Reviews

The Seas by Samantha Hunt

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#JessAndMorgansBookClub

“The color blue fills the entire mirror and, watching it, I think that is how a small northern town in America works. It enlists one beautiful thing like the ocean or the mountains or the snow to keep people stuck and stagnant and staring out to sea forever.”

Maggie Nelson wrote an introduction for ‘The Seas’ that I would very much like to commandeer… but I could never compose something so perfect, so I’ll implore you to read or listen to it.

For me… there was something so, immediately and painfully, recognizable in this story that I could not help but let it wash over me. In one sitting I listened and followed along with the words on the page, the author taking me through the narrative. Samantha Hunt has written something that you can “understand” without being able to explain. The grounded reality is secondary to the truth, accomplished through metaphor and description, language and emotion.

This is a story of war and loss, of human connection and human disconnection. It explores the meaning of life, and does so in a quiet way. But I would say have you ever been 19, in a small town, longing and alone and very… very sad, you will catch your reflection in these words, just under the surface.

Thank you, Samantha Hunt. You’ve given me something so unexpected and comforting… if not wholly heartbreaking.

dllh's review against another edition

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4.0

This short, poetic book is evocative and disturbing, and unlike much else I've read. I picked up two books of Hunt's from the library this week (trying to find another that I had seen recommended here on GR, which the library didn't have), and this one was quite a find. The closest literary kin I can think of to this one is Evie Wyld's All the Birds, Singing, the specifics of which I'm fuzzy on by now but which came to mind as a sharer of unsettling weirdness.

tmpucylo's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

astoriareader's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

SYNOPSIS:

In a desolate, small town, the reader gets to know the narrator. Is the narrator actually a mermaid or out of her mind?
Unnamed narrator believes she is a mermaid. Her father, who walked into the sea & was never seen again, told her she was a mermaid.
She falls in love with an older man, Jude, who is a veteran. Jude suffers from PTSD & alcoholism.

MY THOUGHTS

Wow, this one blew me away.
A short (roughly 200 pgs), bleak read.
Lyrical & poetic writing.
Themes: unrequited love, coping mechanisms, grief, obsessive love, inability to process trauma, abandonment by a parent.
Excellent character development.
Told in 1st person POV.
Atmospheric and can easily visualize the setting.
Loved the author’s incorporation of words & the characters’ interest in language, definitions, and word choice.
Felt really connected to the narrator. Readers can really feel how isolated and alienated she feels.
I enjoyed the side characters, especially the grandfather.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️beautifully written + amazing story. only 200 pgs; super quick read.

Content Warnings

roisinsreading's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

lilyduren's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

azahller's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The Seas is a beautiful, melancholy, atmospheric, and strange little book about an unnamed narrator living in a coastal town. She is grappling with the grief of losing her father as well as that of unrequited teenage love. She is also potentially losing her mind from dealing with all of this.

I absolutely adored the writing style of this book. This is for the girls who make mood boards and playlists because the vibes are absolutely VIVID (and lovely). I do wish I had read a physical book instead of an audio so that I could have gotten more of the wordplay. What I picked up on was SO clever but I know she played more with homonyms and I missed it. This is one of those books that makes me understand why people annotate honestly.

The only thing that I'm hung up on is the ambiguity of the main plot point in the novel. Maybe we aren't supposed to know. Maybe our information should be as unreliable as our narrator, but I did find that to be a tad frustrating. Would read again regardless. This book has been living rent free in my brain.

This would be a great book club book as there is much to discuss. I'd also recommend it to people looking for word play, gorgeous prose, magical realism, or cozy thriller (which I feel silly saying, but fully stand by).