The Island Beneath the Sea was fantastic for me as a reader and quite the brain teaser for me as a writer. I listened to the audiobook, and I cheered and applauded and booed and hissed. I wanted to suckerpunch and I wanted to cry. I rolled my eyes and laughed so hard it shook my ribs. The book was a drama easy to get caught up in, with beautiful language and authentic characters who seem to breathe as easily as you or me. The sense of triumph vibrating through the ending was exhilarating and satisfying, and I think everybody except Maurice & Rosette got what they deserved.

Allende takes us on an emotional journey rivaled only by her mercurial writing style. Surprisingly, most of the book is...summary. That's right. Lots and lots of telling sprinkled with showing, albeit liberally. After hearing the adage "show, don't tell" for an umpteen number of years, it puzzled me exceedingly how the heck the book worked so darn well. Yeah, there's the frame of an older Zarité narrating the adventures of her younger days, but lots of books have older narrators and would be terrible as summaries. But somehow, through loa magic, with Zarité it works and works wonderfully for the most part. At some points, I got frustrated with naval gazing or Valmorain being a snit yet again. But then I went back to ogling how smoothly Allende wove in historical details and mentally willing characters to give Zarité a hug. Overall, a brilliant, shining read.