The summary of Sea Monsters is perhaps the most misleading one I've ever read, and it really ruins the reading experience. It implies that the book will be plot heavy. That it will involve circus. And music. And a mysterious, dangerous romance.

Instead, you get beautiful prose. Pages and pages of endless, beautiful, atmospheric prose. Chloe Aridjis' way of writing about how nature interacts especially is stunning: the relationship of the sea and the sand, the trees to the wind, water and light.

But beautiful prose isn't enough to make up for a total lack of plot or character study/development. And I say this as someone who doesn't rely heavily on plots in book. I'm not sure if I would have appreciated it more if it had been advertised properly, but I was thoroughly disappointed by one of my most-anticipated reads of the year.