Review: A Song Below Water

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Much highlighted as one of several big Black YA releases from last week, this one was pretty quick to get to me as an e-book loan through my local library - and damn, did it prove timely. Set in an alternate world where there are various fantasy beings living amongst humans, and where one of our two protagonists, Tavia, is a siren forced to deal with extreme bigotry at all times - this on top of her being a Black girl, one of very few in Portland, though Portland is also home to a pretty good network of sirens within the Black community - it comes as no surprise that she has her work cut out for her if she's to survive in this world. A world where a murder trial in southern Oregon is expected to end with the defendant's acquittal just because the victim was a siren. A world where Tavia inadvertently uses her voice to get out of a police stop - and attracts the wrong kind of attention from a cop whose son she knows pretty damn well. And, of course, one of the most popular reality shows in this world features a siren who willingly puts on a collar that suppresses her voice - if you could see the number of times my stomach turned over every time that came up... 

Alongside Tavia in this story is her adopted sister Effie, who has played a mermaid in the local Ren Faire for years. (Well technically, it's in Vancouver across the river, but still.) Just as Tavia fears for her ability to live freely in a world that's extremely anti-Siren, Effie has these constant recurring dreams about playing Red Rover, and these kids that have long since disappeared, but may have something to do with a popular piece of local art...let's just say that the truth of Effie's identity has to be seen to be believed. 

It's not a big book, but it's powerful and not to be missed, with its layers of allegory and blistering social commentary. Now, I'm going to have to find a way to get ahold of Morrow's earlier adult novel, Mem, because I'll be damned if that one doesn't look like a good story too...

View all my reviews