UptownOracle in Book Reviews

Uptown Oracle Reads… A Song Below Water

A Song Below Water
Bethany C Morrow

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Tavia is already at odds with the world, forced to keep her siren identity under wraps in a society that wants to keep her kind under lock and key. Never mind she’s also stuck in Portland, Oregon, a city with only a handful of black folk and even fewer of those with magical powers. At least she has her bestie Effie by her side as they tackle high school drama, family secrets, and unrequited crushes.

But everything changes in the aftermath of a siren murder trial that rocks the nation; the girls’ favorite Internet fashion icon reveals she’s also a siren, and the news rips through their community. Tensions escalate when Effie starts being haunted by demons from her past, and Tavia accidentally lets out her magical voice during a police stop. No secret seems safe anymore—soon Portland won’t be either.

Before I even get to the fantasy elements, I want to discuss Tavia and Effie’s relationship. They have a sisterly bond which is impenetrable, and Morrow writes it so well that it feels real. Whilst there are a few parts in the book where they keep secrets, or they do disagree, there’s always a sense of love there which enhances the relationship.

“Real Doesn’t Apply to Family”

Tavia is a Siren and she tries hard everyday to live with that, and hide it. Her father particularly has brought her up to be safe and ensure no one knows, and we learn a lot about Sirens through her. A core thing I loved was that there were support groups to help hide sirens within communities – so Tavia was allowed to sing in her singing group as those surrounding her, especially the elokos, would help hide the power in her voice.

Effie is more of a mystery. She suffers from flares of scaly, patchy and dry skin constantly which is key part of her finding herself. You wonder from the start of the book if she is a Siren, and then other magical creatures are introduced and you wonder about them too.

Sirens in this world are bad and hated due to their powers. Other creatures however aren’t held in the same way. I may have misremembered, but sirens are usually black women I believe. Publicly open sirens such as Lexi, a reality star, wears a dampening collar to hold back her powers. The steps taken against sirens are not safety precautions for non-sirens, but actively minimising those with Siren powers, until they are more vulnerable than those who would have come up against their powers before.

There’s an almost instant emphasis on the media leading the perspective of those in the news, whether it’s about the victim or perpetrator. Rota Taylor is a victim after being killed by her boyfriend, but as she is black there’s leading news to out her as a siren. As soon as this is the case, her status of unsuspecting victim is turned into a long time abuser who deserved it. This mirrors real life.

“No one really knew or cared if she was actually a siren or not, they just when along with her post-mortem character assassination because she was already the worst thing she could be, a black woman.”

I read this with an audiobook and I’m not the best with audio, so will probably need to re-read this at some point. However the actual voice reminded me heavily of the “What Remains of Edith Finch” game and it helped create a sense of mystery and a little bit of darkness.

The core thing that pulled me out of loving this book a lot, was the pacing. Thinking back to when I read it, I don’t remember a lot of things that happen in this book, and that’s because a lot of the book is more contemporary in storyline. The Rota Taylor story, the influence, and even the relationships to secondary characters are all things that could have been in a contemporary book. So whilst it does include fantasy creatures, at times it doesn’t have the fantasy adventure vibe.

Despite the pacing, I enjoyed A Song Below Water as a whole and would recommend it to contemporary lovers who want to try a bit more fantasy!