Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc.
Firstly, I want to say I’m really, really salty about the cover. I do not understand how the UK can have such pretty covers (that’s what I saw first) and then the US versions be given such ugly covers. Truly a travesty.
Secondly, the idea behind this.... WOW. Lovecraftian sea monster gods and islands who worship them. The gods, even though dead, were truly terrifying to read about. Their functions and appearance incredibly detailed.
Thirdly, While taking place in a not modern setting, there were submarines and diving bells and underwater suits. The culture was very solid and felt so real because of how much thought went into it. How life is like on islands, how ingrained the sea is into the people, using pieces of the dead gods for science and trade.
Fourthly, “Seakissed” people who had lost their hearing from diving were revered and most people know sign language. That was really interesting to read about because I’ve never read any fantasy books with sign language in them!
Those were most of the things I really liked about the book, however, the conflict mostly came from the protagonist Hark and his “best friend” Jelt. Oh, boy. The best friend, even from the beginning, very clearly manipulated and used the protagonist to get what he wanted. It was very hard to read for me because it was written so well and realistically. Crazy use of gaslighting throughout the whole novel. Jelt would frequently pressure Hark into doing things he wasn’t comfortable with by saying all kinds of stuff like “well I’ve always done everything for you” “don’t you want to be great?” “Why are you arguing with me? You owe me!” “Aren’t you my brother?” and other stuff of that nature. I just REALLY didn’t like reading about that. Hated it, in fact. The protagonist recognized this behavior but was still compelled to do whatever Jelt wanted after Jelt squashed down Hark’s protests. Perhaps it would have been fine if that was a smaller part of the book but it really drove the whole conflict throughout the entirety of the novel and because of that I really didn’t like the book as much as I had hoped. Frequently thought about putting it down because of that but pushed on because I really liked the rest of it.
So it’s a solid three stars for me. I liked the world so much, liked the science, the gods, the machinery, the culture, but because the whole plot essentially hinged on Jelt manipulating and using Hark and guilt-tripping him into doing whatever he wanted, it really dragged the book down in my opinion. That’s definitely a personal preference on my part because even that was written well, it’s just not what I enjoy reading

I don't know how Frances Hardinge does it but here we have another fantastic novel by her. It's always such a delight to see what kinds of book(s) she'll release next and I can 100% say that this one is a top 3 favorite by a landslide. The novel submerges the reader in to a brilliant landscape that is fleshed out and incredibly interesting. The characters are wonderful, too. Highly recommended, especially for fellow Frances Hardinge fans!

Much like the creatures within its pages, this book has many parts: sci-fi, fantasy, bildungsroman, young adult, middle grade, it's hard to put a category on it. All I can say is that I truly enjoyed it.

Perhaps what I loved best about it is the relationship between Hark and Jelt. The relationship itself is an incredibly unhealthy one, but I was glad to read a story of a boy who realizes his friendship is toxic and learns to rise above it, put his foot down, and say no. The characters were all very vivid, and I especially enjoyed seeing Hark and Selphin grow and change. It's also got a fantastic world, simple and complex at the same time, and endlessly creative. The prose was descriptive without being too flowery, and there were some lines that really hit me hard. The story truly resonated with me and I believe will resonate with a lot of readers as well. I've seen this book shelved as both MG and YA, given the protagonist is about 14, it's probably closer to YA, but I think there are things to be learned in this book for basically everyone.