Litsy

KateReadsYA

The Salt Grows Heavy | Cassandra Khaw

pick

So dark, so gory, so amazing!

Meshell1313 Woah! 😮 1w

47 likes1 comment

KateReadsYA

The Salt Grows Heavy | Cassandra Khaw

This book is phenomenal 🖤

49 likes

Lizwarnerpdx

The Book of Speculation | Erika Swyler

pick

This book was fascinating. Written in a dual timeline, we follow the lives of several people from a traveling circus in the 17-1800‘s up through today. The main group being a maternal line of mermaids, or divers that can hold their breath for 10 minutes…but who all end up dying by drowning on July 24th.

4 likes

BarbaraJean

The Deep | Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes

pick

I finished this short book early in March and have been thinking about it ever since. It‘s by no means a traditional narrative—it feels more like a mood than a story—but still, it‘s packed full of so many ideas and so many layers. The premise: what if the children of enslaved pregnant women thrown overboard during the Middle Passage survived and adapted to live underwater? The story centers on Yetu, the Historian of that underwater society. ⬇️

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) Yetu‘s role is to carry the memories of her people—the trauma, pain, and violence of their past—enabling the others to forget and only confront the past in an annual ceremony called the Remembrance. Themes of storytelling and history, memory and forgetting, trauma and avoidance and healing, are woven throughout as the book explores what it means for individuals and a community to bear the weight of the past. ⬇️ 2w

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) The afterword takes it further to discuss the book‘s influences. There are so many layers here—the novella was inspired by a song by the rap group clipping, which was commissioned for an episode of This American Life. The afterword discusses the ways the band Drexciya influenced the song, and explores ideas of adaptation & permutation, opening up the freedom to tell & retell this story—which is itself a retelling of history—in new ways.⬇️ 2w

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) Thanks to @monalyisha and her #AuldLangSpine recommendation, I made sure to listen to the audiobook narrated by Daveed Diggs, and went on to listen to the episode of This American Life that features the song “The Deep.” Link: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/623/we-are-in-the-future-2017

All of the above are highly recommended! (edited) 2w

monalyisha I really appreciate this super thorough & lucid review! 💙 2w

38 likes4 comments

AroundTheBookWorld

To Kill a Kingdom | Alexandra Christo

Salt and magic.
She pulls me closer to her, her fingers held tight over mine, and together we dive.
#ToKillAKingdom #AlexandraChristo #lastline #closingline #book #books #bookcase #bookcases #bookcover #bookcovers #bookcoverdesign #bookcoverdesigner #bookclub #bookclubs #bookvibe #bookvibes #bookvsfilm #bookvsmovie #bookbag #bookbags #bookbinding #Fantasy #YoungAdult #Romance #Retellings #YoungAdultFantasy #Pirates #Fiction #Mermaids #Magic 🩶🩶🩶

Athana What a great line! I will add to my spring list!! 2w

13 likes1 comment

AroundTheBookWorld

To Kill a Kingdom | Alexandra Christo

Alexandra Christo is a British author whose characters are always funnier and far more deadly than she is. She studied Creative Writing at university and graduated with the desire to never stop letting her imagination run wild. She currently lives in Hertfordshire with a rapidly growing garden and a never-ending stack of books. Her debut novel To Kill a Kingdom is an international bestseller.
#WomensHistoryMonth #Fantasy #YoungAdult #Romance 🩵🩵

11 likes

ClairesReads

American Mermaid: A Novel | Julia Langbein

so-so

Great concept- messy, execution. Wanted so much more than I got here, which is disappointing although I shouldn‘t have been surprised based on reviews I‘d read in advance.

33 likes

ClairesReads

American Mermaid: A Novel | Julia Langbein