Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Seawomen by Chloe Timms

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behindpaperbacks's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

 Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Seawomen is a dark gripping story of a young girl searching for a life free of her oppressive island cult. Fans of The Handmaid's Tale and The Crucible have to pick this one up.

"Everyone on this island has a story. This is mine."

The story centers on Esta, who grows up on the island of Eden - a fanatical, religious cult cut off from the rest of the world. Growing up, her grandmother warns her of the Seawomen - mermaids that will tempt her away from God to darkness. In Eden’s community, changes of the weather, crops failing, or women not bearing children, are blamed on the influence of the Seawomen. Women “in league with the Seawomen” get brutalized and then drowned. Every girl on the island is married off and given a "motheryear”. She will have one year to bear a child - if she cannot do so, she must be under the influence of the Seawomen.

Esta grew up with these beliefs under her strict grandmother's eye. Yet, doubt and curiosity creep in and soon Esta uncovers the dark secrets of the so-called paradise.

The ominous tone of the book is conveyed well by the setting of the island. Since they cut Eden off from the rest of the world, it wasn't clear in which period the author set the story. Its manner and values were similar to Colonial America, though. This is where the Salem witch trials come to mind. The dread and almost suffocating atmosphere of the story stayed prevalent throughout the book. For me, it was almost too much. I like reading grimdark, but I need the right mindset for it and something to balance the darkness out. For example, Joe Abercrombie does this with his black humor. The Seawomen didn't have that.

"I had known desire. I had known what it felt like to want the forbidden. I had felt the same about the water."

More than anything, The Seawomen is slow-paced and character-driven. While I don’t tend to go for character-driven stories, Esta's inner life and family history were fascinating, and I enjoyed unraveling those dark secrets with her. The character work was phenomenal. Esta's curiosity and defiance were noble traits for a heroine. The author explores her conflict of forcing herself to conform to society but being drawn to the ocean well. I, for one, found Esta relatable. Don’t we all want to walk into the waves and disappear sometimes?

Another aspect I loved is that the book shows the complexity of female friendships and relationships between mothers and daughters. The most interesting to me was Ester's relationship with her fanatical grandmother, Sarl. After her parents die in a fire, Sarl raises Ester, but refuses to talk about Ester's parents. We get the sense it wasn't just a normal fire, though, and that Eden didn’t accept Ester’s mother. For me, it was the most gripping secret.

Believing that "darkness" is hereditary, Sarl raises Ester by keeping a watchful eye on her. Sarl’s own pious zeal leads her to pray at all times of the day and even starve herself "for God". Her doctrine is so ingrained within Ester, she thinks about it in almost every scene. You can sense the grandmother looming over her, especially when Ester does something that goes against the island's values. Thus, religious guilt and breaking away from that is another big part of Ester's story. As a former religious person, I understand how hard it can be to break away from that community. In that way, Ester's story resonated with me.

Women being falsely accused of being Seawomen reminded me of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. At some point, I started doubting if the Seawomen were even real or just a figment to keep the women on the island in line. I'm torn by that aspect. On the one hand, I liked it because you get just as paranoid and doubtful as the residents of the island. Esta was, in this regard, an unreliable narrator. On the other hand, I wanted to see actual mermaids. The cover as well as the description made me hope for a fantasy mermaid book. That is not what this was.

"'You know, in some places, 'Esta' means 'from the stars'.' I flinched. My name meant my world should have been endless."

Since we're on the topic of mermaids, after a third of the book, Esta meets a love interest. This was where the book took a dive for me. I was really worried the book would go from a story about women's oppression to a boy-meets-girl type of story. While this thankfully didn't happen, I thought the romance was a bit insta-lovey. Now, there are worse cases of insta love. For Esta, her love interest represents freedom from the island, the life she could have. To me, that was a valid reason to "fall in love" with someone, although I think the connection relied more on physical attraction. There is only so much you can feel for someone you've seen three (3) times. However, since this is fantasy, I suspended my disbelief.

The plot only kicks off in the last 25% of the book. After that point, chaos ensues. The story could have easily gone into grim dark territory from here on. I appreciated that the author didn't go there. While the ending was abrupt, I found it satisfying. The hopeful conclusion made for a more interesting story.

The themes of religious fanaticism, control of women's bodies in a patriarchy, as well as familial relationships were prevalent throughout the story and well-explored. While I liked the dystopian vibe, it's not anything new. Especially not in Fantasy. Margaret Atwood's and T. Kingfisher's works come to mind. Still, I enjoyed reading The Seawomen and gave the book 3/5 stars.

Trigger warnings: Violence, drowning, sexual assault, forced pregnancy, body horror, gore, cults. 
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