Hello everyone!
Mostly because I feel super lucky that the author (who's stupendously lovely, by the way) reached out to me in the first place, asking if I'd like to have a look-see through her debut novel.
Um, where do I sign my soul away???
Opportunities like these didn't exist when I was first starting on my reading journey all those years ago, so now to HAVE them means I'm going to snatch them up just as fast as I can!
So I said yes, of course. Duh.
And embarked on the journey.
It took a little bit - the book has some heft to it! - but it was one hell of a ride, and I'm about to explain parts of it to you, but more importantly, I'm going to urge you to get a copy of this book as soon as you can. Yes, it's THAT good.
Without further ado, grab your diving gear, we're going under in Deeper than Black!
I don't really have anything from this author considering this is her first published work, HOWEVER, I have something SIMILAR with Emma Hamm, her Deep Waters series, so I'll be linking those down below if you're interested.
Allons-y!
H. L. Dawson writes an intriguing, occasionally tragic, and overall magical story in Deeper than Black, where we follow a woman named Mizu.
She lives in a Boba city, aka bubble city under the sea because the waters rose back in the day and drowned the entire world; she's a scrap diver who unearths bits and pieces that you'll be able to recognize if you read closely (looking at you, IKEA), and trades them in for food and water, but existence under the sea is ... kinda bleak, for her at least. Her dad's gone, her mom was sacrificed as a Current Bride, so a woman who was sent out into the sea to pacify it and maybe eek out some more existence, and she's basically all alone.
That is, until a Sirhunue grabs her and takes her with him.
Sirhunues are what us laypeople would call sirens or mermaids, except they were specifically made by splicing human DNA with that of sea life, and created for the purpose of serving humans once they relocated under the sea.
As anyone who's ever watched movies like Deep Blue Sea or the Jurassic series will tell you, that NEVER works out and is ALWAYS a bad idea.
Yes, I'm now side-eyeing the idiots who brought back the direwolf.
Anyway.
Mizu gets taken to a place called the Ark, or Ark Poseidon if I recall correctly - basically, at one time, the Arks were supposedly roaming the sea and looking for better alternatives at life, and then they all went silent, and to Mizu are just stories out of a forgotten past.
Here and now, however, she not only learns the Ark is both functional and real, but HER MOTHER IS ALIVE. SHE IS ALIVE, PEOPLE.
And she seems to be in charge of the place?
We never do get a full explanation as to what Umi's role is on the Ark, BUT, we get a VERY explosively charged reunion where Umi just wants to be all AH MY SWEET DAUGHTER WELCOME THIS IS YOUR NEW HOME NOW AND HERE WE HAVE A HUSBAND LINED UP FOR YOU AND LIFE WILL BE PERFECT NOW YOU'RE HERE.
Meanwhile, Mizu is about as welcoming as a block of ice. WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHERE ARE WE WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING HOW ARE YOU ALIVE WHO THE HELL IS THIS OCTOPUS LOOKING GUY KEEP HIM AWAY FROM ME YOU HAVE TO BE INSANE WHY ARE YOU COZYING UP TO ONE OF THEM?!?
It takes her a hot minute. But, slowly, the Ark starts winning her over, although I have to say my absolute favourite parts of the book have to be her adapting to this new reality, because it is SO REAL. Her emotions are exactly on brand with what you'd expect in a situation like this, described vividly so that you're almost feeling them with her, and the betrayal, then slow sense of wonder, gently tug at you throughout this section.
Deeper than Black then gradually transforms into mostly Mizu trying to find her footing in this strange new world, figuring out what she wants to do to contribute, getting her own little spot from her mother's partner, Cetor (who's the real MVP here, if anyone asks me), and finding herself torn between two people, Fin and Mako.
Well, I should say Sirhunue, not people.
Fin is the one who originally gets her to the Ark, and he's apparently a mix with an octopus, while Mako is mixed with shark DNA, and as he explains throughout, it's why people mostly avoid him, considering sharks are the apex predators of the oceans.
Fin is the quiet, stoic guy; Mako's the good kind of chaos who brightens your day just by appearing. He also has this nifty trait of not feeling slighted or insulted whenever someone else hangs out with Mizu, which is what happens with Fin every single time and he goes off pouting like there's no tomorrow.
The personal journey is one you'll have to discover for yourself. But there's another aspect to this that gets revealed:
Umi and Mizu are descendants from a woman named Elara, aka the scientist who initially figured out how to splice DNA with other species and started this whole mess.
