Reviews

2043...(A Merman I Should Turn to Be) by Nisi Shawl

cherndon's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

melismatic's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

2.0

adaobi_tobias's review against another edition

adventurous informative inspiring relaxing slow-paced

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

3.0

taaya's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

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

2.0

Maybe if this was a 150+ pages novella ... 
But this way with close to no worldbuilding and no explanations whatsoever - not to mention lots of words that are probably part of a sociolect that one simply doesn't learn in school -, I had no idea what was going on. I mean, I got the big bits, persecution and racism. But everything around it was a blur.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

uogabunbuckis's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

wrongwayhome's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.5

theonionboy's review against another edition

2.0

I didn't get it at all. I guess it wasn't for me.

witchivor's review

1.5

This story had an interesting concept but poor execution. There are a lot of terms that are introduced and used with no explanation, making it hard to follow what is actually happening in the story. I spent most of the story wondering what things were or meant, and characters were named but in some cases only once and never mentioned again. The last few scenes were almost completely unintelligible to me. 

There were good ideas here - the underwater settlements, land reparation under the sea, body modification and white supremacy, but it could have done with being more fleshed out.

mladd28's review

adventurous tense medium-paced

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

3.0

ekimball's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0