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A review by xxivo
Our Bloody Pearl by D.N. Bryn
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
So uhm... I sat down to write this review and opened my kindle app to check the bits I quoted. Normal procedure for me, really. Except this time I started bawling upon reading those quotes. I saved some bits that hit really deep as a disabled person and made me feel so thoroughly seen it simply made me cry again.
This book follows a siren named Perle, whom after the cruelty of humans, is unable to move their fin. The frustrations upon realizing this were written with all the emotion and anger I so very much recognize. The hope, the despair, the fear and everything in-between. I just wanted to hug them and support them, even though knowing them, I probably would've been bitten instead haha.
That brings me to the fact that I absolutely loved Perle being a siren instead of a mermaid. Don't get me wrong, mermaid books are awesome and I have multiple on my TBR still. But I really loved it how they were quite aggressive and hostile at the start. That made it even more satisfying when the characters started to trust each other.
During the book Perle grows and learns to handle their disability and the way the world is cruel with it. At one point they think:
This book follows a siren named Perle, whom after the cruelty of humans, is unable to move their fin. The frustrations upon realizing this were written with all the emotion and anger I so very much recognize. The hope, the despair, the fear and everything in-between. I just wanted to hug them and support them, even though knowing them, I probably would've been bitten instead haha.
That brings me to the fact that I absolutely loved Perle being a siren instead of a mermaid. Don't get me wrong, mermaid books are awesome and I have multiple on my TBR still. But I really loved it how they were quite aggressive and hostile at the start. That made it even more satisfying when the characters started to trust each other.
During the book Perle grows and learns to handle their disability and the way the world is cruel with it. At one point they think:
But more than wanting my own fin to work and function as it once did, I want to function in the body I have now, without trying to change myself into an imitation of what I was before. If I change something, I want it to be the ocean not me.
This is one of the quotes I talked about before. Gosh does this hit deep. I feel this both relates to my Autism and my ME/CFS and summarizes a lot of what I feel around my disabilities. It's very raw and written with so much truth I simply took a long moment to appreciate it when I came upon it for the first time.
I also want to talk about how queer this book is. I loved that there was great representation in so many characters and was such a part of the story. This was at the start when the human concept of gender is explained to Perle, to the relationships being formed in the book and those already established. I loved how they started calling the found family that started growing a "pod." It even more emphasized how they had each others backs and cared for each of them.
All together this book felt like a safe space where as a reader where I could let myself go and read an inclusive story that let me be me.
I also want to talk about how queer this book is. I loved that there was great representation in so many characters and was such a part of the story. This was at the start when the human concept of gender is explained to Perle, to the relationships being formed in the book and those already established. I loved how they started calling the found family that started growing a "pod." It even more emphasized how they had each others backs and cared for each of them.
All together this book felt like a safe space where as a reader where I could let myself go and read an inclusive story that let me be me.