Review: The Deep by Rivers Solomon

Title: The Deep

Author: Rivers Solomon

Series: Standalone Novella

Genre: Adult/ Fantasy

Publisher: Saga Press

Publication Date: November 5th, 2019

Edition: Kindle Edition, 176 pages

Source: NetGalley

Pre-Order: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | BAM

Synopsis:

   Yetu holds the memories for her people—water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners—who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly, is forgotten by everyone, save one—the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu.

   Yetu remembers for everyone, and the memories, painful and wonderful, traumatic and terrible and miraculous, are destroying her. And so, she flees to the surface, escaping the memories, the expectations, and the responsibilities—and discovers a world her people left behind long ago.

   Yetu will learn more than she ever expected to about her own past—and about the future of her people. If they are all to survive, they’ll need to reclaim the memories, reclaim their identity—and own who they really are.

Review:

This novella was inspired by the song “The Deep” from Daveed Diggs’ rap group Clipping, which I am not familiar with, but this book still sounded (and is) amazing.

It took until the end of chapter 2 for the book to really grab me, I mean this is a novella. But it feels longer than it's 170 pages. And I mean that in a good way. It's called a novella, but it doesn't feel like one. 

This was such a compelling and interesting book. I have no idea when it's supposed to take place, or where exactly it takes place, I know somewhere in the ocean, but I don't know where in relation to Africa. It kind of doesn't matter for the sake of what's going on. I just like to have visuals for stuff like that.

There was a lot that happened in this book, and it didn't feel rushed one bit. Though I would have liked a little more explanation for somethings, the passage of time was confusing at times for me, with the narration going into the past throughout the book, and I got confused a couple of times. (this could be an issue that's specific to me, and has nothing to do with the book itself) But the exact year is also never stated by any character, just a vague reference that it's been a very long time since the first of them was born.

This book is so different from anything that I have read in a while. And a beautiful and compelling tale of personal history, and memories. I highly recommend it.