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A review by mweis
Into the Sunken City by Dinesh Thiru
3.25
*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
As someone who was a young adult during the peak YA dystopian faze, I get wary of new releases in the genre but I was intrigued when I heard pirates and ocean horror, and I saw that Dinesh Thiru was inspired by Treasure Island but wanted it to be more diverse.
I can't really speak on the Treasure Island elements of the plot because my only knowledge of the story comes from the Disney cartoon adaptation Treasure Planet, a movie I haven't seen in 20 years. But I did really like the world Thiru built. Here, there was an attempt to fix climate change that resulted in never ending rain that left most of the land on earth completely submerged. I liked how he explored how people would adapt to a flooded world, and the way he wrote new communities and how economies evolved. Some of the new creatures he created remind me why the ocean is so terrifying.
That being said, I didn't love the romance. It felt really forced and I think that relationship would have worked better for me if it was solely platonic. Though I liked the sibling bond between Jin and Thara, and I liked the exploration of João Silva as an antagonist.
Overall, I think this could be a big hit for YA audiences looking for a fresh take on the dystopian genre. I know I would have devoured anything with pirates when I was a teen.
As someone who was a young adult during the peak YA dystopian faze, I get wary of new releases in the genre but I was intrigued when I heard pirates and ocean horror, and I saw that Dinesh Thiru was inspired by Treasure Island but wanted it to be more diverse.
I can't really speak on the Treasure Island elements of the plot because my only knowledge of the story comes from the Disney cartoon adaptation Treasure Planet, a movie I haven't seen in 20 years. But I did really like the world Thiru built. Here, there was an attempt to fix climate change that resulted in never ending rain that left most of the land on earth completely submerged. I liked how he explored how people would adapt to a flooded world, and the way he wrote new communities and how economies evolved. Some of the new creatures he created remind me why the ocean is so terrifying.
That being said, I didn't love the romance. It felt really forced and I think that relationship would have worked better for me if it was solely platonic. Though I liked the sibling bond between Jin and Thara, and I liked the exploration of João Silva as an antagonist.
Overall, I think this could be a big hit for YA audiences looking for a fresh take on the dystopian genre. I know I would have devoured anything with pirates when I was a teen.