Supposedly, she then also felt bad, led the rebellion, and disappeared into the deep with the Iron Womb, the thing she concocted which could birth Sirhunue.
And the breadcrumbs of legends about her, something Mizu wants to chase down to understand herself better, lead to Boba 3, a sunken city that went dark from one second to the next, and hasn't been heard of since (Boba 4 is the same, except Boba 4 looks like a literal ghost city where everyone just ... disappeared).
An expedition is mounted, comprising of Umi, Mizu, Fin, and Mako, and they do in fact make it to Boba 3.
The city looks like someone transplanted it into a living thing. It's also filled with monstrosities guarding something, but Fin and Mizu make it inside, to the very heart of the Iron Womb, which turns out to have taken over the city entirely.
Oh, and also, it's Elara.
Yes, THAT Elara.
She merged with the Iron Womb - the monstrosities are a by-product she didn't count on - and became a part of the ocean; the last part of her being the Abyssal Eye, this ... thing in the depth that needs to be destroyed right along with the Womb.
This is all revealed to Mizu when she finally reaches her destination, and once she explains the situation, Umi rigs a bomb, lies about a remote detonator, and sacrifices herself so that the other three can escape, but that Boba 3 (and the Womb) are gone.
In the wake of this tragedy, Mizu realizes that Elara must have given her more than just knowledge of the past and what to do in future: she either did a little DNA-trick, or just woke up what was already inside her, because it turns out post-op that Mizu is more Sirhunue than human now, able to swim underwater as she has gills, lights up with bioluminescence, and mostly is just super cool by the end of the book, honestly.
And as the Ark mourns the loss of one of its greatest, Cetor proves himself a bang-up man, Sirhunue, person, because he promises to stand by Mizu and support her mission to take down the Abyssal Eye, thus freeing those under the sea for good.
Mizu, for her part, finally seems to accept most of what's happened, to her and around her, and gets together with Fin, which is where we leave this first book. I hope the sequel's on its way!
For my two cents.
Main character: Mizu is incredibly real and well-developed. I like her initial reactions when she's told the truth and brought to the Ark and all, and I like her inner struggles. You get to live through them with her, and I think that's beautiful.
Other characters: They're actually pretty well-developed too, which is often a problem in these heavily character-driven books, and all get a chance to shine, from Umi and Cetor, to Fin and Mako. Of course they're not always perfect, and I'll admit I was rooting for Mako for a VERY long time because of how Fin suddenly turns into a sulky teenager as soon as things don't go his way, but, each and every one definitely carves their own spot in this book.
The world: is vast and deep and very well thought of, although I'd love to eventually maybe hear more about whether anyone believes they can one day return to the surface, however, we get quite enough Sirhunue and under-the-sea lore that it should feed several more books!
The conflict: truthfully, while you might think that the problem is initially about Mizu's past and what it means for her future, it's actually about the characters, Mizu adapting to her new reality, finding footing with the people around her and in her new home, and finding a purpose, then coming to terms with that she thought she knew and the actual reality. It's a very intriguing study in psychology, and I'm quite pleasantly surprised!
Now, for the reasons I docked one star off this review.
There are a few problems with this manuscript that could benefit greatly from another, tighter editing cycle. There are plenty of in-text repetitions which pop up in the text where they shouldn't be as introductory notes happen at the beginning of the story, not somewhere towards the middle when we've already been told about it, or even towards the end. This is something that's repeated throughout the book, and could possibly shave off at least fifty pages if not a hundred when going through the entire thing.
Additionally, the Sirhunue descriptions aren't uniform and definitely need to be looked over again, because at one point Cetor has both fins, tentacles, and legs, and even Mizu suddenly gets a mention of tentacles on her that obviously don't exist even just a few sentences later!
There's probably smaller bits and pieces I haven't mentioned, but the one other thing I'd point out is the Echo Sphere, that definitely needs to be edited throughout the story, as we get several different comments on how and when Mizu found it (after we already read exactly how it happened in-text, right beside her), and it's treated like an afterthought when we already know it can communicate, something Mizu seems to forget after coming to the Ark.
Those are my honest thoughts, and mostly, I believe another editing cycle could probably brush over most of what I mentioned above. The bones of the story are VERY well thought out, and I'm sure the sequel about the Abyssal Eye will be brilliant as well. Nothing that I said could use edits should deter anyone from reading, or indeed bother when actually reading, it's just a case of polishing things up.
Overall, I definitely recommend this one if you like stories about dystopia, sirens, uncovering the past and finding yourself in the middle of a very chaotic life!
xx
*image not mine
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