Chlorine
Ratings59
Average rating3.7
DNF at 64%
I actually kind of enjoyed the writing at first and though it's kind of dramatic (or maybe really dramatic) but it gave this big impact, but when it's repeated so frequently, it becomes tiring. Also Ren ghosting Cathy and Cathy's letters were the opposite of enjoyment. Ren's narrator made it kind of interesting to listen to but.. I am over it lol also the synopsis talks about blood but menstrual blood and all that was not what I was expecting. TMI
(3+1 cause I'm happy it exists) This was good. I still wished it had been better.
Exactly the type of normalized insanity I was looking for. Excellent book with good pacing.
If you're fine with body horror and self harm and tales of obsession, this is... still really dark. Interesting idea, uneven approach to it.
“How was I supposed to differentiate between the pain due to the concussion and the pain due to the agony of everyday human life?”
in weird-feminist-saphic books we trust
i said it before and i'll say it again, idgaf about your swim meet.
omfg. finally!!!!!! i finished this. this was just not for me. i didn't feel connected to the story or the characters. the “plot”, if you can call it that, was so bland. maybe it's just the high school drama/sporting life problems the main character was going through that i just couldn't relate to, but i literally was so bored and could not care less about what was going on. the writing was fine but nothing super unique about the narrative or tone that stood out to me. so yep, it's a 2 from me.
oh dang
this was hard to put down!
I was a little dissatisfied with the ending but I think that's by design
Rating: 2.56 leaves out of 5-Characters: 2/5 -Cover: 4/5-Story: 2/5-Writing: 5/5Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Contemporary, LGBT-Fantasy: 2/5-Horror: 0/5-Contemporary: 2.5/5-LGBT: 3/5Type: AudiobookWorth?: EhHated Disliked Meh It Was Okay Liked Really Liked LovedIf you are looking for a horror book turn away from this book. It is far from horror. Ren is a girl who loves water to a mentally ill degree and the story is what comes with said mental illness. I get the underlying concept of the story but it is one of those books that are filled with “all men are monsters.” I get it in the concept of Ren's POV but doesn't mean that the constant wasn't repetitive. I think I would have rounded up to a 3 if the ending had been done a bit better. Nothing scares me more than mentally ill people killing other mentally ill people in the sake of helping. like we all know damn well she wasn't a mermaid and the last line of the book was her swimming away... which meant she drowned but it was done so poorly. And I couldn't bring myself to fully care about Ren when she was treating Cathy like crap. but I guess you see that toxic pairing in movies and books. Iunno this book just wasn't it for me. A majority of the book was just sad and the horror part was an oh no but not an OH NO. The one good thing that was shown in this book was the process of the mind when trauma happens over and over again, especially when it is intense. That part I am sad and angry with Ren and Cathy.
What an absolute ride.
It's not often I read books focused on sports; I've never played one or been interested in one, but the premise of this book and the actual plot of this book are somehow all about sports and simultaneously not about it at all. Going into this book I thought it would be more focused around the supernatural elements that were obviously referenced, but at its core, I think this book is about much more than that. Manipulation, belonging, mental health, abuse, so many things that wound together in such a compelling narrative that you really just couldn't look away. It was a haunting but incredible read.
You could see where this book was going to end from a mile away but the lead-up was still so enjoyable and tense; even though you knew what she was going to do, you were still waiting with baited breath.
That being said, do NOT ignore that body horror tag, because it is rife in this book, in multiple instances and in ways you don't always expect.
This one is gonna stick with me for a while.
As an ex (and sometimes current) swimmer, I loved the part of the book about competitions, training, and small insider details like having a friend help you to put on a competition suit. On the other hand, the protagonist's name bothered me all through the book. Seriously, what kind of Chinese speaking mother would name their child 人魚? Sounds like one of those clueless tattoos that people get in non-Chinese speaking countries. Secondly, Ren's personality was quite unbearable. She was incredibly selfish, ungrateful. and rude. If the book wasn't about swimming, and didn't have such an amazing supporting character like Cathy (sweetest girl ever), I would have left it unfinished.
Overall, great read, except for the brat of the main character.
I read this on Libby, and the first 50 pages or so were phenomenal. I have never read something so beautiful and I found myself highlighting so much (which I never do) and just crying. I thought for sure this would be a 5 star and a new all time favorite. It got a little repetitive and I did not like Kathy's perspective. The build up was so good, but I think to call this a horror is super mismarketed.
