I am honestly breathless. This book didn’t just tell a story; it submerged me in it.
The Summary
After Marissa loses her mother at six, the most intimate relationship of her life begins. Her marine biologist father, determined to channel his grief into completing his wife’s research, whisks her across the globe to Thailand. There she meets Arielle, and a fairytale friendship takes hold. During the week, the girls live at the resort owned by Arielle’s parents; on the weekends they join the tight-knit community of researchers on a nearby island. Together the girls discover the fragile wonders of its reefs, forests, and beaches. Together they learn to dive into the deep, holding their breath for minutes at a time, as effortlessly synchronized as the manta rays they come to know by name. Together they learn to swim their way out of danger. But then comes a wave Arielle can’t outpace, leaving Marissa gutted with loss.
Years later, Marissa is back in New York, adrift and haunted by the memory of her friend. Over the course of two fateful days, as another cataclysm approaches the city and the past comes flooding back, she discovers how to sustain herself in a precarious world.
My Review
Tropes:
- Dual timeline
- Female friendship
- Grief & healing
- Trauma & PTSD
- Lyrical writing
Tara Menon’s prose is simultaneously gorgeous and haunting. It’s a raw, nauseatingly honest depiction of grief and PTSD, yet it is written with such lyrical beauty that you can almost taste the salt air and feel the heavy humidity of the Thai coast.
The dual timeline is done so seamlessly, moving between past and present with a quiet, deliberate pacing. As the past slowly unravels, you start to see just how deeply it has embedded itself into Marissa’s present, shaping the way she moves through the world and processes her pain.
At the center of the story is the friendship between Marissa and Arielle. It’s messy, all-consuming, and so achingly real. You can feel how much these girls mean to each other in every moment, which makes the grief hit that much harder.
What makes this book stand out even more is how it weaves in larger themes without ever losing its emotional core. It tackles climate change, the exploitation tied to tourism, and the fragility of both nature and human life with such care and nuance. Nothing feels heavy-handed, yet everything feels important.
It’s an impressive debut that tackles massive themes like grief, PTSD, climate change, the exploitation tied to tourism, and the fragility of both nature and human life with care and nuance.
It is devastating, beautiful, and incredibly immersive. One of those books that lingers long after you finish the last page.
Thank you to @riverheadbooks the gifted copy!
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