rickjones's Reviews (1.66k)

I read this book on vacation, which I think made it easier to finish than the first time I tried. The story is engaging and fast-paced, though the mystery wasn't as unique as I'd anticipated, and the characters didn't have the amount of depth to them that I prefer. There's plenty of fight scenes, but I don't particularly like reading those. This is definitely a book for people who are interested in H.P. Lovecraft's work, but I only recognize some of his themes and symbols from movie adaptions. So altogether, it wasn't a horrible read, but there were several elements to it that I didn't enjoy. The worst of all these is Andy's obsessive, one-sided romance with Kerri that is resolved by Andy treating Kerri like her girlfriend while Kerri still maintains that she is straight. I don't know why Cantero wouldn't just allow Andy to move on, or have Kerri discover that she is sapphic. I guess I would still recommend this book to people who are interested by the premise. Like I said, it isn't horrible, but it didn't appeal to me as much as I'd hoped. 

I had a wonderful experience reading this book. The descriptions of environments were lush and detailed, and the characters were immediately likable, with deep ties in each other's lives. I was pleasantly surprised by the uniqueness of the haunting story Kilcoyne told. Its strangeness added to the tension, and I genuinely worried for the characters' survival as they attempted to uncover what was happening. I would definitely recommend this book to others who enjoy character-driven horror stories. 

While this story had an interesting premise, I felt that it had too much detail in all the wrong places. The plot drags under the weight of minute details Broun provided, yet in some passages I did not feel like I could adequately make sense of what was happening, because it was described too briefly. This only became more frustrating to me as the book continued and I became increasingly invested in Cuthbert's mission and survival. Getting to know and understand Cuthbert and the way he thinks was undoubtedly the highlight of this story. I was irritated when the book switched to another character's perspective, though I did grow to like Astrid too. I would only recommend this book to patient readers. The story has merit, but it is winding, overly detailed, and leaves us with an ambiguous ending.

This is a book I definitely have mixed feelings about. Some elements that I disliked were resolved by the end, yet I still feel that the events the book's plot revolves around were disjointed to the point of being nonsensical. This isn't exactly a mystery book, because the characters aren't playing detective.

Instead, their plan to end a kidnapper's reign of terror comes to fruition mostly by accident, resulting in a rushed and melodramatic rescue.

All this feels strangely out of place with the rest of the novel's sensitive portrayal of a young man struggling to form a sense of identity in the aftermath of outliving his abuser, and slowly realizing that he will next outlive his lifelong friend. Beaufrand's writing is strongest in the moments where she's describing the relationships between her characters. I think the book would have been more satisfying to read if the "disappearing girls" subplot had been scrapped altogether, allowing us more time to discover Noah's sense of self alongside him. I would still recommend this book to those interested in it. While imperfect, the book's merits are undoubtedly worth the time it takes to read it. 

This was a treasure of a novel, one that pulled me in like a riptide. My whole life I've lived with unexplained chronic pains, first from sensory processing disorder, and later from fibromyalgia. The sea is always where I felt safest from this suffering and most myself, so I obviously felt very tied to Kathleen and her experiences with pain. I feel that Kathleen's troubles as a mermaid, and her seemingly fated doom to take her own life, are effective allegories for living with real-world chronic pain, whether Claycomb intended this effect or not. 

Additionally, I appreciated how fleshed-out Kathleen's family, friends, and girlfriend were. Too often I've seen stories where protagonists who are suffering are surrounding by characters who only exist to support them, and are otherwise simplistic. Harry and Robin's lives do revolve around Kathleen in a sense, yet they are still people in their own right, with their own dreams and difficulties. I also enjoyed the use of the opera as a connective tissue and rescuer in the characters' lives. I am not at all familiar with opera, so the descriptions of its music and vocals gave the novel a magical, dreamlike quality even during the realistic scenes. 

I would recommend this book to others, both as a fairytale and a story to relate to if you also live with chronic pain. Kathleen's solution is impossible in one sense, but simple in another. All of us must search for love, for talent to make use of, for a place in the world we feel truly ourselves.