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roadtripreader's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
"The seas give off rumor and gossip like they give off mist".
A Space, Land and Undersea Tragedy- you can just feel the intense desperate love Atuale has for her Saaravel and that desperate need to bring vigor back to him and her clan. And then the pull of the world out there for her to explore...two incompatible desires
Traces of The Little Mermaid - an undersea dweller desires to live with the Vo and a World-Witch conjures up the necessary gene-alterations to ensure that happens.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
The opening was like a memory of what pandemic loss was like for hundreds of thousands of families. In this case it's a fever that takes strong Vo and just breaks them down to limp bodies, scales falling off. This story seemed so bleak you searched for hope in the lead character.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Atuale returning to the sea is like when you go back to a place or meetbwith someone after years apart and it feels different. Some parts feel loke old times, other parts feel stifling and not on par with your growth or your changes and eventually conversation lulla to a quiet hum. That's Atuale and her journey into the deep sea.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene: :
Learning the Intricate and delicate biochemistry of the Seaclan people.
“Making me Vo started a clan war.”
“Stopping you from changing started a clan war.” Yanja shrugs. “It’s not my fault that your darling father promised a prince to the Prequ clan" - The Splice effect.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “She would climb down a staircase as wide as the world is round, if it meant saving Saareval’s life. She would walk the whole way on the points of knives.” (Atuale on devotion)
🖤 “Atuale left the sea to kiss the mountains and the sky. ?f course she wants to embrace the stars as well. Desire steals the air from her lungs, suffocating the only answer” (The Wanderlust and Fernweh is strong in this on)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts :
■ The Vo, Mzo Ma, Seaclan, Prequ, Naraqui, GreatClan Lord
■Yanga is like the Splice movie with Adrien Brody
■Keita-Vo and their Sisterhouses
■ Gene-Eater Tech
■World-Witch, GreatLeap Marcher or Star Hunter
■Sea People's Caste system
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Science Fiction Books by 2025
A Space, Land and Undersea Tragedy- you can just feel the intense desperate love Atuale has for her Saaravel and that desperate need to bring vigor back to him and her clan. And then the pull of the world out there for her to explore...two incompatible desires
Traces of The Little Mermaid - an undersea dweller desires to live with the Vo and a World-Witch conjures up the necessary gene-alterations to ensure that happens.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
The opening was like a memory of what pandemic loss was like for hundreds of thousands of families. In this case it's a fever that takes strong Vo and just breaks them down to limp bodies, scales falling off. This story seemed so bleak you searched for hope in the lead character.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Atuale returning to the sea is like when you go back to a place or meetbwith someone after years apart and it feels different. Some parts feel loke old times, other parts feel stifling and not on par with your growth or your changes and eventually conversation lulla to a quiet hum. That's Atuale and her journey into the deep sea.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene: :
Learning the Intricate and delicate biochemistry of the Seaclan people.
“Making me Vo started a clan war.”
“Stopping you from changing started a clan war.” Yanja shrugs. “It’s not my fault that your darling father promised a prince to the Prequ clan" - The Splice effect.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “She would climb down a staircase as wide as the world is round, if it meant saving Saareval’s life. She would walk the whole way on the points of knives.” (Atuale on devotion)
🖤 “Atuale left the sea to kiss the mountains and the sky. ?f course she wants to embrace the stars as well. Desire steals the air from her lungs, suffocating the only answer” (The Wanderlust and Fernweh is strong in this on)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts :
■ The Vo, Mzo Ma, Seaclan, Prequ, Naraqui, GreatClan Lord
■Yanga is like the Splice movie with Adrien Brody
■Keita-Vo and their Sisterhouses
■ Gene-Eater Tech
■World-Witch, GreatLeap Marcher or Star Hunter
■Sea People's Caste system
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Science Fiction Books by 2025
grimkeeper35's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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? Yes
4.0
gayathiri_rajendran's review against another edition
4.0
Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters is a novella which is a retelling of The Little Mermaid. It took me a while to realize this. A lot of concepts such as gene technology, space travel and aliens are explored in this story.
Atuale was originally born at sea but later remade for land. When a plague sweeps through the land of Vo which is her husband's land and infects him, she goes back to sea to seek the help of the World Witch Yanja, who is also her former lover to find a cure to save her husband and the people of Vo.
Some parts of the story weren't easy to understand and I had to read twice or thrice. Other than that, the world building is extremely good and it was very interesting. This was a good novella with an interesting premise.
Atuale was originally born at sea but later remade for land. When a plague sweeps through the land of Vo which is her husband's land and infects him, she goes back to sea to seek the help of the World Witch Yanja, who is also her former lover to find a cure to save her husband and the people of Vo.
Some parts of the story weren't easy to understand and I had to read twice or thrice. Other than that, the world building is extremely good and it was very interesting. This was a good novella with an interesting premise.
sersi's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
winterreader40's review
3.0
Atuale goes to the World Witch to save her husband and his tribe, currently dying of plague, as payment for helping the witch demands a contract with the people and her to come with him on the trip to retrieve the medicine.
This novella was a really interesting retelling of the little mermaid, set on land, sea and in space, but the characters were kind of flat, though the story itself was atmospheric.
This novella was a really interesting retelling of the little mermaid, set on land, sea and in space, but the characters were kind of flat, though the story itself was atmospheric.
posthumusly's review against another edition
4.0
Futuristic re-telling of what happens to the little mermaid after she leaves her community. I liked this - the world was unique and the characters were well fleshed out despite the short length.
ren's review against another edition
4.0
i love queer scifi :)
a little hard to parse at times, but i loved the prose and imagery, and the story was intriguing. sometimes slow but a nice short read.
a little hard to parse at times, but i loved the prose and imagery, and the story was intriguing. sometimes slow but a nice short read.
jennsutherland's review against another edition
5.0
It took me a minute to get into this world. But then there was this moment where the emotional axis turned for the characters, and I sped to the finish, wanting more from the story, more for Atuale.
duriangray's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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
3.25