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A review by caidyn
The Seep by Chana Porter
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
CW: death, grief, alcoholism, and drug use
I've had this book on my mental TBR for a while, but a friend read it and thought I'd like it so I pushed it up a lot. So, this book is very different. It's kinda contemporary, but kinda sci-fi. An alien race called the seep come into this world and have a soft invasion. Aka, they get into the water system and dose everyone with themselves, which acts as kind of a drug. And from there they change the world to be more egalitarian. No more eating animals, no more worries about money, everyone has what they need, they can do what they want so long as it doesn't harm other people. Oh, and they're immortal for the most part.
And that's where we have Trina and Deeba. Trina is the MC and is a fifty-year old transwoman who lives with her wife, Deeba. However, Deeba isn't happy with her life. She decides to start over. Quite literally. So, throughout the book Trina is grieving the loss of the woman she thought that she would live with forever, plus trying to find out where she fits in and what she wants to do in her life.
It's a small book and it went by so fast, but it's a great commentary on the world. It was very interesting and I just enjoyed it. The book is hard to describe because it's, on one hand, about grief. On another it's about the consequences of a world where everyone has everything, as well as how something neutral or neutrally good can be used in a way to do harm. So, it's just a book that might take a couple of reads to unpack completely.
All in all, I enjoyed it. It's a good book and, as I said, you have to think about it. It's a great example of doing sci-fi without a ton of aliens around.
I've had this book on my mental TBR for a while, but a friend read it and thought I'd like it so I pushed it up a lot. So, this book is very different. It's kinda contemporary, but kinda sci-fi. An alien race called the seep come into this world and have a soft invasion. Aka, they get into the water system and dose everyone with themselves, which acts as kind of a drug. And from there they change the world to be more egalitarian. No more eating animals, no more worries about money, everyone has what they need, they can do what they want so long as it doesn't harm other people. Oh, and they're immortal for the most part.
And that's where we have Trina and Deeba. Trina is the MC and is a fifty-year old transwoman who lives with her wife, Deeba. However, Deeba isn't happy with her life. She decides to start over. Quite literally. So, throughout the book Trina is grieving the loss of the woman she thought that she would live with forever, plus trying to find out where she fits in and what she wants to do in her life.
It's a small book and it went by so fast, but it's a great commentary on the world. It was very interesting and I just enjoyed it. The book is hard to describe because it's, on one hand, about grief. On another it's about the consequences of a world where everyone has everything, as well as how something neutral or neutrally good can be used in a way to do harm. So, it's just a book that might take a couple of reads to unpack completely.
All in all, I enjoyed it. It's a good book and, as I said, you have to think about it. It's a great example of doing sci-fi without a ton of aliens around.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Drug use, and Alcoholism