Tavia and Effie are sisters -- not by blood, but in every way that matters. Both of them badly need the support and love of a sister. Like her late grandmother, Tavia is a siren. But the world, not to mention Tavia's father, dislikes and distrusts sirens, and Tavia lives in fear of her secret being discovered. Meanwhile, Effie was long ago the only survivor of a terrifying incident in a Portland park, and she has begin to fear that the incident is coming back for her.

After a few years of hearing about -- but not being able to find at a library! -- Bethany Morrow's first book Mem, I was pumped as hell for her YA novel. And I was right to be: It's excellent. Tavia and Effie's friendship forms the heart of this book, and it's a beautiful center for a wonderful book. Though the book includes some gestures toward present and past romance for the girls, their sisterhood remains the central relationship. Not for a single second do you doubt that these girls are going to protect each other and fight for each other, no matter what's happening to them. Without spoilers, Tavia makes a sacrifice for Effie at the end of this book that brought genuine tears to my eyes. Though at first it seems like Tavia's the sister the story's really about, and Effie's the sister who will stand by her to the end, you pretty quickly learn that Effie's got her own stuff, and it's no less painful and important than what's going on with Tav.

Which is actually another really strong element of the book: Everyone Has Stuff! A Song Below Water hands out the full measure of humanity to just about every character, with the possible exception of Effie and Tavia's classmate Naema; she's a real piece of work. Notably, this isn't limited to the kids! Though Effie's mother is deceased and she doesn't know her father (that's a whole other thing), she has two in loco parentis who spend all their time not telling her anything about her dad or her heritage. Tavia's dad takes every opportunity to remind her that he didn't want a siren daughter, and her mom never steps in to defend her. But what's lovely and unusual is that the book doesn't write anyone off for their imperfections (except, again, maybe Naema, who's a real asshole). Tavia and Effie are old enough girls to hold the cognitive dissonance of loving their parents while understanding that they're flawed.

If there's a true enemy in this book, it's the American system of racism and other kinds of bigotry. Bethany Morrow can't have known that the country would be in the grips of such significant social unrest when her book came out, but it's a tragically apt environment for A Song Before Water. LL McKinney coined the phrase stand-in bigotry for speculative fiction stories that use the structures and vocabulary of real-world oppression, while applying them to fictional identities. McKinney makes the vital point that stand-in bigotry often uses real oppression as a prop while declining to interact with the real systems of prejudice that do terrible harm in our own world, as exemplified by the police brutality that has racked our nation over the past week and a half.

Morrow beautifully sidesteps this error. A Song Below Water is fundamentally about racism and sexism, which interact with and exist alongside the fictional prejudices she creates. Tavia and Effie are reminded again and again that they can only depend on each other, that Black girls stand for Black girls because nobody else will do it. Despite the fantastical elements of this book, A Song Below Water exists very much in our own world, with all of its painful flaws and structural inequalities. Morrow makes Tavia's struggle with her siren identity a truly intersectional one, as she understands the risks she already runs as a visibly Black, visibly female person, and tries her best not to add another area of risk by admitting she's a siren. It's a heartbreaking struggle; every part of it keeps her from being fully who she is.

At its heart, A Song Below Water is the story of two girls trying to do right by each other and themselves. As you can probably tell, I loved it and I recommend it most highly.

Note: I received an e-ARC of A Song Below Water from the publisher, for review consideration. This has not affected the contents of my review.

