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A review by citrus_seasalt
The Deep by Rivers Solomon
4.0
Might raise (or lower??? idk) my rating, who knows. Somewhere between a 4 and a 5 stars. I see some people confused about the differences of the plural self POV and Yetu’s singular POV, but I think by the second or third plural self chapter the timeline should click into place. I also think that based on me reading this and “Sorrowland”, I can gather that Rivers Solomon always writes very creative premises that duelly capture the complexity of generational trauma, especially racial trauma. The worldbuilding done with Solomon’s interpretation of “The Deep”s lyrics was also fascinating, it’s easy to pinpoint from Yetu’s personal journey which section of the song is being written about, but it’s still very much their writing.
Honestly, I predicted Oori’s significance as soon as that one human in the Rememberings was introduced (I feel like a lot of the book’s messaging hinges on the events from those memories being repeated in a way), but I liked seeing her kinship with Yetu, since she spent so much of the novel feeling like her struggle was unique and couldn’t be shared by anybody. And this is a very minor thing, but I appreciate that the thing that finalized Oori and Yetu’s relationship was a more personal (and grand) gesture of love, rather than a kiss or something else of the sort.
Yetu was kind of a difficult character for me to get invested in, though. Not only is the beginning a little slow, but the Rememberings hollowed her out. uhhh I’ll continue writing this later i got some ice cream and an audiobook i wanna listen to as I eat it
Despite the short length of this novella, there is so much to process. Maybe there could’ve been a few more pages because of the quickness of the ending, but that should still be a testament to the author’s talent, in my opinion.
Honestly, I predicted Oori’s significance as soon as that one human in the Rememberings was introduced (I feel like a lot of the book’s messaging hinges on the events from those memories being repeated in a way), but I liked seeing her kinship with Yetu, since she spent so much of the novel feeling like her struggle was unique and couldn’t be shared by anybody. And this is a very minor thing, but I appreciate that the thing that finalized Oori and Yetu’s relationship was a more personal (and grand) gesture of love, rather than a kiss or something else of the sort.
Yetu was kind of a difficult character for me to get invested in, though. Not only is the beginning a little slow, but the Rememberings hollowed her out. uhhh I’ll continue writing this later i got some ice cream and an audiobook i wanna listen to as I eat it
Despite the short length of this novella, there is so much to process. Maybe there could’ve been a few more pages because of the quickness of the ending, but that should still be a testament to the author’s talent, in my opinion.