Published By: Bellow Press
Pages: 232
Released On: 15/05/2023
When the whole world is drowning, who can you trust to pull you safely to shore? It is the year 2050. In the UK, people have fled the flooded coastal cities, and daily essentials like drinking water and electricity are rationed by microchip. Mia, a shy orphan, and Lily, a violent and troubled child, find solace in one another in a care home in Portsmouth. With their city doomed to sink before they reach adulthood they drift apart, only to be thrown together again in London at a meeting for Weather Underwater, a group of activists fighting the eco-fascist Ebbtide party in power. The meeting forces them both to make terrible choices – with devastating consequences.
*****
Thanks to Bellow Press for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
Kaisa is definitely one for the poetic language. Where a simple sentence could be used, she’s instead filed it with rather beautiful language. It takes a bit to get to grips with, and I did struggle with it at first, but overall it does make for a pleasant and exciting reading experience.
I found it a little slow to begin with, but within a few chapters I was right in it and willing the characters on. There’s a bit of scene setting and getting to know everyone and their situation, but once it gets going, it doesn’t let up. It’s action packed and sometimes hard to stomach, but it doesn’t lose its heart at the centre.
It’s a very interesting concept, a bit too close to home at times, the idea of the coasts being swallowed by the sea. It shows the strength of water and how we need to respect nature.
Because of the situation they’re in, it is a bit too political for me. Although I do understand why it’s necessary to the story. So that’s definitely a personal thing for me.
There are two main characters – Lily and Mia – who we get to know separately as adults, together as children, and then again together as adults. We walk through their lives, their work, their relationships. Two very different people bought together by common situations.
It is full of heart and full of passion. It’s very full on and quite graphic. The violence, murder, abuse, racism, bullying, terrorism…it’s all dialled up, which I suppose is what happens when you’re trying to survive in an ever-dangerous environment.
It feels like there’s a potential for a sequel here. You’re not shortchanged by the end of it, but there definitely is potential for me, either for a continuation of this narrative or another story that is linked. I think this will do well with readers.
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