The YA fantasy genre crosses with themes of racism, misogyny, and social justice in this novel about two best friends, one a siren, the other just discovering who she is. Tavia and Effie are closer than sisters and their fierce love and protectiveness of each other was one of my favorite things about this book. The incorporation of prejudice, oppression, and the Black Lives Matter movement into a fantasy context was really well-done.
My only complaint is that the story progressed a little too slowly for my taste. I was so interested in the themes but the story itself never quite grabbed me the way I hoped. I give it 3.5 stars but rounding it up to 4 because I so loved Tavia and Effie and their stories were so incredibly relevant.
Thank you NetGalley, author, and publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing me with the digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ll admit it, the first thing that drawn me to this book was its cover. I mean, how beautiful is it? Stunning for sure! Then I read the plot and I found it to be really interesting and promising. A book about sirens and misogynoir? It sounded extremely interesting and I so wanted to love it! Unfortunately, this book didn’t convince me.
A thing that I really liked in this novel was the friendship between Tavia and Effie, our two main leads. They really care deeply about each other and we can see that all the time.
Another thing was definitely the representation of our own society in this magical context. The characters here are dealing with racism not only because of the colour of their skin, but also because they are women and they have some kind of magical powers. I think this was an original and good topic. However, this social commentary was pretty much the only thing that kept me going with this book.
Here, there were no world-building and almost no character-building. Since the beginning of this book a lot of specific terms were thrown at us without a single explanation or description, such as sprites and ekolos. I had no idea what they were, so I didn’t know how these creatures looked or acted like. I felt very disoriented and I had to google them in order to find out something.
Going through the first 30% of the story was kind of difficult for me, I was constantly confused about what was really going on and what/who the characters actually were: it seemed all a bit of a mess. I felt like I’d been thrown into the story without any kind of introduction or acknowledgement about what I was going to read about. Fortunately, then it started to become a little more interesting, but the pacing was very slow and for me it was still hard to keep going on with this read. And that’s something that surprised me, because it rarely happens to me.

Morrow has weaved a tale that questions racism in society and the fear and injustice that people experience. This book reads like hard-hitting contemporary with a magical realism twist and comments on racism and how society other people who are not white. Although the novel itself discusses humans and sirens, humans fear sirens and their voices, because their voices are powerful. They fear the power and change that sirens have with their voice. The humans don’t want change and are hanging onto their way of life. The novel begins when a siren is murdered, and protesters want justice for her. Sirens are unknown to society, and they can’t understand them and don’t make an effort to. Since sirens are different, they don’t relate to them and see them as less than.
This novel focuses on racial tensions and the racial profiling that Black people and other minorities face daily. There was a particular scene where an officer pulls one of the characters over, and the tension permeated the page. The officer pulls her over for no reason, and she has to sit there, hoping that nothing terrible happens to her. This book was fast-paced and a very enjoyable read. As to the writing itself, the author relied a lot on telling rather than showing how characters feel or showing what is happening in the scenes. But the plot was strong and kept me reading until the very last page.

I was so excited to read about sirens, black mermaids and gargoyles, but so disappointed that the story fell flat. It surrounds two teenage sisters-by choice living with the challenges of teenage years, complicated further by identity issues. Tania is frightened by the consequences of the world finding out she is a Siren, and Effie struggles with her complicated family history. This contemporary fantasy, set in Portland, Oregon, a city that is challenging for those with brown skin, is told in alternating first-person narration. I found the plot to be confusing, and the first part of the story to plod along so slowly, that when it did pick up, I was no longer engaged. I would still recommend it to those who like YA contemporary fantasy, with a Black Girl Magic spin.

Social and race issues meet mythology in such an incredible way.

Two sisters (well “play sisters” as they refer to themselves) are struggling to deal with romance, school and most importantly identity. Effie and Tavia navigate their way through their junior year all while dealing with Tavia keeping a dangerous secret that put the lives of black women in further danger, she’s a siren. Effie is struggling with finding her own identity, where does she come from, what is being kept from her?

This novel was amazing. It was full of twists, turns and powerful moments. I found this book easy to understand. I really appreciated the author’s writing style, I loved her character development and I genuinely felt the love between Effie and Tavia. I really enjoyed reading this, I never wanted to put it down and I think it would be a really good book to include in English classes. It tackles race issues, misogynoir, the current political climate, family dynamics, and so much more in ways that feel really approachable and easy for anyone to understand.

