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A review by laelyn
The Descent of the Drowned by Ana Lal Din
3.0
I was incredibly excited to read "The Descent of the Drowned". I haven't really read many fantasy books based on Arabian mythology which I find fascinating. I wanted to love this book so much. I ended up only liking it.
This is a debut novel and it reads like one, but there is so much potential here. The writing is lush and beautiful, the world creative and deep. It was fun diving into this new, different world.
In the end, I did feel a little overwhelmed - there was just so much information, so much world building that I couldn't keep up and was left confused. Maybe this would have been different for readers with some preknowledge of Arabian myths and the Indo-Persian culture. Still, it was fascinating and enjoyable to read because of Ana Lal Din's beautiful writing style.
The two protagonists, Leviathan and Roma, fell a little flat for me. There is a lot of potential in both of them but I feel like their character development was hindered by the fact that nothing really actually happens in this book. Sure, there is a lot of suffering, there are some minor plots, but "The Descent of the Drowned" reads more like an introduction to this new world. The overarching plot of this series seems to start basically on the last pages, so everything that came before is more or less a very long prologue. The pacing is rather slow, too.
There ist also the matter of agency: Roma barely has any during the whole book. She is an observer most of the time, there are entire chapters from her point of view that consist solely of her watching other characters, including Leviathan, do things while she stands in the background. A lot of time is spent on her suffering, getting hurt, getting abused or dealing with the aftermath of said abuse. Where she goes and what she does is almost always determined by other characters - she is sent to do chores, dances when she is told to, is bought by a new patron, sold to a brothel and so on. There are blink-and-you-miss-it scenes of her taking action of her own volition, but mostly she reacts, observes. This made me enjoy her chapters less than Leviathan's, who is the by far more active protagonist.
It should be noted that this book deals with a lot of very heavy topics: rape and abuse (of minors too), suicide, self-harm, torture. This world is a dark one and there isn't much happiness to be had. Death and trauma are constant companions, there aren't many moments that allow for a little relief. I personally like dark fantasy stories so this didn't bother me, but I do hope that the next book in this series adds some more light-hearted moments and chapters too (and more Ashar please! I love him and he adds some much-needed humour). Without happiness and peace on the horizon, why should we fight through all this darkness after all?
many thanks to White Tigress Press for the arc!
This is a debut novel and it reads like one, but there is so much potential here. The writing is lush and beautiful, the world creative and deep. It was fun diving into this new, different world.
In the end, I did feel a little overwhelmed - there was just so much information, so much world building that I couldn't keep up and was left confused. Maybe this would have been different for readers with some preknowledge of Arabian myths and the Indo-Persian culture. Still, it was fascinating and enjoyable to read because of Ana Lal Din's beautiful writing style.
The two protagonists, Leviathan and Roma, fell a little flat for me. There is a lot of potential in both of them but I feel like their character development was hindered by the fact that nothing really actually happens in this book. Sure, there is a lot of suffering, there are some minor plots, but "The Descent of the Drowned" reads more like an introduction to this new world. The overarching plot of this series seems to start basically on the last pages, so everything that came before is more or less a very long prologue. The pacing is rather slow, too.
There ist also the matter of agency: Roma barely has any during the whole book. She is an observer most of the time, there are entire chapters from her point of view that consist solely of her watching other characters, including Leviathan, do things while she stands in the background. A lot of time is spent on her suffering, getting hurt, getting abused or dealing with the aftermath of said abuse. Where she goes and what she does is almost always determined by other characters - she is sent to do chores, dances when she is told to, is bought by a new patron, sold to a brothel and so on. There are blink-and-you-miss-it scenes of her taking action of her own volition, but mostly she reacts, observes. This made me enjoy her chapters less than Leviathan's, who is the by far more active protagonist.
It should be noted that this book deals with a lot of very heavy topics: rape and abuse (of minors too), suicide, self-harm, torture. This world is a dark one and there isn't much happiness to be had. Death and trauma are constant companions, there aren't many moments that allow for a little relief. I personally like dark fantasy stories so this didn't bother me, but I do hope that the next book in this series adds some more light-hearted moments and chapters too (and more Ashar please! I love him and he adds some much-needed humour). Without happiness and peace on the horizon, why should we fight through all this darkness after all?
many thanks to White Tigress Press for the arc!