A review by hatterell
The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie
adventurous
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The Abyss Surrounds Us introduces a really unique concept and portrayal of the future, particularly how society and politics interact with an ocean setting. Overall I liked Strutskie's ideas - both training the Reckoners and having trainee pirates compete to be the next captain was a lot of fun.
However, this book lacked in a lot of areas. The writing was decent but I didn't connect with any of the characters or relationships, and Cas's logic was consistently disjointed and confusing. A main issue for me was that I struggled to visualise what the Reckoners looked like, so I felt like there was a huge hole in scenes as I was reading. Even though there's lots of death in this book, it never made the story feel high stakes.
I'm glad I read this but, other than the concept, the best word I can think of to describe it is average.
However, this book lacked in a lot of areas. The writing was decent but I didn't connect with any of the characters or relationships, and Cas's logic was consistently disjointed and confusing. A main issue for me was that I struggled to visualise what the Reckoners looked like, so I felt like there was a huge hole in scenes as I was reading. Even though there's lots of death in this book, it never made the story feel high stakes.
I'm glad I read this but, other than the concept, the best word I can think of to describe it is average.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, and Grief
Minor: Slavery