The Deep

A beautiful book unafraid to tackle the pain of darker topics. Lots of good world building and culture. I loved the use of cyclical writing

A novella of loss. Loss of self, loss of one's people, loss of freedom. And of finding and acceptance. Finding one's self, accepting one's purpose. Finding love. Finding people. Finding truth. A novella of the ocean, womb and protector to those discarded. And a novella of remembrance. A strange tale of the ocean people, born of discarded and drowned slaves, coming to accept the pain of their past and deciding whether they can live with such knowledge without destroying themselves or the land-dwellers who cruelly treated their ancestors. These are not mermaids or sirens. These people are the ocean's memories of the sorrow and devestation man inflicts on man and how we can build new selves even from pain. How memory of that pain must not be discarded in order for us to be whole.

I liked the idea, especially the theme of survival, but it did not have the dreamlike quality I expected.

This book is definitely not going to be for everyone. It's written in a somewhat dream-like way. But I still love the themes of generational trauma and breaking cycles of harm. I think it's beautifully written, and I'm so glad to have it in my collection.