Sea Change by Susan Fletcher REVIEW

Summary:

Turtle is scavenging a drowned town when she saves a stranger's life. There's something special about Kai-an attraction she's never felt before. She would do anything to see him again.

But Turtle can never truly be with Kai, because Kai is Normal, and Turtle is one of the Mer, kids whose genes were illegally hacked before birth and who now have working gills as well as lungs. Turtle lives on an old cruise ship with the other Mer in order to be close to the water she needs to survive.

Yet she sneaks away and lies to her friends to spend more time on land with Kai. And the pull of the shore grows even stronger when Turtle reconnects with her sisters and learns that her father, who has been in prison for having her genes modified, has escaped and may be hiding out nearby.

When scientists come up with a way for the Mer to surrender their gills and live as Normals, Turtle faces a terrible choice. Turtle loves her life with her Mer friends, but she desperately misses her family. And then there's Kai . . .

Should she give up her Mer community and their way of life along with the joy of living freely under the sea? Or give up the guy she's falling for and any hope of reconnecting with her family?

My Thoughts:

I really loved reading this book. It's part futuristic, part retelling of the Little Mermaid. Most of Turtle's life was spent with her fellow Mer on the boat, but she's the only one who remembers her birth family. When the government was rounding up the Mer kids, they were able to hide her with them a little longer than anyone else, but it ended up putting her father in prison. While she loves her Mer friends, she deeply misses her family. Scavenging is illegal, and when one of her fellow Mer gets caught, they go with him to the trial, where she sees Kai again after she rescued him. After the trial, Turtle finds herself sneaking off the boat to see him. But when a group of scientists arrive and give them the choice to become Normal, she takes the chance for her family and for Kai.

While the novel does talk about gene hacking, it's done in a way that anyone can understand, and despite the topic being futuristic, the world is very much similar to the one we live in now. I really like the writing, which is simple yet engaging and fun. Turtle is such a well-rounded and likeable character to follow, and some of the side characters are also well-developed so that we care about them. I do wish the book talked more about the gene hacking and the backgrounds of the other Mer, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I would definitely recommend picking this one up.

My Rating: 5 stars

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh REVIEW

Summary:

Little Marek, the abused and delusional son of the village shepherd, believes his mother died giving birth to him. One of Marek's few consolations is his enduring bond with the village midwife, Ina, who suckled him when he was a baby. For some people, Ina's ability to received transmissions of sacred knowledge from the natural world is a godsend. For others, Ina's home in the woods is a godless place.

The people's desperate need to believe that there are powers that be who have their best interests at heart is put to a cruel test by their depraved lord and governor, especially in this year of record drought and famine. But when fate brings Marek into violent proximity to the lord's family, new and occult forces arise to upset the old order. By year's end, the veil between blindness and sight, life and death, and the natural world and the spirit world will prove to be very thin indeed.

My Thoughts:

I'm not sure how to feel about this book. While the characters were well-developed and the writing was good, it was not that interesting and was hard to get through at times. When it started to get interesting, it would soon go back to being boring. The author had some great ideas, but barely explored them at all. Ina is considered a witch by some, as she seems to be the oldest in the village yet doesn't seem to age like everybody else. If the author explored this more, and maybe added some lore, it would be even more intriguing and mystifying. Marek kills Jacob, but the novel barely explores how he felt or how the boy's father felt. The only grief we get is from Jacob's mother. Father Barnabas doesn't actually believe in God or the church, but this is only really used for humor in the book. And to top it off, there's no main storyline, making the unexplored areas even more noticeable. 

My Rating: 2 stars 

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes REVIEW

Summary:

The only mortal in a family of gods, Medusa is the youngest of the Gorgon sisters. Unlike her siblings, Medusa grows older, experiences change, feels weakness. Her mortal lifespan gives her an urgency that her family will never know.

When the sea god Poseidon assaults Medusa in Athene's temple, the goddess is enraged. Furious at the violation of her sacred space, Athene takes revenge - on the young woman. Punished for Poseidon's actions, Medusa is forever transformed. Writhing snakes replace her hair, and her gaze will turn any living creature to stone. Cursed with the power to destroy all she loves with one look, Medusa condemns herself to a life of solitude. Until Perseus embarks upon a fateful quest to fetch the head of a Gorgon . . .

My Thoughts:

Medusa grows up with her Gorgon sisters, who found her on the beach as a baby and raised her as best they could. Despite their many differences, they all love each other as they would if they were related. Despite the protests of her sisters, Medusa goes to Athene's temple, where she is assaulted by Poseidon. When Athene curses her, she keeps her eyes blindfolded so that she cannot hurt her sisters.

When Perseus's mother seems to be doomed to marry a rather unlikable king, he jumps at the chance to save her by bringing the king a head of a Gorgon.

I really liked that each chapter alternates perspectives. You get the perspective of Medusa along with the perspectives of the gods who are both voluntarily involved and who are unintentionally involved. The world-building was not as intricate as I would like, but it does the job. While the book succeeds in developing most of the main characters, Medusa is noticeably less developed than some of them. This is disappointing as the whole story revolves around her. 

I would recommend reading this, but be warned of the heavy topics involved.

My Rating: 3 stars