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A review by andromeda
The Descent of the Drowned by Ana Lal Din
5.0
The digital arc of this book provided by Netgalley in exchange of honest review.
The Descent of The Drowned is the first book I finished in 2021 and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Everything about this book is phenomenal.
Ana Lal Din captivated me with her writing of richly reimagined of pre-Islamic Indo-Persian era. It's almost like she told me a tale that happened one time in Jahiliyyah era. Some entities name mentioned were familiar to me like Hubal, Manat, etc (my teachers taught them in Islamic History classes in school). But nothing will prepared me of the lore of Mother Lamia, and how powerful she is. You really don't want to provoke the wrath of a goddess.
Roma and Levi characterizations also very special to me. Especially Roma, the pain she had endured, how she survived, and all painful journey of her. She was the best story teller of I could ask for. Her pain was so raw and real.
Ana Lal Din also touched so many important topics. Deep-rooted misogyny, abuse, and manipulation to a lot of women by men, even by their closest family members. The broken, tyrannical system that failed poor people the most. People lied behind God's name to enrich themselves. Human trafficking, especially of kids and women. Transphobia. Ethnic cleansing. And so many more.
The end of this book is hit-and-miss for me, because if I interpreted this as open ending, the epilogue is a perfect conclusion. But I cannot ignore the build up about the resistance and the rebel—the Wolves, and I am dying to know about what happened to them.
Lastly. Albeit this book is marketed as young adult fantasy (maybe because the main characters, Roma is around 18 and Levi is around 20), this book is not by all means an easy read. At all. I had to stop mid paragraph (some) and I have to pause for a minute for them to pass. So be mindful and check the trigger warning before you read this book, always take care of yourself.
Here is also the list of triggers I collected:
- death of loved one's
- slavery
- self-harm
- rape
- sexual violence
- gun violence
- femicide
- emotional abuse
- manipulation
- intrusive thoughts
- transphobia
- suicide
- human trafficking
- genocide
- child abuse
- physical torture
- gore
- drug abuse & addiction
They made the stars weep. We were all burning. We were all burning—except you.
The Descent of The Drowned is the first book I finished in 2021 and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Everything about this book is phenomenal.
Ana Lal Din captivated me with her writing of richly reimagined of pre-Islamic Indo-Persian era. It's almost like she told me a tale that happened one time in Jahiliyyah era. Some entities name mentioned were familiar to me like Hubal, Manat, etc (my teachers taught them in Islamic History classes in school). But nothing will prepared me of the lore of Mother Lamia, and how powerful she is. You really don't want to provoke the wrath of a goddess.
Roma and Levi characterizations also very special to me. Especially Roma, the pain she had endured, how she survived, and all painful journey of her. She was the best story teller of I could ask for. Her pain was so raw and real.
Ana Lal Din also touched so many important topics. Deep-rooted misogyny, abuse, and manipulation to a lot of women by men, even by their closest family members. The broken, tyrannical system that failed poor people the most. People lied behind God's name to enrich themselves. Human trafficking, especially of kids and women. Transphobia. Ethnic cleansing. And so many more.
The end of this book is hit-and-miss for me, because if I interpreted this as open ending, the epilogue is a perfect conclusion. But I cannot ignore the build up about the resistance and the rebel—the Wolves, and I am dying to know about what happened to them.
Lastly. Albeit this book is marketed as young adult fantasy (maybe because the main characters, Roma is around 18 and Levi is around 20), this book is not by all means an easy read. At all. I had to stop mid paragraph (some) and I have to pause for a minute for them to pass. So be mindful and check the trigger warning before you read this book, always take care of yourself.
Here is also the list of triggers I collected:
- death of loved one's
- slavery
- self-harm
- rape
- sexual violence
- gun violence
- femicide
- emotional abuse
- manipulation
- intrusive thoughts
- transphobia
- suicide
- human trafficking
- genocide
- child abuse
- physical torture
- gore
- drug abuse & addiction