A review by elenajohansen
The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie
4.0
What I liked: giant sea creatures. Pirates. Wlw romance subplot. Pretty much everyone being morally gray, and that having actual consequences on said romance.
Basically, exactly what everyone else likes about this book. I also think it does a pretty good job displaying enough of Cassandra's Stockholm Syndrome experience to be believable, at first, when she's still "good" and the pirates are still "bad." Of course, since I've just said everyone is morally gray, that doesn't last the whole book, and that's fine. Cas' "fall" from forced-labor prisoner to willing pirate is laid out clearly, inevitably, with no moments that make the reader question her motives or sanity.
What I didn't like was much simpler: the pacing. And not even of the whole book, just the beginning. I went into this as blind as possible for a book that's been out a few years--I basically knew "lesbian pirates and giant sea monsters." Without knowing from the start how Cas' arc would go, I found it incredibly abrupt how soon she was captured, and how out-of-left-field Durga's death was. We barely get a opening to learn the world-building, then bam! it's all gone to hell.
I understand, now, having read the whole thing, that getting Cas on board the pirate ship as early as possible was necessary. But because that's tied to her failure at her job and the death of her charge, I felt like I was being asked to care about Durga with very little time given for me to do that, then mourn his tragic death with no real underpinnings for that feeling. It didn't feel earned, but other than lengthening the beginning of the book, I don't really see a solution for it. (And that could easily throw off everything else, so this is a fairly minor criticism.)
Basically, exactly what everyone else likes about this book. I also think it does a pretty good job displaying enough of Cassandra's Stockholm Syndrome experience to be believable, at first, when she's still "good" and the pirates are still "bad." Of course, since I've just said everyone is morally gray, that doesn't last the whole book, and that's fine. Cas' "fall" from forced-labor prisoner to willing pirate is laid out clearly, inevitably, with no moments that make the reader question her motives or sanity.
What I didn't like was much simpler: the pacing. And not even of the whole book, just the beginning. I went into this as blind as possible for a book that's been out a few years--I basically knew "lesbian pirates and giant sea monsters." Without knowing from the start how Cas' arc would go, I found it incredibly abrupt how soon she was captured, and how out-of-left-field Durga's death was. We barely get a opening to learn the world-building, then bam! it's all gone to hell.
I understand, now, having read the whole thing, that getting Cas on board the pirate ship as early as possible was necessary. But because that's tied to her failure at her job and the death of her charge, I felt like I was being asked to care about Durga with very little time given for me to do that, then mourn his tragic death with no real underpinnings for that feeling. It didn't feel earned, but other than lengthening the beginning of the book, I don't really see a solution for it. (And that could easily throw off everything else, so this is a fairly minor criticism.)