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anna_wa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Last night I couldn't put this book down. I stayed up until 3 AM going all the way from page 107 to page 288 (the final page of the book). There was twist after twist after twist and I needed to know the answers to all the questions I had. It was both satisfying and heartbreaking when I finally got those answers (heartbreaking for what the characters had to go through).
The reason I couldn't give this a full five stars in my brain is because of the beginning. The beginning was extremely confusing, and I don't mean it was confusing in a "we're leading up to something" way that all Fantasy/SciFi books are confusing. I mean that it was confusing in an "I don't know what the author is trying to get at here with this dialogue/description" way. For a while I thought about rating it 3 stars because of how confusing the beginning was.
But then I hit the second half of the book and it all clicked. Morrow was in her element there and no longer did anything feel out of place or like it needed more editing. She kept me going, on the edge of my seat, to find out what would happen to Effie and Tavia and their gargoyle, to find out if my theories were correct. (Some of them were but then some of them weren't, and in both cases I was delighted.)
I don't want to spoil too much but I will warn anyone who intends to read it that, despite this being a story of sirens and elokos and other magical creatures, it deals with a lot of very real issues from our world. From the very first chapter Murrow makes it clear that the real life police killings of Black people are gonna be a very important part of the story. But there's a lot more than that (which you can see if you choose to click on my content warnings). However, each and every one of these issues is handled with the sensitivity they deserve from the author. The seriousness of them isn't skimmed over because "it's a magical world so magic can solve everything!" No, there are some things magic can't solve (and some things magic makes worse).
But it also isn't completely a sad story either. Without revealing too much, the ending is promising, tentatively optimistic. And the love between Effie and Tavia is strong from beginning to ending no matter what. Definitely recommended for fans of magical realism and fans of found-sisters-loving-each-other-despite-all-the-obstacles.
The reason I couldn't give this a full five stars in my brain is because of the beginning. The beginning was extremely confusing, and I don't mean it was confusing in a "we're leading up to something" way that all Fantasy/SciFi books are confusing. I mean that it was confusing in an "I don't know what the author is trying to get at here with this dialogue/description" way. For a while I thought about rating it 3 stars because of how confusing the beginning was.
But then I hit the second half of the book and it all clicked. Morrow was in her element there and no longer did anything feel out of place or like it needed more editing. She kept me going, on the edge of my seat, to find out what would happen to Effie and Tavia and their gargoyle, to find out if my theories were correct. (Some of them were but then some of them weren't, and in both cases I was delighted.)
I don't want to spoil too much but I will warn anyone who intends to read it that, despite this being a story of sirens and elokos and other magical creatures, it deals with a lot of very real issues from our world. From the very first chapter Murrow makes it clear that the real life police killings of Black people are gonna be a very important part of the story. But there's a lot more than that (which you can see if you choose to click on my content warnings). However, each and every one of these issues is handled with the sensitivity they deserve from the author. The seriousness of them isn't skimmed over because "it's a magical world so magic can solve everything!" No, there are some things magic can't solve (and some things magic makes worse).
But it also isn't completely a sad story either. Without revealing too much, the ending is promising, tentatively optimistic. And the love between Effie and Tavia is strong from beginning to ending no matter what. Definitely recommended for fans of magical realism and fans of found-sisters-loving-each-other-despite-all-the-obstacles.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Grief, and Abandonment
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Hate crime, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Confinement
Misogynoir, police murdering Black people without consequences