Chloe's older sister, Ruby, is the girl everyone looks to and longs for, who can't be captured or caged. When a night with Ruby's friends goes horribly wrong and Chloe discovers the dead body of her classmate London Hayes left floating in the reservoir, Chloe is sent away from town and away from Ruby.
But Ruby will do anything to get her sister back, and when Chloe returns to town two years later, deadly surprises await. As Chloe flirts with the truth that Ruby has hidden deeply away, the fragile line between life and death is redrawn by the complex bonds of sisterhood.
With palpable drama and delicious craft, Nova Ren Suma bursts onto the YA scene with the story that everyone will be talking about.
4 STARS
I was actually pleasantly surprised by this book! I wasn't really sure what to expect. I picked it up because one of my favorite BookTubers (Penelope's Picks) mentioned that this book surprised her in a good way and it was unforgettable. She also mentioned that it was in the magical realism genre, and that's definitely a genre I want to read more.
First, the characters. The characters in this book are mostly Chloe, our main character, Ruby, her older sister, and London, the dead girl. I never felt really attached to these characters and at times I didn't really like them. I don't always have to like the characters to like the story, so this never was really a problem for me as I was reading and it wasn't until I was self reflecting to write this review that I realized I wasn't a fan of the characters. I thought Chloe and Ruby's sibling love was sweet and I thought it was believable. However, I can deal with the characters being a bit unlikable, but I was not a huge fan of the fact that some of the side characters were just boring. I would have liked more from them and I didn't feel like I really got to know them.
The plot was incredibly mysterious and addicting. I started the book thinking I'd get a good chunk into it before putting it down and doing something else but once I started reading I could not stop. I read the book in about two sittings but all the same day. It kind of gave me We Were Liars by E. Lockhart vibes. I think both because of them remind me of water but also not knowing what exactly is going on but still being pulled into the story.
The writing is gorgeous and I loved it. I think it worked really well with the plot and it gave it this overall mysterious and fairytale-esq feel to it that I really enjoyed reading. The writing has a good balance of both being both simple and poetic. It feels natural and it gets the reader so hooked into the plot that you cannot put it down. One thing that is oddly both a con and a pro is that the writing doesn't paint a good picture of setting. I feel like it's a con because it made it hard to picture everything clearly as I read, but at the same time it gave it this foggy unknown feeling that worked well with the plot. Like I said earlier, I don't read too much magical realism but I think this is definitely one of my favorite ones that I've read so far.
Overall I recommend this book to everyone. Obviously reading preference change with each person but I think if you're interested in reading some (or like me, more) magical realism that you should pick this up. If you are someone who has to like the characters to like the book I may say skip this one, because they can really be unlikable. But I think both the plot and writing make up for any of that. If you've already read Imaginary Girls, I'd love to discuss!
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