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A review by kierscrivener
The Deep by Rivers Solomon
emotional
informative
sad
- 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? N/A
3.5
Merfolk descended from those who drowned from slave ships, Solomon builds on an already collaborative world imagined by Black Americans whose ancestors survived.
The third plural person was hard to completely engage with though the afterword explains this is one of the rules that was made for this world. It is an interesting parallel to how Ayn Rand in Anthem uses plural pronouns to villainize a culture and Solomon (et al) reclaim this by asserting that shared identity is a strength and something that colonization, slavery and oppression sought to destroy.
Analysis aside, I also struggled with the third person present and though I adore Daveed Diggs having him narrate what was Yetu probably furthered this. Though this is a story that does not adhere to genderiation, Yetu identifies as female and I hear Jefferson in my head. And as a novella,and as Yetu struggles to hold on to present when being assailed by the remembrance of her entire people we see a lot of time skips and skimming over detail without fully dwelling. And I love dwelling to fully connect with the character. I would have loved if some of origin of their people/first historian or Yetu taking on the role of the historian at fourteen had of begun the book as I think that would have grounded me in the world and in the characters and perspectives. It would have also made a very beautiful parallel between beginning and ending.
About halfway through I started getting immersed, as Yetu and their people became more revealed I felt more anchored and more involved.
I thought that the themes were really well discussed in nuance and a novella I think a reread would reveal even better their development of character, world and theme.
The third plural person was hard to completely engage with though the afterword explains this is one of the rules that was made for this world. It is an interesting parallel to how Ayn Rand in Anthem uses plural pronouns to villainize a culture and Solomon (et al) reclaim this by asserting that shared identity is a strength and something that colonization, slavery and oppression sought to destroy.
Analysis aside, I also struggled with the third person present and though I adore Daveed Diggs having him narrate what was Yetu probably furthered this. Though this is a story that does not adhere to genderiation, Yetu identifies as female and I hear Jefferson in my head. And as a novella,and as Yetu struggles to hold on to present when being assailed by the remembrance of her entire people we see a lot of time skips and skimming over detail without fully dwelling. And I love dwelling to fully connect with the character. I would have loved if some of origin of their people/first historian or Yetu taking on the role of the historian at fourteen had of begun the book as I think that would have grounded me in the world and in the characters and perspectives. It would have also made a very beautiful parallel between beginning and ending.
About halfway through I started getting immersed, as Yetu and their people became more revealed I felt more anchored and more involved.
I thought that the themes were really well discussed in nuance and a novella I think a reread would reveal even better their development of character, world and theme.