A review by dearbookshelves
Chlorine by Jade Song

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.25

I've been sitting for an hour trying to figure out what I think about Chlorine. I like this as a coming of age novel and Ren's obsession with wanting to become a mermaid as a metaphor for escaping a life full of pressures is beautiful. There's just something about the book that I can't quite put my finger on that kept this from fully clicking for me. It might be down to the marketing. I've seen this listed as horror in a lot of places but it doesn't feel like that for much of the book. Horrific things are happening to Ren and she's struggling but the things that would be described as true horror in a traditional sense don't really start until the last quarter of the book. I also think the ending is just a big bummer but I'm not sure if that was intentional or not.