Sea Change
Ratings2
Average rating4.5
The unhappy child of two powerful parents who despise each other, young Lilly turns to the ocean to find solace, which she finds in the form of the eloquent and intelligent sea monster Octavius, a kraken. In Octavius's many arms, Lilly learns of friendship, loyalty, and family. When Octavius, forbidden by Lilly to harm humans, is captured by seafaring traders and sold to a circus, Lilly becomes his only hope for salvation. Desperate to find him, she strikes a bargain with a witch that carries a shocking price. Her journey to win Octavius's freedom is difficult. The circus master wants a Coat of Illusions; the Coat tailor wants her undead husband back from a witch; the witch wants her skin back from two bandits; the bandits just want some company, but they might kill her first. Lilly's quest tests her resolve, tries her patience, and leaves her transformed in every way. A powerfully written debut from a young fantasy author, S.M. Wheeler's Sea Change is an exhilarating tale of adventure, resilience, and selflessness in the name of friendship.
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Sea Change is achingly good, true to its fairy-tale origins. Achingly good because I enjoyed it, despite the frustration and angst as I became invested in the protagonist's quest. The characters never have an ending–happy or not–and instead face the chaotic world, hitting highs and lows along the way. The pacing itself was a mix of lulls and surges, but I found it engaging. Each part of the story was dwelt on exactly as long or as short as necessary.
I loved how understated the queerdom is. I love how there's queer representations at all, especially the genderqueer protagonist!
Overall, a great story. Another one to place in my transient favourites.
For the technical aspects:
The prose is praiseworthy, being concise and descriptive. Whenever I found myself skim-reading, I quickly had to recover and reread the paragraph; I would miss out on delectable bits otherwise.
Stylistically, the story requires an active reader to be enjoyed. Especially in the earlier chapters, there are oblique references that only receive full context later on. The occasional transition paragraph will be italicised, something I didn't mind until I looked through reviews and noticed others concerned about it.
I enjoyed this book immensely for the weird, creepy, and strange but unique tone. The writing style was a bit difficult and somewhat convoluted but the story made up for it. The character development, however, was what really resonated with me the most because it literally transformed the protagonist; and gave major insight into the depth and effort that went into building and creating such a character. The complexity of the other characters and the roles they played contributed so much to the journey of self-discovery for the protagonist.
