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imaginaryalchemist's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This is a dark, haunting fantasy story about family secrets and forging your own path.
I loved the stories within the story that helped unravel the mystery of Miren's family. (They're apparently all in a collection AG Slatter wrote, and I'd love to read it if I can get my hands on a copy.)
I love stories with magical and supernatural elements, so I enjoyed the inclusion of mythical and folkloric creatures. Mer feature very heavily in the story, and it also has creatures such as selkies and kelpies.
I also enjoyed the way the story's many mysteries unravelled. It kept me engaged. I wanted to see Miren solve them and learn all her family's secrets.
Slatter's prose drew me in immediately. It helped paint the picture of the world Miren lives in.
Overall I greatly enjoyed this book! I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in dark, gothic fantasy and folklore.
I loved the stories within the story that helped unravel the mystery of Miren's family. (They're apparently all in a collection AG Slatter wrote, and I'd love to read it if I can get my hands on a copy.)
I love stories with magical and supernatural elements, so I enjoyed the inclusion of mythical and folkloric creatures. Mer feature very heavily in the story, and it also has creatures such as selkies and kelpies.
I also enjoyed the way the story's many mysteries unravelled. It kept me engaged. I wanted to see Miren solve them and learn all her family's secrets.
Slatter's prose drew me in immediately. It helped paint the picture of the world Miren lives in.
Overall I greatly enjoyed this book! I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in dark, gothic fantasy and folklore.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Incest, and Murder
Minor: Domestic abuse and Sexual content
There are a couple scenes with sexual content but it doesn't get graphic. There are also mentions of the abuse Miren experiences at the hands of her cousin Aidan. There are, however, a lot of mentions of incest, child sacrifice, child death, and murder.readwithbells's review against another edition
4.75
I loved this book. It was dark and full of fairytale magic and family curses and mermaids (I am such a sucker for mermaids). The main character was fabulous and I constantly found myself actually fist-bumping when she did cool things. It’s also the first book I’ve read in a single day in a long time! I really enjoyed it.
There is a certain rhythm to this prose, a cadence that really adds to the fairytale quality. Almost like you dug around in an attic and happened upon a fairytale you’ve never heard of before. I loved that the opening chapter had a narrator setting the scene and then the rest of the book was in first-person. I loved the kelpie and Delphine the automaton was so sad.
The one thing that stops this from being a five star book is some of the language really pulled me out of the story. Every time Miren meets a male fairytale creature she goes “he - for he was obviously male” like 🤦🏻♀️ . How are we supposed to know what genders look like for fairytale creatures? (Side note: gender dynamics are a huge part of this book so I understand this was in theming). But it did pull me out of the story. Also there was some weird fatphobia throughout; like Miren early on describes a girl who used to be her closest friend and, in her mind, feels like she’s better than her because she’s skinny which was weird and I didn’t like that very much.
As a whole, though, this was a wonderful fairytale romp and I will absolutely be reading the short stories to round out this world.
There is a certain rhythm to this prose, a cadence that really adds to the fairytale quality. Almost like you dug around in an attic and happened upon a fairytale you’ve never heard of before. I loved that the opening chapter had a narrator setting the scene and then the rest of the book was in first-person. I loved the kelpie and Delphine the automaton was so sad.
The one thing that stops this from being a five star book is some of the language really pulled me out of the story. Every time Miren meets a male fairytale creature she goes “he - for he was obviously male” like 🤦🏻♀️ . How are we supposed to know what genders look like for fairytale creatures? (Side note: gender dynamics are a huge part of this book so I understand this was in theming). But it did pull me out of the story. Also there was some weird fatphobia throughout; like Miren early on describes a girl who used to be her closest friend and, in her mind, feels like she’s better than her because she’s skinny which was weird and I didn’t like that very much.
As a whole, though, this was a wonderful fairytale romp and I will absolutely be reading the short stories to round out this world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, and Murder
Minor: Fatphobia
skrulls's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Incest, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcoholism, Stalking, and Alcohol
story_goblin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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
5.0
This book was fascinating and helped me articulate something I wasn't able to before- I would love Gothic literature a lot more if the characters were more interesting. This book is exactly that/what the blurbs promised. It's a sweeping gothic fantasy with mer-people and other "monstrosities". Although nothing like myself, I found the main character to be well-constructed and engaging, so I was very invested in her journey. I was not able to fully guess all the secrets, which is always a plus for me, though the seeds were sown in the story. It reminded me just a little bit of What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo and Gallant by VE Schwab.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Classism
bethsiekierawalker's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
Minor: Animal death, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
bre_hoeppner's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Death of parent
poetpenelopee's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It was kinda meh as far as books go. Though that might be because I thought the merfolk would be a bigger part of the story. Perhaps if my expectations had been different I would have enjoyed it more. It’s not a bad book, just not what I expected and not for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Incest, Sexual assault, and Murder
briely's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Domestic abuse, Incest, and Sexual content
anxiousnachos's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Incest, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Murder
halestorm802's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder