This book was really fun. The characters were really well developed and I had a great time reading it. The Siren plot line is such a fresh take for fantasy. That being said I had a difficult time relating to these characters, but I don't necessarily think this story was written for me, so I have no place to judge it on that fact alone. What I can say is that I loved the plot, I think the writing was incredible, and I look forward to see what the author comes out with next.

3.5 stars
*Thank you to Tor Teen for the ARC I received via NetGalley*

TW: Suicide Attempt & misuse of a disability? I'm not what this would be called, but basically one of the characters claims to have a disability she doesn't actually have as a cover. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

What I liked: Tavia and Effie as characters. I adored their close friendship and their sisterly bond. 100% the best part of the book. The writing on a sentence structure level was fine and I enjoyed it.
I liked the process of reading the story and finding clues to what was going on.

I was thoroughly engaged by the plot. I did guess one "twist", but not the full extent of it. I liked the slivers of romance we got and I thought it was cute if a little rushed. I also liked that there was a discussion of misogynoir, something I haven't seen so blatantly talked about in YA.

What I didn't like: The mythological lore was not very well explained in my opinion. I still don't really have an understanding of what the eloko's could do or why they have a bell. I tried to look up the real world myths but they seem to be quite different from that in the book. Same for any other mythological creature in the book other than siren's.

Everybody's parents were terrible. I don't think that was dealt with enough. I think that was meant as a "your parent's are people too lesson", but ultimately it seems like they were all let off too easy. When your parents cause you and other people years of actual trauma I think more than an "I'm sorry" is needed.

Also I found the whole ending pretty rushed. The first 2/3rds of the book are pretty slowly and evenly paced, but then SO many things are packed into that last 3rd.

I... realized I had a fundamental problem with the premise of the book about 30% through. So I'm not sure how I'll review this. Basically it's sort of like the X-Men, Stand-in bigotry effect which author L.L. Mckinney talks about here: https://medium.com/@ElleOnWords/stand... . This is a little outside of this effect since this book *does* have real world racism, and the "magical" oppression is dealt with alongside it, but the fact of the matter is the magical oppression *is* based on a *real* fear.

This book discusses misogynoir through the Tavia, a siren, but I'm just not sure Sirens were the best way to go about that. In this book Sirens have a low grade form of mind control which uh is scary. The book discusses how their oppression is compounded by the fact that Sirens are almost exclusively Black women, and I think there was meant to be a dichotomy between sirens and eloko's, but it was hard to tell as I'm still unsure of what the elokos can do and how it compares? I couldn't tell if they actually compelled people to do things or just had mesmerizing voices.

Obviously other books do this/have done this and I've read and enjoyed some of those books. I will probably continue to read and enjoy other books that do this. I don't want it to seem like I'm harping on this specific book for doing this, but I guess reading this at the time that I did along with how the story takes place in a setting so close to our world (usually stories I read like this are more high fantasy) really made me think about it and it would be dishonest of me not to share my full thoughts.

Overall I did enjoy the story and I would encourage others to read it, I think this was just the culmination of conflicting feelings about this type of story.

This book had me thinking of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas but with sirens and other mythical creatures. It is a beautiful and heart wrenching magical realism story that I didn’t want to end.

“A Song Below Water” Is a Compelling Story of Sisterhood, Magic, and Police Brutality
Latonya Pennington
Published in Voices

When I first learned about Bethany C. Morrow’s A Song Below Water and how it featured Black mermaids, I couldn’t help but think of mythology, especially the Yoruba orisha Yemaya and the water spirit Mami Wata. Depending on who you ask, some people interpret them as mermaids. I thought of them because I’ve wondered what a modern interpretation of a Black mermaid would be like. A Song Below Water managed to answer my question in a thought-provoking and touching way.

Tavia Phillips is a siren who must hide her powers in order to keep herself alive. Her best friend, Effie, is struggling with a painful past and strange happenings in the present. While they are trying to navigate their junior year of high school, a siren murder trial shakes Portland, Oregon, to the core. In the aftermath, Tavia and Effie must come together and come to terms with themselves.

I’ve wondered what a modern interpretation of a Black mermaid would be like. A Song Below Water managed to answer my question in a thought-provoking and touching way.

One of the most notable aspects of this book is how it blends fantasy and reality almost seamlessly. Mythical creatures such as sirens, elokos, and gargoyles exist alongside humans, albeit not peacefully. Sirens (and other mythical creatures) have always been interpreted as an allegory for a dangerous woman, but this is especially noticeable when applied to a Black female protagonist. Tavia Phillips’s experiences as a Black female siren parallel what real Black women deal with every day, especially when it comes to police brutality. Not only are they considered dangerous for simply existing, but their voices are often silenced and dismissed when they try to speak up.

