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eloise_bradbooks 's review for:
The Abyss Surrounds Us
by Emily Skrutskie
3.5/5
re-read 17/04/17 : The bottom line is this: It's a hell of an interesting idea, and it has a brilliantly diverse set of interesting characters. I do feel like some points could be improved on, such as world-building and the motives beind the characters' actions.
But come on, it's pirates, girls loving girls, and whale-sized turtles. I'd recommend it to anyone!
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"I don't just raise monsters. I am one."
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EN : YESSS ! Althouth the first half let it down a little, the second half of this book was SOOO good ! I can't wait for the second and final novel to come out. I NEED MORE.
It's such a short novel set in an futuristic version of the Pacific where there are pirates, and people who grow and train whale-sized turtles, Reckoners, to fight off the pirates. Our main character, Cas, starts off as a trainer ... but when the pirates get a hand of her, who knows what they'll make her do ?
After a good opening sequence, I felt like there were 40 or so pages of weeks going by and nothing much happening, only Cas training the Reckoner. A Reckoner which I struggled to picture, by the way... Is it anything other than a giant turtle with armour ?
But once the training aspect took a step aside and we got properly introduced to the other characters, the young pirates, and Swift (Oh, Swift...), it immediately got SO much better ! I LOVE Swift. And I LOVE hate-to-love relationships so ... YES. Thank you.
And anyone looking for diversity will thank Emily Skrutskie for this book. We have many strong female characters who are mostly non-white, and more than one non-hetero character, including the main character !!! And none of that 'diversity' is seen as not the norm. YES.
I must say, one of the major reflexions Cas has to deal with in this book is whether she should aim to go back to the home she knew, or to enjoy the home she is making aboard the ship. Yet it felt like she was going with the flow of what she knew was bad, without trying to find another way around it. I kept thinking "You could just try to figure a way around this. There cannot only be two bad options". If you are thinking that throughout the book, DON'T. Because then you have the ending ... And that changes my opinion on the paragraph I've just written.
Basically, it ended up being great.
I need the sequel. Give. To me. Now.
re-read 17/04/17 : The bottom line is this: It's a hell of an interesting idea, and it has a brilliantly diverse set of interesting characters. I do feel like some points could be improved on, such as world-building and the motives beind the characters' actions.
But come on, it's pirates, girls loving girls, and whale-sized turtles. I'd recommend it to anyone!
-----------------------------------------------
"I don't just raise monsters. I am one."
-----------------------------------------------
EN : YESSS ! Althouth the first half let it down a little, the second half of this book was SOOO good ! I can't wait for the second and final novel to come out. I NEED MORE.
It's such a short novel set in an futuristic version of the Pacific where there are pirates, and people who grow and train whale-sized turtles, Reckoners, to fight off the pirates. Our main character, Cas, starts off as a trainer ... but when the pirates get a hand of her, who knows what they'll make her do ?
After a good opening sequence, I felt like there were 40 or so pages of weeks going by and nothing much happening, only Cas training the Reckoner. A Reckoner which I struggled to picture, by the way... Is it anything other than a giant turtle with armour ?
But once the training aspect took a step aside and we got properly introduced to the other characters, the young pirates, and Swift (Oh, Swift...), it immediately got SO much better ! I LOVE Swift. And I LOVE hate-to-love relationships so ... YES. Thank you.
And anyone looking for diversity will thank Emily Skrutskie for this book. We have many strong female characters who are mostly non-white, and more than one non-hetero character, including the main character !!! And none of that 'diversity' is seen as not the norm. YES.
I must say, one of the major reflexions Cas has to deal with in this book is whether she should aim to go back to the home she knew, or to enjoy the home she is making aboard the ship. Yet it felt like she was going with the flow of what she knew was bad, without trying to find another way around it. I kept thinking "You could just try to figure a way around this. There cannot only be two bad options". If you are thinking that throughout the book, DON'T. Because then you have the ending ... And that changes my opinion on the paragraph I've just written.
Basically, it ended up being great.
I need the sequel. Give. To me. Now.