Wednesday, October 27, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen

 



Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on November 2, 2021 in exchange for a potential review.  I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.


Skin of the Sea is the debut novel by author Natasha Bowen.  The book is advertised as a young adult fantasy inspired by both the Little Mermaid and West African mythology, and very much fits that bill.  But it's also a story set during the height of the African slave trade, and the book doesn't shy away from the realities of that, even as it dives into a tales featuring West African mythological creatures and beings, gods, and Orisas.*

*I'm used to seeing the spelling as Orisha, but this book uses "Orisa", so I will as well for this review, since it's a non-English word anyway so presumably both are correct*

Skin of the Sea is predictable in some fashions, and should be even for its audience, but it is a really well done tale using parts of a mythology that many will not be super familiar with.  So you have a YA romance between a mermaid and a human, both of whom got caught up in the slave trade, a quest for mystical artifacts, and encounters with deities, Orisa, and the aforementioned creatures - some of whom are helpful and others of whom are enemies.  The characters are all very likable, especially its mermaid - or mami wata - main character, and my biggest complaint is only that the book's ending is kind of unsatisfyingly abrupt, as the first book in what is presumably a series.  But otherwise, this is a very solid YA fantasy.  
-------------------------------------------------Plot Summary-----------------------------------------------------
As a Mami Wata, Simidele ("Simi") was blessed by the Orisa Yemoja, the Orisa of the waters, to swim and live in the waters, and to collect the souls of those cast into the water to die - souls like those thrown off slave ships - so that those souls can be blessed on their journey back to the creator, Olodumare.  But unlike the other six Mami Wata, Simi can't help but feel a connection to the land, where she grows back legs temporarily...and begins to remember her life before she was transformed.  Yemoja tells her she must learn to let it go, and must continue her task: to collect the souls of the drowned...and nothing more.  

But when a living boy is dropped off a slave ship, Simi can't help but rescue him....alive.  Now having mistakenly broken a promise of Yemoja, Simi is forced to join the boy, Kola, on a journey back to the land to obtain two magical artifacts that will allow her to contact Olodumare to beg forgiveness.  But not all Orisa are as friendly as Yemoja, to say nothing of the humans and creatures of the land, and there is one Orisa that will stop at nothing to stop Simi and Kola and to obtain the artifacts for himself.  And if he does, it won't just be the Mami Wata and Yemoja who suffer, but all of creation.  
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Skin of the Sea in a few ways tells a story that most readers, even younger adult readers (this book will be fine even for middle grade readers), will have seen before.  Obviously, once Simi rescues Kola, she's going to fall in love with him - even with Yemoja's warning that to fall for a human will result in her destruction.  Obviously once she goes on a quest to find the two magical rings before the Orisa Esu, you know that she and Kola are going to wind up encountering Esu at some point.  And obviously Simi is going to feel conflicted between her memories of the land and her love - and her body's need for - the water (this is somewhat of a Little Mermaid pastiche of course).  

Yet Bowen uses the West-African myth-based world to create a story that also manages to surprise and delight at the same time.  Bowen takes the reader and the characters through a world that features creatures and deities of various kinds in ways that are fascinating and enjoyable to discover, whether that be Orisas of lightning, wind, or the underworld, or creatures and beings that are very different from the similar concepts in western mythologies (I'm purposely being vague and not spoiling here).  And all of these beings have their own personalities and characters, and you really feel for them in some cases (again being vague).  

And that's to go with a setting of slave-trade era Africa, where white people are kidnapping (or taking advantage of African tribes kidnapping rivals) Africans to be shipped overseas as slaves, making it more and more difficult for African villages and peoples to live in peace.  In this setting comes our two leads, who are both really strong.  In Simi, you have the girl torn between two worlds - the sea and the land - who also is really trying to do what's right at the same time, even when that doesn't quite matchup with what she's been told to do, and even when it might hurt - whether that be saving Kola, or doing other things.  In Kola you have a boy who cares absolutely for his family, especially his special younger twin siblings, and will do anything to protect them - something he feels he failed to do when he was captured and put on a slave ship the first time.  And the minor characters, mainly the African humans the pair encounter on their quest are really well done as well.  

The result is a plot that takes a few turns you'll predict, and a few you won't, such that it very much works from beginning to end.  This is not a long book, and even younger readers should devour it quickly, although they might be a bit disappointed with the ending as the book ends on a cliffhanger rather abruptly.  I really didn't want this to end, or at least was hoping for a more conclusive ending, and what is here won't be satisfying considering how enjoyable the plot and characters are up through this point.  It's an ending that makes sense through and makes me want the next book immediately.  

So yeah, highly enjoyable West-African inspired fantasy, and well worth your time.  Recommended, especially for younger readers.

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