In fact, I found this book hard to read sometimes because it is a reminder of how difficult living can be for Black girls and women. Tavia is physically and emotionally scarred by a desperate attempt to get rid of her siren abilities as a child, while Effie is battling anxiety and nightmares as a result of a traumatic experience with mythical creatures. At one point, Effie even states, “Black and female and a siren is just layers upon layers of trauma. One time I said she’s [Tavia’s] too young to deal with this, and she said we don’t get to be.” Yet what kept me reading the book were the moments of joy that Tavia and Effie experience together and by themselves.

When it comes to Tavia and Effie’s friendship, they are close enough to be sisters. Sometimes I forgot that they weren’t related by blood because their interactions with each other were just as beautiful and memorable as those I’ve seen between real and fictional siblings. A particularly memorable scene is when Effie and Tavia are gushing over fan fiction written for Euphemia, the fictional mermaid who Effie plays at the Ren faire. Scenes like this show that despite the hardships they are dealing with, Effie and Tavia still create moments when they can enjoy their youth.

Sirens have always been interpreted as an allegory for a dangerous woman, but this is especially noticeable when applied to a Black female protagonist.

Tavia and Effie’s individual character development is just as powerful as their sisterhood. Over the course of the book, Tavia learns to embrace her siren abilities and use them as a force for change. The potential of her siren abilities is explored further as Tavia realizes just how powerful she can be. Meanwhile, Effie comes to terms with her past and learns that what’s “wrong” with her can be something that is wonderful, even when the world says otherwise. The mystery around Effie’s past and present keeps the plot intriguing and develops into a wonderful coming-of-age story.

As much as I appreciated many aspects of the book, there were a few I didn’t like. The lack of explanation for what an eloko was resulted in me doing my own research and doing my best to imagine what they looked like in my head. It might be difficult for other visual readers like myself to “see” what elokos are without a fuller description.

Another aspect of the story that made me a little uncomfortable is how Tavia uses spasmodic dysphonia as a cover story for her siren abilities, as well as how she sometimes uses American Sign Language when she can’t speak without exposing her siren abilities. Her use of ASL is understandable, but the author’s decision to have Tavia pretend to have what is a real muscle disorder is problematic from the point of view of disability advocacy.

A Song Below Water encourages Black girls to embrace their power, stick together, and never let themselves be silenced.

It’s not clear whether A Song Below Water is a standalone or the first book in a series. Either way, it’s a compelling read. While the portrayal of police brutality and Black trauma doesn’t make the book easy to digest, the sisterhood and magic are major payoffs. A Song Below Water encourages Black girls to embrace their power, stick together, and never let themselves be silenced.

Latonya Pennington

Latonya Pennington is a poet and freelance pop culture critic. Their freelance work can also be found at PRIDE, Wear Your Voice magazine, and Black Sci-fi. As a poet, they have been published in Fiyah Lit magazine, Scribes of Nyota, and Argot magazine among others.

Top photo by Briona Baker on Unsplash.

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The Afro YA illustration by Brian Dixon for BMP Voices. All rights reserved.



The Afro YA promotes black young adult authors and YA books with black characters, especially those that influence Pennington, an aspiring YA author who believes that black YA readers need diverse books, creators, and stories so that they don’t have to search for their experiences like she did.
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Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The beautiful cover of this book drew me in, the blurb got me to request it, and the sheer power that this book has will make me suggest it to anyone looking for a new book to read!

Everyone who knows me will know my love of mythology, so I lapped this book up. Whilst you are told from the beginning what Tavia is, the mystery of Effie and her past is kept quiet until the last quarter, leaving me guessing and excited to find out the answer. I loved how even though they had individual storylines, the girls are both incredibly supportive of what each other are going through. The twist at the end was amazing too!

There are incredibly important discussions that can be had around this book regarding racism and social justice. Throughout the story, there is a sense of dread as tensions build for Tavia and Effie, as well as in the world around them. The way Bethany uses the Sirens as a mirror for the treatment of Black girls/women in society is masterful and heartbreaking all at once. This story is as much about Black living in America as it is a magical realism story about Sirens and other mythical creatures.

