To summarise: this book was haunting, emotive and deeply powerful. I still struggle to review or describe this book, I’ve put it off for so long that it caused a backlog. No matter how often I thought on it, and that was very often, I was at a loss for words. I could not form the right sentences to explain the impact of such a short story, especially when this is not the usual genre or writing style I reach for.

Rivers really packed in a powerful storm of emotions into a small package. Between their retelling, the song that inspired the story and onwards, there is layer upon layer of metaphors and history (both real life and imagined), that makes up the fabric of this underwater world and society. The writing style is richly descriptive and dramatic, I highly recommend the audiobook which was narrated by Daveed Diggs (from the group Clipping whose song inspired this novella).

Recurring themes echo throughout, including carrying the burden of generational trauma, shared history and lost history. 

I read this as one of my Pisces season picks and it is a perfect embodiment of the energy. Deeply emotional, creative and lost within dreams and memories.