A review by lawbooks600
The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan
3.0
Representation: Side Black character
Trigger warnings: Bullying, near death experience
6/10, usually I enjoy verse novels but I didn't enjoy this one which was a massive shame. All the characters were quite flat, the main character wasn't really that complex but I still enjoyed reading about her anyway. The story is that Kasienka immigrated from Poland to England just to find her father which she found eventually. Further on the story is about Kasienka's new life, there was a plot point about racism but it just mentions it and then brushes it under the rug. The only characteristics she had was being smart, being bullied, having a sister called Briony (who almost died), and being a national level swimmer (her father contributed to this), but other than that she was quite flat.
She developed a romantic attraction to a Black person called William but he was quite flat as well and I didn't feel anything for Kasienka and William. The ending was when Kasienka just won a competition and that's it. I would've preferred if this novel was written in prose rather than verse, it would've impacted me more. If you like a novel about immigration try Refugee by Alan Gratz or Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhhà Lại instead of this.
Trigger warnings: Bullying, near death experience
6/10, usually I enjoy verse novels but I didn't enjoy this one which was a massive shame. All the characters were quite flat, the main character wasn't really that complex but I still enjoyed reading about her anyway. The story is that Kasienka immigrated from Poland to England just to find her father which she found eventually. Further on the story is about Kasienka's new life, there was a plot point about racism but it just mentions it and then brushes it under the rug. The only characteristics she had was being smart, being bullied, having a sister called Briony (who almost died), and being a national level swimmer (her father contributed to this), but other than that she was quite flat.
She developed a romantic attraction to a Black person called William but he was quite flat as well and I didn't feel anything for Kasienka and William. The ending was when Kasienka just won a competition and that's it. I would've preferred if this novel was written in prose rather than verse, it would've impacted me more. If you like a novel about immigration try Refugee by Alan Gratz or Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhhà Lại instead of this.