I found some of the situations a bit confusing, primarily with Effie’s perspective. I found the conclusion to come slightly out of nowhere, it is explained but the ending felt a bit rushed. The pacing seemed a bit off as a result. It may have been intended, but it felt a little lost on me.

I cannot express enough how much I enjoyed this book. I understand that I am coming from a different perspective, but I was really grateful to be allowed to read this ARC. I think everyone should check this out, it’s a wonderful bridge between fantasy and contemporary.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of the eBook.

★★★½

The topics explored in this book, as well as the wonderful bond between the two protagonists make this a worthwhile read. However, the pacing and straight-up uneventfulness made it very difficult to go through.

For a debut fantasy novel, I would say this was decent. I don't regret reading it at all but I hope that the author's future fantasy novels are a bit more exciting and eventful!

I adore the cover for A Song Below Water! however I definitely have mixed feelings about the book. I loved that the author is trying to make a point about social issues, racism, etc. However mixing fantasy in with that theme just felt like too much clashing to me. I really loved the mythology and the fantasy in this book but would have loved to see it by itself! There's a gargoyle and a siren and a gorgon that are all incredibly exciting! I just definitely would have loved to see more of this fantasy explained and focused on!

Welcome to alternate universe Portland OR, where myth meets reality with great consequence. Morrow weaves the real and the fantastic with great skill, incorporating horrors from our current reality alongside the coming of age stories of two supernatural teenagers.

Tavia and Effie are growing up with regular teenage problems, but are also coming to terms with their growing and changing powers. Tavia is a siren in a world where people are afraid of what they don't understand, so she must keep her identity (mostly) hidden. She lives with her overprotective family and her best friend Effie, who is struggling with trauma in her past and missing her deceased mother. Together, they attend high school, see each other through some romantic drama (not with each other), and get involved in a public demonstration that takes a frightening turn.

Underlying all of this jam-packed plot is the parallel between how this alternate universe is treating people like Tavia and Effie, and how our actual reality is treating Black girls/women. The comparison is beautifully illustrated - Morrow isn't exactly light-handed about it, but it comes across succinctly and with great impact.

Although the story meanders a bit (there is a LOT happening, all the time), I think it's wonderfully told and so unique, while also being very relevant and impactful. I'd recommend this to anyone reading YA - there's something for almost everyone here.

Ultimately, I didn't get very far into this book before I realized I wouldn't enjoy it. The story wasn't compelling to me, very much a case of "it's not you, it's me." The concept seems really interesting and I'm sure it's something a lot of people will enjoy, but unfortunately, I can tell it won't end up working for me, mostly because every time I try to pick it up, I struggle to continue with it. One of the other issues I was noticing was that I had trouble distinguishing between the two narrating characters to the point where it was distracting me. As well, I found the writing style a little odd for me, perhaps using too much slang in places that didn't make sense.

Part of me thinks this is a book I would rather enjoy in a physical copy, so maybe down the road I'll check this one out from my local library, but at the moment, it's a no from me.

Incredibly grateful for the publishing company for allowing me an arc, though, and I hope that this book will be wonderful for other readers, especially black readers!

-Book Hugger

DNF @ 50%

I thought this was supposed to be a fantasy yet it didn't read like one. It read more like a contemporary. I was confused majority of the time and I can not differentiate the two sisters point of view even though the chapter would say who they are. I did like how he author incorporated natural hair vocabulary such as LOC but did not explain what it was. It was a lot of information thrown around that did not get explained and the plot I felt like was all over the place and I could not handle that. I liked how the author weaved in discussions of how Black people are treated by being sirens. This was not grabbing my attention like I wanted it to.

This was a Contemporary Fantasy, with several social topics and themes woven throughout. I really enjoyed the intersectionalism of both Effie and Tavia. They had to lay low and assimilate to their environment while not only being black women, but also sirens which were also heavily discriminated against and target by police enforcement and the media. The experience of being a women of color as well as sirens were evaluated and described throughout this book.

