, love, drama, complex characters and relationships, humour and diversity in terms of sexuality, gender, body and ethnicity. And if after all of this you’re still not convinced, the protagonist works as a mermaid. Yeah, there’s the icing on the wonderful bookish cake we all deserve.

TW: homophobia, biphobia, ableism (challenged on page)

logikitty's review against another edition

The writing style/ characters thinking is just too cringe :/

dearbookboyfriend's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

5.0

reallybadalex's review

2.0

To be brief this book sucked. To be less brief:
Some straight authors manage to write books about gay characters that don't suck. But no matter how hard they try it could never possibly be as good as a book written by an actual gay author. This book was written by an author who didn't bother to learn jack-shit about actual lesbians. Worst example of this was the use of the word dyke by a character who may or may not have actually been a lesbian as an insult towards another character. Personally I can write out that word here no asterisks or anything because I am an actual lesbian and as such I know how harmful slurs can be when used by another person. No lesbian would ever you use that word on another lesbian without express permission and definitely would never use it to for a non-lesbian.
When that creep at the party sexualized the characters it was not a crime against womaninity or whatever bullshit the author wrote or sexism. It was homophobia primarily. Yes men are generally creeps but in that situation it was because of the fact that they were both girls. Leigh's response was valid and the fact that she not only apologized to Savannah but did so completely willingly without savannah having to ask her to was wrong and would never happen.
Any part with Savannah's unhealthy sex life was terrible. The fact that she never truly addressed that what she was doing wasn't necessarily wrong in regards to the boys she was using but harmful for herself, was awful. Those parts send a terrible message to anyone reading it.

luna_bear's review

emotional hopeful 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

3.75

sc104906's review

2.0

I received an ARC through Edelweiss.

Vanni has dreams of moving out of her dead end town, but those dreams are broken when she finds out that her father has Huntington's Disease. Vanni struggles with the fact that her father's condition will continue to degenerate and that she could potentially have the same condition. Vanni becomes depressed and doesn't know if her future is some place she wants to go. Vanni broke away from her group of friends, graduates, works at her family's restaurant and has meaningless hookups with a bunch of guys. She begins to see potential, when brother and sister, Lucas and Leigh. While Vanni wants to hookup with Lucas, she begins finding herself more attracted to Leigh. This book takes on a summer of self discovery and facing hard truths about past and family.

I didn't really connect with the two main characters. I found all of the parents more likeable than any of their children.

siriface's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness and Medical content

wooyouknow's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.5

savannah working a job where she has to be a mermaid and hang out with a ton of cool women was the best thing i’ve ever listened to in a long time

cnstamper's review

4.0

Vanni has a lot going on; her dad Huntington's Disease is progressing, their family restaurant is not paying the bills meaning she can't go to college in the fall, and her unspoken depression is sinking into her bones. Enter Leigh. The new-to-town girl is bold where Vanni is shy, and pushes her to embrace her own desires. A beautifully written exploration of the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

heresthepencil's review

5.0

rep: bi latina mc, genderqueer lesbian li, latino side character with the huntington's disease, latinx side characters

so maybe im in love with this book & the wonderfully intense sapphic romance btwn two flawed, beautiful characters, so what