Tavia is pulled over by a police officer during this story. As a white woman, I cannot comment on how terrifying this is for a Black person, but this book does a wonderful (awful?) job at portraying it so I can at least begin to understand the danger faced. The protest scene is especially poignant at the moment and highlights the use of protests by some people to act woke, but are deeply personal and key to the Black Lives Matter movement for Black people. This book tackles a lot of current issues head on and allows non-Black people to see just a fraction of the constant pain and worry faced when dealing with these issues in real life. This book does an excellent job as an Own Voices book, of expressing issues Black people face clearly, without explicitly explaining how horrific they are, but instead showing it through the eyes of two Black girls and letting the actions of others speak for themselves.

I really loved how Bethany mentioned things like hair care regimens without explaining them further. The story is for and about Black girls, letting readers research further if they wish to.

The only minor issue I had with this book is that Tavia and Effie’s point of views largely sounded the same, so remembering who is talking was a little difficult at some points.

Otherwise this book was an incredible piece of Black Girl Magic and social commentary which I recommend to everyone, especially at the moment. I gave it 4 stars.

This book is SO good. It made me understand a lot about racial profiling and they made me realize my privilege. What I thought was very interesting about this book is that it’s absolutely a fantasy novel, but because the magic in this book is forbidden, and black women are the only people who have magic, it has direct ties to racism, sexism, and racial profiling. It’s incredibly interesting and I would definitely recommend it to everyone.

This is the type of book I'd like to read in my entire life, if it's possible. It's so unique, magical and spectacular. I wish I had the power to make this book known.

DNFed at 20%. I was hoping this book woudn't be as cheesy as other mermaid books I've read, but unfortunately it was. Naturally, this doesn't mean everyone will find it cheesy, but it wasn't the book for me. I also felt like I was reading a sequel rather than a standalone because of the amount of things I just didn't understand. I usually like being thrown into the story but there wasn't much story that I was able to follow.

This was an incredibly compelling story--I seriously stayed up waaaay too late several nights reading this because I had to know what happened next!

What I loved:
- Sister power. Foreva.
- The seamless integration of myth and mundane. Urban fantasy at its finest!
- I love how the female characters fought for what was right--for rights as Black women, and rights as sirens, and rights to be heard as a person, valuable just as they are.

What I didn't love:
- The plot was a little hard to follow at times--so many themes were tackled that it made it difficult to keep up on occasion.
- The climax and denouement (while they did fit the pieces of the puzzle together in the end) felt incredibly rushed. I wish there had been a couple more chapters to work up to all the big reveals.

I loved the storyworld this was set in, and I sure hope that the author continues writing stories set in a magical Portland! Definitely worth the read for its courageous tackling of challenging themes such as racism, systemic bias, sexism, and the right to be heard as individuals.

It was great to read a siren tale with the focus on Black characters. I really enjoyed this! I'd love to see more from the author soon.

Thank you so much to the publishers author and netgalley for letting me have a copy to read in exchange for a honest review.
Cover wow love the cover
What I loved about this book
2 kick ass black girls fighting racial injustice with having to deal with ther mythical powers
I love Tavia she is a Serian and everyone seems scared of her using her powers her voice and she tries to suppress it her dad is afraid of her. Tavia is a great role model she fights for what she believes in looks out for Effie even with all her issues she has to deal with. Tavia goes on a really great self confidence and belief journey she starts off lacking self confidence just wants to hide but by the end she is were she is ment to be.
Effie loved Effie so much could relate to her worries and anxiety down to earth girl who loves Ren Faires her journey is a powerful and emotional one and I could predict what Effie would become at the end and it was powerful.
The Racial injustices were emotional made me think some parts of the book were uncomfortable to read I would say if you are triggered mentally to recent events please do read when you are mentally prepared certain plot points did mirror events going on reading this book made me feel connected and made me understand more about what happened.
I need a Gargoyle in my life scratch that everyone needs a Gargoyle in there life I need mom Dad I am in love with a gargoyle on everything please make this happen.
Love the mythology of Eolko and serbians and gargoyles
Got Frozen vibes from reading this book
Things that could of made it better
Would love to have a guide to the mythical creatures in the book at the front.
Felt there was too many chractures and mythical backgrounds to get my head round and some chractures I felt unnecessary to the plot like the umbrella guy.
Sometimes it felt a bit Jarring it was my first magical realism book
I did feel confusing
Even though Racial injustice is important I did feel it was forced in some parts
I need a sequel
This book needs to be made into a movie
All in all a great read that everyone needs to read this year I enjoyed the book I loved the mythical and black girl magic and I like the fact that Effie and Tavia are chractures that everyone needs
Solid 4.5 stars for me.