I did enjoy the magical world in this book, but I felt very confused and had little to no context about the characters, the creatures mentioned (Gargoyles, sirens, elokos) as they weren't explained. Both the magical world and characters weren't setup nor explained well so I felt like I really couldn't connect with the story or its characters and I often felt confused/lost throughout.

I also felt like the two sisters voices/narrations weren't distinguished enough and I had to re-read sections to figure out who was narrating. I wish they both had more distinguishable identities and personalities as a whole.

The concept and activism/social justice in this book were great, but I felt that it lacked depth in both the story and character development and I couldn't really connect with it.

I could not for the life of me focus on this story. Every time I picked it up, I suddenly became exhausted and my eyes wouldn't focus on the page. But I do think the story was very compelling so far. I liked the mythology and the openness with the magic and beings. I thought Tavia and Effie's POV's were strong and distinct, this was just not the right time for me to read this story, but I will be picking it up in the future.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher and netgalley. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: A Song Below Water

Author: Bethany C. Morrow

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3/5

Diversity: Black main character and side characters!

Recommended For...: mermaid lovers, people who want commentary on racism and discrimination

Publication Date: June 2, 2020

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: can’t recommend, dnf-ed

Publisher: TorTeen

Pages: 288

Synopsis: 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.

Review: I had to DNF this one. I was really confused in the beginning and that progressed throughout the book until I put it down at 32%. The writing didn’t connect me to the characters and the voice of the characters were just monotone and indistinguishable. The book also used a lot of terminology that wasn’t explained well. I did like that the book wanted to tackle discrimination and racism, but the way she went about it was a bit too disjointed to me. I really wanted to love this book though and I will definitely try to read this again!

Verdict: I think it’s a good book, just didn’t connect with me.

This is a book everyone needs to read. Set in a world where sirens, gargoyles, and magic are real, this story focuses on two black teenage girls struggling to find their voices. They may not be sisters by blood, but they've adopted each other and navigate through a world of racism and prejudice side-by-side. </p>

One the surface, this book is about Tavia, a siren struggling to stay hidden in an anti-siren society, and Effie who is on the cusp of discovering a dark family secret. But A Song Below Water is so much more than a YA fantasy novel. It's a story about the repression of black women and how their voices are the last to be heard in a screaming crowd. It's a story of fighting to be seen and validated and accepted in a world that is inherently designed to keep you down. This is a story about empowerment and finding the inner strength and pride to stand against the forces surrounding you that want to see you fail. It's timely. There's a scene where Tavia gets pulled over while driving without just cause. There's a protest where a black woman is targeted. This story tackles fear and pain, but it also shines with hope and liberation.


I found Effie and Tavia engaging and their bond was well developed and cultivated throughout the novel. It's refreshing to read a story with a strong female bond, and I think these two characters will connect with young readers. The fantasy elements of the story weave nicely with the modern setting which immediately anchors the reader into the world Morrow has created. I had to look up what an eloko was, but that was the only point of confusion in the story.

Tavia and Effie are two black girls living in Portland, Oregon, which — according to them — is whiter than the rest of America. They’re sisters by choice who began living together around the beginning of high school, and they’re facing their junior year of high school when everything in this book takes place.

Tavia is a siren and has the power to control people to an extent with her voice. Because she has that power, people fear it and she has to keep the fact that she is a siren a secret. The only people who know are her parents, Effie, and a few select people who are called her “network” — people who work to keep sirens safe. I equated it to something like an underground railroad of sorts for sirens within a city.

While Tavia is focused on keeping her secret and voice under control, Effie is facing her own set of problems. She struggles with impossibly dry skin, a dry and itchy scalp, and general social anxiety and insecurities (the last one is just conjecture on my part), but instead of focusing on that, she focuses on the upcoming Renaissance Faire. Effie plays Euphemia the Mermaid at the faire and looks forward to it every year.

Things start to go sideways when Tavia realizes her voice has more power than she thought and Effie realizes that all signs are pointing to her being more than just a human girl. The girls rely on each other and themselves as they try to figure out how to face a future that’s becoming more uncertain every day.

