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ghostlyprince's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Confinement, Hate crime, and Outing
Moderate: Bullying and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, and Classism
michaelion's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Police brutality, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Self harm, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism and Terminal illness
readingwithsierra's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, Racism, Police brutality, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Self harm and Violence
melinajoy's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
A Song Below Water had this overall anticipatory feeling. It was really hard to put it down. "...two sister friends discovering their magical identities against the challenges of misogynoir."
Sirens, elokos, sprites, gargoyles and more! This book does a really great job of being a magical and fantasy escape, a story anyone can read and enjoy, and yet so real still managing to incorporate relevant struggles of Black people especially Black women. Plus it has sign language and Portland/Vancouver. Reading it is like listening to someone tell you a story (as in it's not in proper English, it's very conversational and internal monologues, and AAVE). It's everything someone could ask for in a book!
Effie and Tavia are great characters, but Gargy the Gargoyle was my favorite because he was so unique- I've never read a book with a gargoyle as a character!
The only thing is that I found myself confused at points with all the different characters- specifically who's related to whom at times (but I figured it out towards the end). But especially because the one of the grandmas is called Mama. So that was a little challenging for me to keep track of.
But overall, can't wait to read the next books!
Graphic: Self harm
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent and Abandonment
mellymel1127's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Hate crime and Police brutality
Minor: Self harm and Murder
booksthatburn's review against another edition
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Murder
Minor: Self harm
TW for Harry Potter reference.kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Dysphoria
fusielenf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
Moderate: Hate crime
invioletshadows's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
That being said, I want to talk about the depiction of Sign Language and disability in this book, that almost entirely ruined the reading experience for me. I’m talking about this because I went into this book after hearing so many good things, and while I think the book deserves the praise in some aspects, I want people to think more critically about how disability is represented in books like this. Intersectionality is important, and it’s hard to praise diversity in one aspect when another aspect was handled poorly.
The biggest issue that I want people to be aware of: Tavia fakes a disability to hide her identity as a siren. She claims she has a disease that affects her vocal chords and causes her to go nonverbal as a way to cover up the times when she feels the need to stay silent to prevent herself from compelling someone with her siren voice. 1) Faking a disability is never acceptable under any circumstances. Disabled people (particularly those with invisible disabilities) already suffer from enough suspicion without fuel like this being added to the fire. 2) Choosing not to speak is different from going nonverbal. There are plenty of reasons people can go nonverbal, or be selectively or completely mute. Refusing to speak because speaking would cause you to compel someone is NOT the same as going nonverbal.
Before I continue, I’d like to thank @deafreader and @slangwrites for talking through the sign representation in this book with me! I appreciate your feedback and valuable discussions to help me better word the ways this book could have represented sign language and signing better! Several times throughout the book, the narration will say some variation of “When I speak sign”, or “She can speak sign”, etc. Signing is NOT a spoken language, and therefore this statement is unnecessary and incorrect. There are several times throughout the book where the phrase is said more accurately as “when i sign”, so the inconsistencies were very frustrating. This is something that could have been fixed with another edit pass, or having a d/Deaf or a disabled person who signs consult on this aspect of the book. When aspects of a disability are thrown into a book like this, it feels as though it was done merely for diversity kudos, without any real thought or care.
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Murder
alsoapples's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting
Minor: Eating disorder