Scan barcode
A review by abithoughtful
Sea Monsters by Chloe Aridjis
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
'I thought back to the Baudelaire poem and what it seemed to say, how to imagine travel is probably better than actually travelling since no journey can ever satisfy human desire; as soon as one sets out, fantasies get tangled in the rigging and dark birds of doubt begin circling overhead.'
π‘π‘π‘
'But that was the problem with mysterious people, I explained, once you spend time with them they're not so mysterious after all, and as I said that the merman smiled, as if promising, no matter what, to remain a mystery.'
Luisa falls in love with a mysterious boy and together they travel to Zapolite on the Pacific coast, to search for a troupe of Ukrainian dwarfs escaped from the circus, and soak in the strange dream of the Beach of the Dead. There, Luisa moves through cycles of enchantment and disenchantment, drinking each night with a man who does not seem to speak Spanish, falling out of love with her TomΓ‘s, chasing mirages that dissolve like sea spray.
ππ¦π
This book is a vision, a dream sequence, espousing a kind of magic realism that, only when you look at it a second time, do you realise is actually entirely devoid of magic. It's a coming of age book but in a strange, half-deflationary way, making growing up a shedding of fantasies, yet refusing to make that a tragedy. It moves sideways and backwards and forwards in a way that usually frustrates me (I want my books to have plots, mostly), but which mesmerized me this time. Like floating in the ocean and feeling the magic of a fish tickling your ankle, only to discover it's just a piece of litter. Like swinging in a hammock at dawn as police sirens swim through the air.
It's pretty short (under 200 pages) and a lovely antidote to some of the really shit horror I've read lately. Glad I took a punt on this one in a charity shop after taking a shine to the cover. I hadn't heard of it before. Check it out if you get the chance - it's great.
π‘π‘π‘
'But that was the problem with mysterious people, I explained, once you spend time with them they're not so mysterious after all, and as I said that the merman smiled, as if promising, no matter what, to remain a mystery.'
Luisa falls in love with a mysterious boy and together they travel to Zapolite on the Pacific coast, to search for a troupe of Ukrainian dwarfs escaped from the circus, and soak in the strange dream of the Beach of the Dead. There, Luisa moves through cycles of enchantment and disenchantment, drinking each night with a man who does not seem to speak Spanish, falling out of love with her TomΓ‘s, chasing mirages that dissolve like sea spray.
ππ¦π
This book is a vision, a dream sequence, espousing a kind of magic realism that, only when you look at it a second time, do you realise is actually entirely devoid of magic. It's a coming of age book but in a strange, half-deflationary way, making growing up a shedding of fantasies, yet refusing to make that a tragedy. It moves sideways and backwards and forwards in a way that usually frustrates me (I want my books to have plots, mostly), but which mesmerized me this time. Like floating in the ocean and feeling the magic of a fish tickling your ankle, only to discover it's just a piece of litter. Like swinging in a hammock at dawn as police sirens swim through the air.
It's pretty short (under 200 pages) and a lovely antidote to some of the really shit horror I've read lately. Glad I took a punt on this one in a charity shop after taking a shine to the cover. I hadn't heard of it before. Check it out if you get the chance - it's great.