Tavia has always had to hide who she is, no one can know that she is actually a siren. She has kept the secret from everyone but her family and her best friend and almost sister, Effie. However, when a siren is murdered and her killer is allowed to go free Tavia begins to view the world in a different way.

Effie has always known that there is something special about her but all she knows is that she's not quite human and that her father left before she was born. Effie will go on a journey of self-discovery to found out about her heritage and to decide her future.

I really wanted to like this book. I thought the idea of using siren mythology blended with real-life issues facing African Americans was a fascinating and kind of brilliant concept however the execution didn't work for me. I never really understood the world that Tavia and Effie lived in. How were there so many magical creatures and why would anyone question a supposed mythological beings existence? Also, for a character that is supposed to be a siren she didn't really do anything particularly siren-ish. Tavia could have been almost any mythological being and the story would not have changed at all. The best part of the book was the way the author addresses current-day social issues in a new way but those parts didn't quite fit with the fantasy elements making the book feel like different stories that were mashed together. Plus, this was another dual narrative novel where both narrator basically sounded exactly the same. I really wanted to like this book but it was just very disappointing.

So.....sigh. Actual rating: 1.5 stars.

Okay, first I feel like I have to start this review by saying that if you are picking up this book for Black mermaids...you should probably put it down. I don't know if it's a spoiler to say there are no mermaids, because Morrow definitely tries to make you think that one of the girls is a mermaid for a good portion of the book, but again THERE ARE NO MERMAIDS. So the marketing was way, way off and just feels purposefully misleading.

This book has two POVS: Tavia and Effie. Now when a book has 2 POVS, I expect that the voices will sound different. If the chapters did not have headings for whose chapter it was, you would literally not be able to distinguish who was who. They were the same person. They had the same personality. They were both boring. I wasn't connected to either of them and their character development over the course of the book was like watching paint dry.

The world-building left much to be desired. The first 20% of the book was perhaps the most frustrated I had ever been. Morrow doesn't explain ANYTHING. She drops a series of mythological creatures with no explanation. There's sirens, and maybe mermaids, and a random gargoyle, and eloko (these were new to me and I would've loved to learn more about them but...alas), sprites (but also not actually? I don't know). It just felt like there was no effort to tie anything in this book together. It was the equivalent of reading a poorly put together papier-mache project.

I liked that the book touched on issues of blackness, but I actually found the focus to scattershot for the desired impact. A Black woman (maybe siren) is killed in the beginning, another Black woman (Def a siren) is arrested at a protest for the killing of a Black boy (I think? It's literally not really discussed at all), and some Black women are sirens but all sirens are Black women, so the metaphor gets extremely lost. Are Black women hated because they're Black women (which seemed to see what Morrow was trying but failing to say) or are they hated because they're sirens? There was an attempt at romance that was just so lackluster and I didn't root for them for a single second. I mean where is the attraction on the page? Why is everyone's personalities so dry? The book was just trying to take on way, way, way too much and ended up successfully hitting absolutely none of its points. And sometimes poor plotting can be saved by insanely good writing....not here. The writing itself was simply okay.

This was honestly just a very disappointing book, which breaks my heart because we NEED Black fantasy and we get something that was just incredibly disorganized. I honestly just did not find anything redeeming here. For my most anticipated book of the year, I'm really just sad about this one.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It dragged a bit in the beginning but picked up. I loved how parallel it was to what’s going on today while not adding to my overall anxiety.

After reading 10% of this novel, I couldn’t get myself within the story. Therefore I had to DNF the book.

The cover of this book is STUNNING and the big reason why I’ve requested this novel. Also the fact the main character wasn’t Caucasian for once. But unfortunately, it crumbles from there pretty fast for me.

I’m not exactly sure what is throwing me off this novel since it has much potential and a 4-star review. Maybe the slow pace of the connection between the main character’s past and future.

This book is for people that appreciate a slow paced book, mythical creatures, and insist on racism for a black community.

This was amazing! I loved it! Mermaids (sirens) and gargoyles wow! That was a fun read. I would definitely recommend it for everyone.

This seems to be a common theme for me lately, but this was another book that I struggled with for a bit early on. Don't get me wrong - I was enjoying the story (hey, sirens and gargoyles - need I say more?), but it was just going so slowly for me. The book tells the story of two sisters (although not by blood): Tavia, who is a siren, and Effie, who for much of the book is still trying to understand her identity, and the chapters alternate between Tavia's and Effie's points of view. However, I was occasionally confused when the point of view shifted. That all changed about halfway through the book, though, when the mythology and social justice story lines really took off, and at least for me, the pacing picked up. Using the mythology of creatures such as sirens, Morrow tackles issues such as race and identity, making it feel very relevant right now.

