Scan barcode
A review by willwork4airfare
Ingo by Helen Dunmore
3.0
The deeper I got into it, the more I grew to like it, but overall the book was just okay. Ingo is what they call the underwater world of mermaids in this series and the descriptions of the people there and the dichotomy with Air are the best part of this novel for me. It was darker than I expected with much more hostility from the Mer than I thought I would find in a children’s book.
Between the narrator and the writing style, this book is best for younger readers, but also deals with death, disappearance, and serious injury so it’s kind of hard to place. While I liked the evolution of Sapphire and Roger’s relationship, it was pretty typical and cliche, and the same for her relationship with her older brother Connor, and their single parent Mom.
I feel like all the great “mysteries” in this book (and probably the whole series) have pretty predictable outcomes, and if the world-building of Ingo wasn’t so interesting (and also sparse) in this first novel, I wouldn’t be interested in reading the next installment at all. As it is, I do kind of want to keep reading just to find out more about this underwater world and how it works, but nothing about these characters or the storyline has me caring very much about what happens in the plot. A short book and a fast read, but nothing amazing. I’ll remain neutral, leaning negative, until I read more of the series (if I do).
Between the narrator and the writing style, this book is best for younger readers, but also deals with death, disappearance, and serious injury so it’s kind of hard to place. While I liked the evolution of Sapphire and Roger’s relationship, it was pretty typical and cliche, and the same for her relationship with her older brother Connor, and their single parent Mom.
I feel like all the great “mysteries” in this book (and probably the whole series) have pretty predictable outcomes, and if the world-building of Ingo wasn’t so interesting (and also sparse) in this first novel, I wouldn’t be interested in reading the next installment at all. As it is, I do kind of want to keep reading just to find out more about this underwater world and how it works, but nothing about these characters or the storyline has me caring very much about what happens in the plot. A short book and a fast read, but nothing amazing. I’ll remain neutral, leaning negative, until I read more of the series (if I do).