A review by heyimberbie
A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

I saw a review for this book and literally all the person said was “Black girl magic”, so I said “say less” and ordered it immediately because like, look. at. the. cover!

I want this book displayed on my shelf just for the cover alone. I would put it in a picture frame and hang it on my wall if I could, are you kidding me?!?!

But anyways, to talk about the actual book now, this is one of the best books I’ve read, and it truly surprised me because the audience this book caters to is definitely teenagers. I normally hate YA books but I feel that the way the author wrote a book with a focus on issues within society but was still able to use fantasy elements that would be able to keep/attract the attention of teenagers is genius. Bethany is an absolute genius. And the characters? Chefs kiss.

I have not been able to stop thinking about the relationship between Effie and Tavia, Black girl magic is honestly the perfect way to describe them. They were such incredible characters and were such a light in a world that could be so evil towards them. I related so much with Effie and her love for Renaissance fairs, but I also related to Tavia and how she had a deep rooted love for her sister even if her sister didn’t open up to her about certain things. Also Tavia’s whole journey with her father and her voice going unheard but also being ashamed of that is something that made me reflect on my own life in many ways.

This book also made me think about how toxic stan culture can be on the mind and the desire that fans have for parasocial relationships. I’ve seen so many fans lately go to bat to defend authors and celebrities that don’t know them at all, and the defense of these hardcore fans have in turn basically absolved these celebrities from taking any accountability whatsoever. I think that’s a conversation that really needs to be had especially within bookish spaces and why people feel the need to silence marginalized people just because fans want to defend the right to comfort. I really thought about this after seeing the relationship between Effie and Elric and how Effie struggled to separate herself from the persona of Euphemia (albeit for different reasons). Watching how the fanfic world was so infatuated with Euphemia and Elric made me think about fan behavior irl.

I would recommend this book to anybody to read. It was funny and silly, weird, disturbing, sad, educational, it was a number of different emotions all combined together and it really made me think a lot! It also really makes me sad knowing that this is a book that is being banned because soooo many teens and young adults NEED to read this book and experience it. It’s such a heart warming read and it will always be deeply special to me.