sunbathingturtle's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
1.5
This book wasn’t it for me.
The concept was intriguing. The world-building was done with a very gentle hand (read: I would’ve appreciated more context!!). But it was just. so. boring.
The story had so much potential for adventure and cliffs and adrenaline, but each of these peaks was passed over with brief, clinical, emotionally-even narration. Also, while the sea-anchored language was beautiful, it got in the way of clarity. This book could have just been a seawitchbiotechfuture vibe/energy piece, but the false-excitement plot distracted from that. OR, it could have been an epic plot. But the disinvested, aura-focused narration distracted from that. They didn’t pair well to create an engaging whole. Oh, and the biggest thing: the entire plot hinges on the main character’s depth of love for her husband (ya know, she’s traveling the galaxies to find a cure for his sickness and all). But we never receive a single scene or flashback or memory or measly morsel of their love story to back it up. To tie emotion to this character’s motive. We’ve just gotta take her word for it. And with so much suspension of disbelief already expected due to the sci-fi context… I simply couldn’t do it. Basically, the author told us the why instead of showing it, leaving a gaping hole where my emotional investment in the story would have been.
HOWEVER this book would likely make a truly amazing movie (with the drama dialed WAY up), since the world was visually rich and there was clearly more to the fictional universe than what the author presented to readers in novella format. I’d love to see this author collaborate with a screenwriter on that—hell yeah for a mermaid-star-wars-biotechno film.
The concept was intriguing. The world-building was done with a very gentle hand (read: I would’ve appreciated more context!!). But it was just. so. boring.
The story had so much potential for adventure and cliffs and adrenaline, but each of these peaks was passed over with brief, clinical, emotionally-even narration. Also, while the sea-anchored language was beautiful, it got in the way of clarity. This book could have just been a seawitchbiotechfuture vibe/energy piece, but the false-excitement plot distracted from that. OR, it could have been an epic plot. But the disinvested, aura-focused narration distracted from that. They didn’t pair well to create an engaging whole. Oh, and the biggest thing: the entire plot hinges on the main character’s depth of love for her husband (ya know, she’s traveling the galaxies to find a cure for his sickness and all). But we never receive a single scene or flashback or memory or measly morsel of their love story to back it up. To tie emotion to this character’s motive. We’ve just gotta take her word for it. And with so much suspension of disbelief already expected due to the sci-fi context… I simply couldn’t do it. Basically, the author told us the why instead of showing it, leaving a gaping hole where my emotional investment in the story would have been.
HOWEVER this book would likely make a truly amazing movie (with the drama dialed WAY up), since the world was visually rich and there was clearly more to the fictional universe than what the author presented to readers in novella format. I’d love to see this author collaborate with a screenwriter on that—hell yeah for a mermaid-star-wars-biotechno film.
caitlinattemptstoread's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
jadecity's review
5.0
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
"Atuale left the sea to kiss the mountains and the sky. Of course she wants to embrace the stars as well."
A queer sci-fi retelling of the The Little Mermaid? Sign me up!
Atuale is the daughter of a Sea-Clan lord who left her home and her family to be with her land-dwelling lover. She has left her past behind for years, until one day her husband and his clan are dying of a plague. To save them all, Atuale must enlist the help of the World Witch, her former lover.
The premise of Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters intrigued me, and I'm glad the book didn't disappoint me. In fact, it was so well-written and it was even better than what I thought it would be.
First of all, I really adore the writing style. While I understand that it might not work for everyone, I truly love how poetic it was and it didn't hinder my reading experience at all. I also love the worldbuilding and the glimpses that we got of this book's entire universe and its different cultures. My only complaint is the fact that it isn't elaborated later on. I really wish we got more details, but to be fair this is a novella and I understand the author's decision not to explore it further.
The plot itself is pretty simple and you can clearly identify the influence of the original fairytale, but at the same time this book feels very refreshing. It's definitely one of the best fairytale retellings I've read so far. I think the pacing is great and last but not least, I love the representation and how everything blends so well.
To sum it up, Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters is a fascinating debut novella that spins an age-old fairytale into something unique. I definitely recommend it to those who love sci-fi or anyone who's looking for a short read. I finished this book in just a little over two hours and I desperately didn't want it to end. I'm looking forward to Aimee Ogden's next works and I hope we could see more of this world in the future.
"Atuale left the sea to kiss the mountains and the sky. Of course she wants to embrace the stars as well."
A queer sci-fi retelling of the The Little Mermaid? Sign me up!
Atuale is the daughter of a Sea-Clan lord who left her home and her family to be with her land-dwelling lover. She has left her past behind for years, until one day her husband and his clan are dying of a plague. To save them all, Atuale must enlist the help of the World Witch, her former lover.
The premise of Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters intrigued me, and I'm glad the book didn't disappoint me. In fact, it was so well-written and it was even better than what I thought it would be.
First of all, I really adore the writing style. While I understand that it might not work for everyone, I truly love how poetic it was and it didn't hinder my reading experience at all. I also love the worldbuilding and the glimpses that we got of this book's entire universe and its different cultures. My only complaint is the fact that it isn't elaborated later on. I really wish we got more details, but to be fair this is a novella and I understand the author's decision not to explore it further.
The plot itself is pretty simple and you can clearly identify the influence of the original fairytale, but at the same time this book feels very refreshing. It's definitely one of the best fairytale retellings I've read so far. I think the pacing is great and last but not least, I love the representation and how everything blends so well.
