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A review by alreadspurpleprose
Our Bloody Pearl by D.N. Bryn
5.0
The sea calls to me; in the tow of the tide and the salt in the breeze. But it calls loudest the moment the storm hits.
Our Bloody Pearl is the book I've always wanted to read and D.N. Bryn offered me a chance to read it for free in exchange for an honest review. It's a take on mermaids and pirates without the romantising. It's honest and brutal. Beautiful and dark. I enjoyed every second of reading it and am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my paperback copy to proudly display on my bookshelf.
This is a protagonist like I've never seen in published fiction. It's always a risk in a fantasy story to have your protahonist as a non-human character as it can alienate the reader. A good protagonist is one the reader needs to identify with on some level and all too often, the easiest way to do so is to make them human. Bryn delves deeper. Perle is a fierce blood thirsty siren and Bryn never shies away from that. There's a very distinct difference between the humans and the sirens so that they feel so much more realistic, alien and terrifying. The humans however, are all too familiar but still expertly crafted. Perle manages to be different enough to be interesting with a journey and character growth that readers find compelling and can, in fact, identify with.
Bryn inserts themes that are common in an uncommon story. Found-family, persecution for being different, love. Those are all things we can, one way or another, identify with. By the end of the story Perle transforms from something unfamiliar to a fully fleshed out character that is more than man-eating siren or human. Perle is a marvel of a character and what makes this story so so good.
I believe that Bryn has a very exciting and promising career in writing ahead of them and I can't wait to read more.
Our Bloody Pearl is the book I've always wanted to read and D.N. Bryn offered me a chance to read it for free in exchange for an honest review. It's a take on mermaids and pirates without the romantising. It's honest and brutal. Beautiful and dark. I enjoyed every second of reading it and am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my paperback copy to proudly display on my bookshelf.
This is a protagonist like I've never seen in published fiction. It's always a risk in a fantasy story to have your protahonist as a non-human character as it can alienate the reader. A good protagonist is one the reader needs to identify with on some level and all too often, the easiest way to do so is to make them human. Bryn delves deeper. Perle is a fierce blood thirsty siren and Bryn never shies away from that. There's a very distinct difference between the humans and the sirens so that they feel so much more realistic, alien and terrifying. The humans however, are all too familiar but still expertly crafted. Perle manages to be different enough to be interesting with a journey and character growth that readers find compelling and can, in fact, identify with.
Bryn inserts themes that are common in an uncommon story. Found-family, persecution for being different, love. Those are all things we can, one way or another, identify with. By the end of the story Perle transforms from something unfamiliar to a fully fleshed out character that is more than man-eating siren or human. Perle is a marvel of a character and what makes this story so so good.
I believe that Bryn has a very exciting and promising career in writing ahead of them and I can't wait to read more.