A review by confessionsofabibliophile
When Oceans Rise by Robin Alvarez

adventurous emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I was l lucky enough to receive the audio arc for review via Netgalley. Thank you, Tides Collide Publishing, for giving me the chance to listen to this magical story in return for an honest review. Thank you, Robin Alvarez, for creating this fantastical retelling of The Little Mermaid laced with Filipino Legends and Lore.

*Trigger Warnings* Domestic Abuse (physical, emotional and mental) from a partner, gaslighting, cheating, brainwashing and all the bad things that go along with abusive partners.

Tiktik. A bird that is believed to fly alongside a Manananggal. It makes a sound “tik-tik-tik-tik” or “ik-ik-ik-ik” It is said that the fainter the call of the bird the nearer the Manananggal is to you, the louder the ticking the further away it is. This is meant to confuse victims of this Filipino myth.

Alvarez paints an ordinary life of a teenage Filipino girl, growing up in the United States. The girl is caught between the throws of a more Westernised ways of life and the life and ways of the old customs her Filipino mother tries to push on her. As someone who is tri-racial myself I grew up in a culture very similar to the Filipino one with the way of doing certain things. So I found myself mirroring Malaya thinking back to when I was her age and struggling with being who I wanted and yet still trying to keep the family happy.

I really loved learning about the Filipino culture and the Mythology and Lore. As I am a sucker for Cryptids in any culture; Wendigos, Chupacabras, Skinwalkers and more. So finding out that this was not only a fairytale retelling, which is one of my favourite genres, but also used Cryptids and Mythology from the Filipino culture, I was like yes, sign me up.

The story started off a little slow. Though it begins to pick up and after the speed change I was able to focus a lot more on the story. I loved how the use of magical realism was used and it kept the story interesting. I hated Ian the second he entered the chat. I was a little irked by how fast their relationship went, all because of a fortune. I felt like that was the reason Malaya went so hard for Ian and fell victim to all his rubbish. Blinded by love, I didn't understand how it happened. Then again teenage romance does that. Another thing, that I thought was a little clunky was the time shifts in the storyline. Though was easy to ignore.

After loads of lies, gaslighting, tons of abuse, Malaya finds herself drowning in the ocean. She is snatched up by a mythological creature and taken to a Sea Witch. Where she makes a deal to erase the love and heartache, for the price of her voice. This thrusts her into a different timeline. I guess a parallel universe to the one she came from. Ian is not apart of her life in this time, and she has a second chance at life or so she thinks. All if her personal relationships are different and seem better in this life. I won't go too into it as I don't want to drop any big spoilers. There is A LOT of time shifting and A LOT of fighting Cryptids, with the help of everyone in this time and the parallel in which she came. Even the Filipino Gods come in to help using a Mortal they chose as a Champion. All this is happening while Malaya learns some valuable life lessons, and works on a plot to get her voice back and defeat the Sea Witch.

I finished the audio book in two days, maybe two and a half days, as I listened driving to and from work and in bed or while cleaning. It did tie up nicely with an epilogue, I was just a bit eh on one part, because something happens and a choice is made by a key character that is literally the thing the book spent the half the time trying to right as it was wrong for it to happen. I guess I felt like the message that I thought was perfectly conveyed by Alvarez was then dismantled by her as well. That aside I still enjoyed the book and it left me wishing for more even though it didn't have a cliffhanger ending. That is just me wanting more of the Cryptids and lore. All in all I was very pleased with this retelling even with the minor flaws I would recommend.

*Review can also be found on IG, Netgalley and Goodreads.
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