From These Dark Depths is no exception to that. Vanessa Rasanen warned readers it would end with a cliffhanger, so I was prepared for that. Which actually means I simply had "cliffhanger ahead' hanging over my head the whole time I read the book. Which is probably why I didn't read it very quickly or sink very deeply into it.
It's a good adventure, much like the first book, On These Black Sands. Some very nice action sequences, and lots of good character development. Way more angsty prevaricating about "should I love this person or not" than I am usually a fan of, though. When the author labeled this a "romantasy," she wasn't kidding, and the truth is... I am really not this book's audience. I don't read much romance OR much fantasy. And that's probably why I liked it okay, and I can appreciate the world-building and other writing elements for the craftsmanship, but it just wasn't a book I loved.
Particularly Good Bits:
When he woke up, she would disappear, but the feelings wouldn't. He'd be left with this yearning to be near her and to know her, to care for her, and to live life beside her. A yearning for something that could never be, could never work (p. 26).
She frowned. How dare her thoughts be so logical when all she wanted to do was sulk? (p. 180).
If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-16. Definitely not something I would be comfortable letting a young teen read. There's a more-detailed-than-I-prefer love scene, plus quite a few instances of dialog with innuendo, and also instances of characters lusting after other characters. There's also a nasty keelhauling scene that involves torture, and the sirens eat people alive. Sometimes bit by bit. And there's a fair bit of bad language.
This has been the 42nd book read off my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2022.
I haven't read this series, even though I love Vanessa Rasanen's writing (Soldier On, baby!), because I'm pretty sure I'm not the target audience either. It seems to be dark NA fantasy-romance, which is not really what I like. Also, every time a series is advertised as having snarky, morally gray heroes, I'm like "errrrrrmmmmmmm... this may not be for me." It's not that I can NEVER enjoy a character who can plausibly be categorized as morally gray--but it's a vibe I tend to dislike more often than not?
ReplyDelete(Wow, there sure were a lot of double negatives in that sentence there, Katie...)
Katie, nope, I don't see you enjoying this series. It's not super dark (like, I think it's meant to be dark, but it just isn't), but it's definitely NA fantasy-romance. The heroes are supposed to be morally grey, but they really are upstanding and good guys, which is always cracking me up because they'll be all, "You can't love me, I'm a terrible person," and I'm like, "You keep saying that, but you keep doing good things, so I think you're just confused..." But Declan in particular has definitely done bad stuff in the past, so I guess probably he technically is morally greyish.
DeletePersonally, I love white knights and good guys with good intentions. The Lone Ranger was one of my earliest heroes, if that tells you anything :-)
Aha! That is kind of funny xD
DeleteI have a lot of thoughts rattling around in my head about morally gray characters, as well as the advertising of characters as morally gray by their authors. I think one issue I have with the label "morally gray character" is the author then feels a lot of pressure to live up to it by making their character SAY "oh, look at me, I am such a bad person"... but then the character needs to be likable, so they're not actually shown doing anything that morally reprehensible... It's quite interesting.
The Lone Ranger is an excellent choice <3
I much prefer antiheroes and reluctant heroes to morally grey heroes. Because antiheroes and reluctant heroes almost always have very specific morality codes they adhere to, they just don't seek to be heroes. Whereas, as you say, there's like this drive to prove that a morally grey hero isn't "good" and so the authors force bad behavior on them, in a way.
DeleteI mean, I think the only "morally grey" character I truly love is Sawyer from Lost. And even he isn't actually as grey as he likes to think he is, he just likes hiding behind that.
But antiheroes and reluctant heroes? I love them so much, so often. Din Djarin, Han Solo, Cassian Andor, Wolverine, Sherlock Holmes, Angel the vampire, Indiana Jones, basically every guy Alan Ladd plays in almost any movie...
Oooooooooh, that's another great point! It's true, morally gray characters rarely seem to have clear and specific moral codes, because their authors are often taking advantage of the "grayness," the vagueness of not having to address hard questions of right and wrong... but instead leaning into this general aesthetic of Badness (TM)...
DeleteTHERE'S JUST SO MUCH TO UNPACK xD
Cassian Andor! My boi!
Yes, I actually find truly morally grey characters troubling because they give me the sense that the author is trying to say that right and wrong aren't important or don't even exist. Which is the opposite of my own beliefs. Certainly, life gets messy, and a perfectly right solution doesn't exist to many problems. But that doesn't mean we should wallow around in a grey area and say it doesn't matter.
DeleteTo be clear, I don't think that's what Rasanen is saying. I think she's doing more of a redemption arc for Declan, but one where you spend the first book thinking he's not so bad, then find out at the end that he has done something very, very bad very recently, and then book two is dealing with the fall-out of that, with him sort of rising through greyness out of darkness toward the light. If that makes any sense?
Cassian Andor deserves alllll the love and hugs.
Yeah, the "there are no heroes" mentality is definitely troubling to me as well. And it seems to be quite the fashion these days. My brother and I have been talking about this a lot.
DeleteThat does make sense! It also confirms for me I probably wouldn't like Declan, so I'll continue to give the series a pass ;)
ALL the love and hugs for Cassian. And chocolate!
Agreed. I find nihilistic storytelling dangerous.
Delete