Octogenarian Evie Beaulieu is a renowned champion of the marine world; Ina Aroita has grown up around the Pacific and finds refuge in art; two high school friends obsessed with Go have followed radically different paths - their stories all converge on the French Polynesian island of Makatea which has been chosen for an ambitious seasteading project…

A book about the oceans should have been a slam-dunk for me, but while the story was interesting enough, it felt rather…listless and stereotyped. Now, perhaps this was on purpose to make a point about the revelation at the end. But if so, the result was a bit dull, when the potential was certainly there for an exciting read about the impunity of tech moguls, the wonder of the oceans and the conflict between small communities and the legacy of colonialism in the Pacific and how that ties into the environment. Yes, the themes are important, but neither the story nor the storytelling felt particularly innovative or refreshing.

So basically, that’s all to say that it was fine. Until the end, which was an absolute cop out and I just cannot get over it - I read through 400 unremarkable pages for THAT?! I am still so incensed that I deducted a whole star from my rating.

A slightly listless, ultimately dissatisfying story of the ocean’s wonders intersecting with tech moguls.