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A review by lorintheninth
The Surface Breaks by Louise O'Neill
4.0
A feminist retelling of one of my favourite fairy tales. Family secrets. The sea. What’s not to love?
This is the first Louise O’Neill book I’ve read and I very much enjoyed it. It definitely read like a YA book, which is something to bear in mind if you’ve read her adult novels and are hoping for similar.
I absolutely loved the main character. She irritated me at the start, as I think you’d expect, but after the first third of the book I just wanted to hug her. Her character development was superb and I loved seeing the world, both under and above the sea, through her eyes.
The portrayal of ‘the patriarchy’, I guess, was so accurate I did have to put the book down and step away a few times. The Sea King was so real and reminded me so much of my childhood it was as if O’Neill had flicked through my memories and picked out the worst ones. It was sensitively handled however and I wouldn’t let this put you off, just something to be aware of.
The writing was beautiful and profound at times, without making it seem inaccessible. It is feminist without explicitly using that word, which I think was the right decision in the context of a YA book - in the same vein however, I would love to read an adult retelling of The Little Mermaid by O’Neill as I think she would do wonders with the darker side of history.
There were a few minor issues I had with the pacing and plot however. I felt that some things had been rushed towards the end and some twists could have been revealed in a more evenly spaced out manner. These are just minor issues I had, but did knock it down from a 5 star read.
Overall I want Louise O’Neill to release both a second book in this world, and secondly more retellings of fairy tales. I thoroughly enjoyed this and if you are interested in, I’d recommend you just take the plunge. Pun intended.
This is the first Louise O’Neill book I’ve read and I very much enjoyed it. It definitely read like a YA book, which is something to bear in mind if you’ve read her adult novels and are hoping for similar.
I absolutely loved the main character. She irritated me at the start, as I think you’d expect, but after the first third of the book I just wanted to hug her. Her character development was superb and I loved seeing the world, both under and above the sea, through her eyes.
The portrayal of ‘the patriarchy’, I guess, was so accurate I did have to put the book down and step away a few times. The Sea King was so real and reminded me so much of my childhood it was as if O’Neill had flicked through my memories and picked out the worst ones. It was sensitively handled however and I wouldn’t let this put you off, just something to be aware of.
The writing was beautiful and profound at times, without making it seem inaccessible. It is feminist without explicitly using that word, which I think was the right decision in the context of a YA book - in the same vein however, I would love to read an adult retelling of The Little Mermaid by O’Neill as I think she would do wonders with the darker side of history.
There were a few minor issues I had with the pacing and plot however. I felt that some things had been rushed towards the end and some twists could have been revealed in a more evenly spaced out manner. These are just minor issues I had, but did knock it down from a 5 star read.
Overall I want Louise O’Neill to release both a second book in this world, and secondly more retellings of fairy tales. I thoroughly enjoyed this and if you are interested in, I’d recommend you just take the plunge. Pun intended.