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A review by vagaybond
In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens
5.0
Notes re/ other reviews, stuff to get out of the way:
I read the reviews first, so I was bracing for some impact.
The synopsis doesn't say it but it's revealed somewhat early: Athlen is a merman, he just shifts. This isn't the norm for merpeople, it's just him.
I was also bracing for impact awaiting for family death as mentioned in the warnings of others, but that never happens onscreen or with characters who are alive at the start of the story. There are characters mentioned in Athlen's background who did die in a natural disaster type thing, but this was prior to the story.
Pirates aren't really featured at all, so much as assassins and mercenaries. It's more sea faring in aesthetic than something featuring pirates.
Review:
I rated this for how much I enjoyed it. I always resent liking wealthy/entitled-ish characters and think it's unrealistic when those characters end up good people; but to be fair, Tal is only 16. That's a pretty malleable age, and I think it's totally reasonable that he'd have the attitudes he has by the end. Still not like, a 180. It's not anything revolutionary, but he did go through efforts to help with the medicines in the poor neighbourhood earlier in the book. That's cutting edge to some people.
I liked Poppy's character. Chaotic neutral.
Some of the villains are unrealistic in that when they do things for merely convenience and political reasons, they still go to pains to do it in the most cruel way possible. I don't feel like this is realistic because well... Most people find it inconvenient to be cruel.
The ending of that plot thread with the villains also wrapped up weirdly. Like they were just going to kill whatever sibling and hope for the best, even after everyone figured shit out? Why? Out of vengeance? Super unclear. It's kind of implied that gets wrapped up because we follow Tal through that scene and he was trying to do damage control on his Beloved and all that.
The giving blood to a sea witch instead of telling her like: "hey, my ggrandpa fucked you over, I want you to know you don't Have To Hide. But also I want to make a deal." There was more opportunity to work on actually making amends.
Tal's ancestral legacy could have been a message about how privilege means you're going to need to actually try and clean up the mess of your ancestors. It simply isn't enough to just say, "well I'm not him" when there are still beings suffering and struggling because of that. This book had the opportunity to feature that but didn't.
If you want something that's kind of YA or older and feels very fairytale vibes, but doesn't Make You Think all too much, I think this is a fun read.
I read the reviews first, so I was bracing for some impact.
The synopsis doesn't say it but it's revealed somewhat early: Athlen is a merman, he just shifts. This isn't the norm for merpeople, it's just him.
I was also bracing for impact awaiting for family death as mentioned in the warnings of others, but that never happens onscreen or with characters who are alive at the start of the story. There are characters mentioned in Athlen's background who did die in a natural disaster type thing, but this was prior to the story.
Pirates aren't really featured at all, so much as assassins and mercenaries. It's more sea faring in aesthetic than something featuring pirates.
Review:
I rated this for how much I enjoyed it. I always resent liking wealthy/entitled-ish characters and think it's unrealistic when those characters end up good people; but to be fair, Tal is only 16. That's a pretty malleable age, and I think it's totally reasonable that he'd have the attitudes he has by the end. Still not like, a 180. It's not anything revolutionary, but he did go through efforts to help with the medicines in the poor neighbourhood earlier in the book. That's cutting edge to some people.
I liked Poppy's character. Chaotic neutral.
Some of the villains are unrealistic in that when they do things for merely convenience and political reasons, they still go to pains to do it in the most cruel way possible. I don't feel like this is realistic because well... Most people find it inconvenient to be cruel.
The ending of that plot thread with the villains also wrapped up weirdly. Like they were just going to kill whatever sibling and hope for the best, even after everyone figured shit out? Why? Out of vengeance? Super unclear. It's kind of implied that gets wrapped up because we follow Tal through that scene and he was trying to do damage control on his Beloved and all that.
The giving blood to a sea witch instead of telling her like: "hey, my ggrandpa fucked you over, I want you to know you don't Have To Hide. But also I want to make a deal." There was more opportunity to work on actually making amends.
Tal's ancestral legacy could have been a message about how privilege means you're going to need to actually try and clean up the mess of your ancestors. It simply isn't enough to just say, "well I'm not him" when there are still beings suffering and struggling because of that. This book had the opportunity to feature that but didn't.
If you want something that's kind of YA or older and feels very fairytale vibes, but doesn't Make You Think all too much, I think this is a fun read.