Reviews with content warning for Police brutality - A Song Below Water

Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow

64 reviews

nillech's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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? Yes

3.5

I 100% picked up this book because it's set in Portland and I just moved to a new country and wanted something familiar, and I did love being able to picture the setting as places I know well (but the audiobook reader did mispronounce Willamette, smh). It started pretty slow and I had a hard time getting into the world and sorting through all the magical creatures, but the second half definitely picked up. Definitely the best part about this book for me was how Morrow used the magical elements to parallel racism and sexism rather than replace or stand in for them. I've read a lot of books that use magical powers and concepts as metaphors for systemic issues, but I liked the way Morrow showed the intersectionality of multiple prejudices. The writing was very YA but it was a good Portland comfort read!

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibe):

Hopeful! There were some elements of the plot that couldn't be wrapped up in a perfect little happily-ever-after but overall the ending was pretty happy.

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leereadswords's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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readingpicnic's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

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elthechameleon's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

It’s a pleasant book, but it’s a little difficult to get your head wrapped around the world building. But, the connections to real-world misogynoir do feel thoughtfully done.

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alsoapples's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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ramblereader's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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amandaquotidianbooks's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

I loved the intersection between race and magical species in this contemporary urban fantasy. I also enjoyed how the two POV characters were equally important to the story. There was an excellent integration of recent politics into the story, specifically police brutality and BLM.

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becksthewreck's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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thenovelmaura's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

This book was rather unexpected, but I did end up enjoying it! I was expecting a fantasy world based off the description, but this is better described as magical realism. You're dropped right into a world where sirens and elokos exist, without much explanation about how their powers work. For me, the blend of fantastical creatures and Black Lives Matter activism really worked in this contemporary setting, even though the pacing was too slow towards the middle. There was a lot of adults telling these girls to stop asking questions and the story stalled out because they weren't learning any new information. Things really started to pick up at the 2/3rds mark, and then there's a ton of action and revelations to keep you moving towards the conclusion.

I loved the relationship between these two sisters who brought out the best in each other and those around them. There were so many twists and turns on their paths to finding their identities, but I was rooting for them the whole way through. I'd recommend this book to fans of Slay by Brittney Morris, with the caveat that it takes a more sobering look at issues of systemic racism, discrimination, and police brutality than that book does.

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