A review by jadecity
Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters by Aimee Ogden
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.