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Chlorine
Chlorine | Jade Song
In the vein of The Pisces and The Vegetarian, Chlorine is a debut novel that blurs the line between a literary coming-of-age narrative and a dark unsettling horror tale, told from an adult perspective on the trials and tribulations of growing up in a society that puts pressure on young women and their bodies... a powerful, relevant novel of immigration, sapphic longing, and fierce, defiant becoming.Ren Yu is a swimmer. Her daily life starts and ends with the pool. Her teammates are her only friends. Her coach, her guiding light. If she swims well enough, she will be scouted, get a scholarship, go to a good school. Her parents will love her. Her coach will be kind to her. She will have a good life.But these are human concerns. These are the concerns of those confined to land, those with legs. Ren grew up on stories of creatures of the deep, of the oceans and the rivers. Ones that called sailors to their doom. Ones that dragged them down and drowned them. Ones that feasted on their flesh. Ones of the creature that she's always longed to become: mermaid.Ren aches to be in the water. She dreams of the scent of chlorine--the feel of it on her skin. And she will do anything she can to make a life for herself where she can be free. No matter the pain. No matter what anyone else thinks. No matter how much blood she has to spill.
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review
DimeryRene
Chlorine | Jade Song
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Pickpick

The body horror in this book is 10/10. So many weird things happen. Great commentary on athletics and the pressure young athletes face. 🧜🏻‍♀️🧜🏻‍♀️

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DimeryRene
Chlorine | Jade Song
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Happy New Year. Tagging my first read of 2024. 🧜🏻‍♀️ What is everyone else starting with? 🎆

RebL I have some books that are straddling the New Year, but I‘m focused on the tagged book. 3mo
DimeryRene @RebL I have not heard of this, but I looked at the book profile. Isn‘t this where Little Fires Everywhere is set? 3mo
RebL 😮 Yes it is! 🧐 3mo
12 likes3 comments
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Kitta
Chlorine | Jade Song
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This debut novel about a competitive swimmer obsessed with mermaids reads like a fever dream or like when you‘re underwater for too long and are desperate to breathe. It‘s intense and there‘s no coming up for air.

I enjoyed it but I feel like the community on goodreads disagrees. It‘s definitely a mood.

17 likes2 stack adds
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MegCaldwell
Chlorine | Jade Song
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This was a meditation on girlhood and mermaid hood that will be one of the “mermaid books” going forward. Truly weird and stellar and spooky and beautiful.

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Twainy
Chlorine | Jade Song
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WOW! A book about competitive swimming! I loved it! What a dark twist! Ren took it to the next level! A scary coming of age …

Happy Halloween month!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

EDIT - #31by31 29/31

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mdemanatee
Chlorine | Jade Song
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Honestly partially unsure how I feel about this one, but there's lots to dive into (pun both accidental and intended--duality) https://youtu.be/agEw3Bp8q68

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mdemanatee
Chlorine | Jade Song
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Stopped by Paper and Pencil a new local stationary shop in Chicago today for some goodies to make my reading life better & cuter—including a new reading journal that I think will be much better than the notes app for processing book thoughts offline.

CSeydel Oh my goodness, I love this! 8mo
21 likes1 comment
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mdemanatee
Chlorine | Jade Song
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Saturday reads and treats.

dabbe Love the assonance; that should be a hashtag! #readsandtreats 🤩 8mo
17 likes1 comment
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rachelsbrittain
Chlorine | Jade Song
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A teen dealing with the extreme pressure of high school, swim team, and adolescence recounts her experiences leading up to her transformation into a mermaid. It's a gorgeous literary coming of age novel with a slight speculative feel even though there's no actual, confirmed fantasy to the story. Anyone who struggled with high pressure high school experiences will relate to Ren whether or not you went to her extremes.

41 likes1 stack add
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rachelsbrittain
Chlorine | Jade Song
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My #weekendreads for this weekend. What are you reading?

Matilda Conspirituality 👀 and Going Bicoastal ! 8mo
rachelsbrittain @Matilda immediately had to look up the first book based on title alone, and, um, I definitely need to read that 😂 8mo
41 likes2 comments
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LaraS
Chlorine | Jade Song
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Wow, what a visceral coming of age story about a swimmer who wants to become a mermaid. Slow and insidious.

Amazing artwork from here: https://twitter.com/christinaillos/status/1661447237338124300

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Hooked_on_books
Chlorine | Jade Song
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I‘ve been dragging my feet on writing my review on this because I‘m not really sure what happens in it. That being said, I really enjoyed this in all its weirdness and found it really engrossing. And it has the funniest tampon scene I‘ve ever read. But I‘m going to guess it won‘t be for everyone.

squirrelbrain Now I‘m intrigued…. But maybe too scared to read it! 🤣 10mo
Megabooks I‘ve been considering this when I see it at the library. I think I‘ll try it! 10mo
51 likes2 comments
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rachelm
Chlorine | Jade Song
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If you loved We Ride on Sticks (weirdness of high school sports with magic??) or Our Wives Under the Sea (body transformations and relationships and queerness), or want a mermaid story that‘s not quite a mermaid story, snag this one. A high school competitive swimmer and the challenges she faces (cw homophobia, racism, body horror, sexual assault). Out March 28!

57 likes4 stack adds
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GerardtheBookworm
Chlorine | Jade Song
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An interesting on how society responds to women's bodies with a bit of magical realism. An Asian American swimmer firmly believes she is a mermaid and goes to extreme lengths to transform. Body horror mixed with a dark fairytale elements makes this a compelling feminist read.