Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This was... great!
It was an awesome reading experience. I feel like if you're in the mood for mystery and adventure with some lighthearted scenes in between and a realistic way that people talk to each other (as in, not stale, forced dialogue like some other sci-fi books I've read) this is a great pick. It's for children of ages 8 and above, I would say, and this book takes a topic that's always been a little confusing for me (the ocean and ships, etc) and spun it into a great, easily understandable story. The plotlines are great as well! There is a good number of plot twists, and the main one blew my socks off! Dev's betrayal was portrayed perfectly, and that scene has to be one of my favorites in the whole book. I loved the scene where Ana commanded the Nautilus for the first time, along with the appearance of Romeo the Cephalopod! This is a great gift for anybody who's into sci-fi or fiction in general, even if they didn't read Rick Riordan's other works or people who loved Riordan's other works (such as myself). I also loved that there is a lot of diversity in this book (Indians, autistic people, Brazilian people, people who've changed their legal name)- as an Indian, it's refreshing to see Indian characters in these kinds of fiction books. I simply cannot wait for the next book/s in this series (as Daughter of the Deep is the first in a series of sci-fi books by Riordan) and I fully believe that there will be more, just as diverse characters, who also have diverse sexualities and gender identities.
TL;DR: Loved the book! It's the perfect gift for people of all ages. There's a lot of learning you gain subconsciously, there's a diverse cast of characters, the writing and representation is great, plot points and plot twists are portrayed perfectly, there are realistic characters, and there are so many more great things about this book that I'm sure I'm missing out on. Can't wait for the rest of the series to come out with equally as diverse representation- 100/10, fully recommend it!!