To sum it up, Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters is a fascinating debut novella that spins an age-old fairytale into something unique. I definitely recommend it to those who love sci-fi or anyone who's looking for a short read. I finished this book in just a little over two hours and I desperately didn't want it to end. I'm looking forward to Aimee Ogden's next works and I hope we could see more of this world in the future.
kiiouex's review against another edition
4.0
Oh I really liked this one; I thought it was a great novella-sized slice of a world, of the characters, of their relationship. I would have liked More of course, but I really enjoyed the love and history and resentment and I feel like it came across really well even in a short space of time.
It's not very little mermaid-ish (a positive, for me) but a short space adventure, second-chance romance, extremely queer, very loving. Good stuff!
It's not very little mermaid-ish (a positive, for me) but a short space adventure, second-chance romance, extremely queer, very loving. Good stuff!
brunobunny's review
2.0
This was I think not quite my cup of tea. I liked the concepts, but I didn't like some of the execution. Sometimes I couldn't quite get in sync with the immersion, and I really did not enjoy the ending very much. Elements of it felt kind of needlessly slapped in. I didn't hate the book, and it wasn't a waste of time, but I don't think I'd revisit the world if there were another book published, either.
sparsa_maj's review against another edition
5.0
Utterly stunning, and so packed. Also, first book with neopronouns!
emmacatereads's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't realize until after the fact that this was a little-mermaid retelling, but it just made me love it all the more. Ogden did a fantastic job of making me feel in step with this unique, watery world almost immediately, despite the innovative concepts introduced. Our protagonist is a human varient, part of a species subset with scales and claws whose gender changes like the tide. Her present life as part of an above-water clan, on a desperate hunt for a cure to the plague that threatens her husband, is ingeniously woven with details from her past as the sea-dwelling Greatclan leaders' daughter, being forced into a role she does not want.
Ogden is a wizard of subtle detail: though flashbacks we gain powerful insight into Atuale's relationship with gender, child-birth, and love. It is also enjoyable for me when aliens in science fiction novels are really, distinctly alien; Atuale resembles humans in many ways but also is radically different in many others: there is an especially poignant seen in which she gives birth to a litter of children known as "pups". I really enjoyed Atuale's relationship with Yanja, as the two struggle to reconcile their past as lovers with their present differences: Atuale, a land-dweller, and Yanja, a World-Witch who travels between dimensions to acquire objects for barter. There is an undercurrent of wistful tenderness that underlies every scene, helped along by gorgeous, flowing prose. This was as lyrical a space opera as I've ever seen. My one complaint is that the action and general choreography of the characters can get a bit confusing at times, and there were a few points where I had to go back and read a line over again to make it click. Otherwise, this was a wonderfully creative and breezy read.
Ogden is a wizard of subtle detail: though flashbacks we gain powerful insight into Atuale's relationship with gender, child-birth, and love. It is also enjoyable for me when aliens in science fiction novels are really, distinctly alien; Atuale resembles humans in many ways but also is radically different in many others: there is an especially poignant seen in which she gives birth to a litter of children known as "pups". I really enjoyed Atuale's relationship with Yanja, as the two struggle to reconcile their past as lovers with their present differences: Atuale, a land-dweller, and Yanja, a World-Witch who travels between dimensions to acquire objects for barter. There is an undercurrent of wistful tenderness that underlies every scene, helped along by gorgeous, flowing prose. This was as lyrical a space opera as I've ever seen. My one complaint is that the action and general choreography of the characters can get a bit confusing at times, and there were a few points where I had to go back and read a line over again to make it click. Otherwise, this was a wonderfully creative and breezy read.
shelvedamongthestars's review against another edition
5.0
I was utterly enchanted by this little novella from Aimee Ogden. I love that it is by turns intimate and cosmic in scope; two main characters (estranged ex-lovers/-best friends) are reunited and must work through their troubled history as they seek out a medical cure for the protagonist’s new partner and family, who are dying in the land above the sea. In the space of this short work, we travel from a sun-drenched landscape down to the sea, and up to the ocean of space. The world-building makes me want to stay in the story even longer, and I liked the fluidity of gender and normalization of body mods in this society. The story was structured carefully, some interesting themes were explored, and the ending was perfect. I’d love to read more from this fictional universe!
__apf__'s review against another edition
4.0
Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters tells the story of a woman who left her people twice: first, when she leaves the depths of the oceans to join the land-dwelling culture on her planet; second, when she travels to a space station to ask for medical help for her husband and his family. It's a poetic setting, with beautiful depictions of sun, sea, and space.
My one regret in reading the novel is its length--it's a short novella, and it doesn't go into the depth that I hoped for. As a reader, you never really get to understand why the main character left her birth culture, nor what about her makes her so unusually resilient to peer pressure and fear. Why did she walk away from her family, culture, and original body? How did she feel about it? Is she happy with her choices?
My one regret in reading the novel is its length--it's a short novella, and it doesn't go into the depth that I hoped for. As a reader, you never really get to understand why the main character left her birth culture, nor what about her makes her so unusually resilient to peer pressure and fear. Why did she walk away from her family, culture, and original body? How did she feel about it? Is she happy with her choices?
syntaxofthings's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Beautiful, compelling, complex, advanced.