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A review by kotareadsbooks
Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
It was incredible. The first chapter was a little slow for me and I almost ALMOST scrapped it, but I'm so glad I didn't. Simidele is a mami wata, essentially a mermaid who collects the souls of those who die in the water so they can have peace, and she's the only one of the mami wata who remembers and misses being human. Her creator tells her she is to save souls - nothing more, nothing less - and she agrees. But she then on instinct saves a human and damns all mami wata, so she has to go on a journey to make things right with Kola, the man she saved. It turns out, they're looking for so much more than a way to apologize for her saving a man - they're trying to keep all of nature and life in tact.
This book was amazing. It's based on African mythology, lots of Senegalese folklore. We meet some terrifying creatures, powerful gods and goddesses, explore the mimi wata's relationship with nature, meet little people, fall prey to a trickster god...wonderful stuff. I feel like standalone fantasy can soemtimes feel like a dora the explorer episode, you know? This, then this, then save the world! But this didn't. They had one clear goal with a few steps and then they had to alternate. and it was great.
Story telling becomes important in this, the myths and legends mentioned are all impoortant, but the world building is incredible. There's forbidden romance, there's - if its gods does it still count as political intrigue? idk but there's that. Lots of scheming. The side characters were beautiful. One moment that stood out to me was they had to copy a map so one character braided it in semidele's HAIR, obviously a throwback and something I always thought was incredible but never understood how but this - it explained how - bumps for little islands and plaits for routes, etc. It was so rich in culture and...Just trust me - a five star read.
This book was amazing. It's based on African mythology, lots of Senegalese folklore. We meet some terrifying creatures, powerful gods and goddesses, explore the mimi wata's relationship with nature, meet little people, fall prey to a trickster god...wonderful stuff. I feel like standalone fantasy can soemtimes feel like a dora the explorer episode, you know? This, then this, then save the world! But this didn't. They had one clear goal with a few steps and then they had to alternate. and it was great.
Story telling becomes important in this, the myths and legends mentioned are all impoortant, but the world building is incredible. There's forbidden romance, there's - if its gods does it still count as political intrigue? idk but there's that. Lots of scheming. The side characters were beautiful. One moment that stood out to me was they had to copy a map so one character braided it in semidele's HAIR, obviously a throwback and something I always thought was incredible but never understood how but this - it explained how - bumps for little islands and plaits for routes, etc. It was so rich in culture and...Just trust me - a five star read.