Do you have any idea how RELEVANT this book is in the crappy year of our lord 2020? Please allow me to start with saying Black Lives Matter, which I still can't believe has to be said as loud as it has been the last few weeks.

This book starts with the murder of a Black woman named Rhoda Taylor. No one was saying her name until it was hinted at that she was a siren. One little word, just the tiniest seed of suspicion in the minds of folks who can bring down justice, and she gets none because of who she is. Her murder is suddenly justified because she might be a little different from the people in charge.Sound familiar?

I fell in love with this story so hard from the beginning. This is a world where sirens, sprites and gargoyles live. Sprites are left alone, even though they turn children to stone in parks--keep Portland weird, folks--and gargoyles are very rare stone guardians. Sirens, on the other hand, are ostracized from the moment they reveal themselves. This is why they keep to themselves and only share their identities within unique communities that protect them. People are scared of them because they can compel people with their voices, and try to contain them with collars that suppress their voices. Not all Black women are sirens, but allsirens are Black women. This brought in an interesting twist to what we're seeing now. All lives can't matter until Black lives matter, and this book adds in the addendum that Black lives can't matter until siren lives matter.

This story is told from two points of view: Tavia and Effie. They are adopted sisters of a sort who are endearingly close and will protect each other, no matter the cost.

Tavia is the siren of her family, but that knowledge stays within the family to protect her. She struggles with controlling her voice and keeping her siren call down, and compensates with using sign language to communicate as necessary. She has even adopted a disability that presents similar to what she deals with as an excuse. I felt so bad for Tavia because no one should ever have to hide who they are out of fear of what society will think. Still, she's strong, and finds ways to make it work like joining her school's choir.

Effie is the adopted sister who is ... something. Much of her story is trying figure out what and who she is. She is a very self-conscious girl who hides behind her twists. Effie has what doctors think is severe eczema, and it embarrasses her. She feels her best when she's swimming and following in her mother's footsteps as part of the Renn Faire. I found her backstory to be the most interesting. Not only in the reveals that come at the end, but in her role with the park statues. When she was younger, her friends were playing Red Rover, but were turned to stone by the sprites living there at the time. Effie is famous because she's the only one of the children who didn't become a statue.

As I said, this book was very timely. While I'm sure the author didn't want this book coming out during both a global pandemic and a time of major societal upheaval, it was beneficial to me in further shedding light on the importance of the Black Lives Matter protests. Even topics and subjects I had learned just the day before, like Devonte Hart, were brought up here. There is a scene with Tavia is pulled over by the police, despite doing nothing wrong. I had no choice but to give this scene my full attention because I was terrified it would turn into something it absolutely shouldn't. There is also Black Lives Matter protest that Tavia and Effie attend. It brings up the same questions about why this boy died. If he'd pulled his pants up or used the cross walk would he be graduating next month?

There is only one part of this book that didn't quite click for me, and that was the Renn Faire/Hidden Scales. Perhaps I missed the explanation, but it was hard to figure out because of how the characters treated it. At first I thought it was a TV show, but its actually a yearly Rennaisance festival. At this faire, Effie plays a mermaid whose beloved is the blacksmith's son. However, there didn't seem to be a divide between this make-believe life and the real world. There is a lot of stock put into the stories that come out of a special tent. When Effie meets her 'beloved' for the first time outside of the faire, the boy doesn't once break character. I dunno, it's clearly important to the story, especially the ending, but I was more confused than intrigued.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the way the author paralleled our world with this fantasy world in a way that wasn’t over the top or campy but special and thought provoking. The characters were well developed and you felt for them. I would definitely recommend this book and would read this author again.

This book is beautifully written.

Reading A Song Below Water is to enter a magical world - a world where humans exist but some have secret identities like sirens, mermaids, elokos and more.

In this Young Adult Fantasy Fiction - we meet two "sisters" who are on journeys of self-discovery to understand who they really are and to be okay with that no matter what the world says. On the surface, this initially seems like just a coming of age story. However, it is so much more. It explores themes of Black Lives Matter, the #metoo movement and racism. The metaphor of a siren unable to use her voice because society has deemed her dangerous is not lost on me.

This novel will pull you in and it's intricate fantasy component will refuse to let you go until you understand what type of creature Effie is and what Tavia will do with her voice.

I loved how it explored the frustrations of parents trying to keep their children safe, stepping fully into how you were created and how society labels things dangerous and the implications.