I can honestly say that this book is not what I was expecting at all.

I don’t know if that’s on my part because I had expectations when I shouldn’t have or what, but this book is definitely much more than a YA novel about a siren and her sister. It touches on topics of race and discrimination while showing that even well-meaning people can be part of the problem. It shows how families can be divided, how the effects ripple through communities, how seemingly “insignificant” people can feel the emotional blows.

To be completely honest, this book is heavy — it’s not for the light of heart to pick up blindly, but it’s worth the read if you have the time.

But, that’s my two cents on this book — spend it how you like!
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Full YouTube Review: https://youtu.be/Ugu3yBbYrQM

The cover for this is stunning and the description drew me in. I was so excited for sirens, magical realism and misogynoir and no one is more disappointed than I am.

There's virtually no world building and you're left squandering with all these notions and left to make connections that are not really all that intuitive.
I liked Tav and Effie well enough but I failed to make a true a meaningful connection while trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

I was so excited for all the issues I could imagine being tackled with this storyline but I got overwhelmed by gargoyles, sprites and elokos that were never fully introduced and I felt like I had picked up a course 5 weeks after it had started.

This story turns mythology on it's head, by having black women, men and other POC at centre stage; sirens, mermaids, gargoyles.
It focuses on two sisters, Tavia and Effie who are each trying to figure out where they fit into the word, and what it means for them. They are each other's support system and it is a beautiful thing to see.
Themes of family, community, generational trauma, black girl magic, racism/prejudice all play a part in driving the story.
The most powerful theme however, is the celebration of black girlhood/womanhood and the fact that black women's voices have power and are often the incentive for change in their communities.
A nice change of pace for YA SFF that I normally come across.

WOW.

Let that be said. I admit that it took me about 20 pages to be sucked into the story, but man, when I was there? I was there .

This is a story about misogynoir fused with fantasy/supernatural elements. What emerges is a story that is fast paced, intense and incredibly powerful.

Both main characters, Tavia and Effie have very distinct voices and offer not only more insight into their respective characters but are also used perfectly to achieve a more rounded characterisation of the other. While often frustrating, every single character in this book is thought through and properly fleshed out and it was a both a joy and a curse to live in this world a little while. The latter, because the injustice of the world is so real that it automatically makes you furious and angry at the real world we live in, where the hashtag Blacklivesmatter has to exist because it's not a given. It makes a white reader such as me even more aware of white privilege and the absolute injustice of the fact that it exists.

We need more books like this.

We need books like this until hashtags like these don't have to exist anymore because it doesn't matter who you are, who you love, what you look like or what you believe in.

That being said, I absolutely adored the mythical elements in this story and Effie's way of escapeism through being a mermaid at a Ren fair. As someone who loves going to comic cons and dressing up as my favourite characters sometimes (not that I do it well lol), I absolutely loved reading about her story line with Elric.

I also loved the mythical forms people took, such as there being a gargoyle and Tavia being a siren. I will absolutely not write more on this subject because I would absolutely spoil it for everyone who hasn't read this book yet. The world building, while a little confusing at the beginning, was fantastic and while I don't know anything about Portland at all except for that it is in the US, it was very easy to follow and to imagine.

I recommend this to... absolutely everyone because of the themes and topics. Especially those who love some good fantasy and supernatural elements in their stories. I absolutely can't wait to read what Bethany C. Morrow does next!

Bethany C. Morrow’s A Song Below Water is a part fantastical and part so-real-that-it-hurts YA novel weaving together ancient myths and the current-day experience of two Black teenage girls living in one of America’s whitest cities. Effie and Tavia are friends (nearly sisters) who both hold ancient powers. It is their deep connection to their ancestral roots and their ultimate refusal to suppress their own magic that drives the narrative.


While there were a few moments in the storyline where I felt pulled by an undertow of abundant plot points, the tide always shifted. I found myself breathlessly experiencing the mundane (a high school crush and a summer job as a mermaid at the Renaissance Faire) and the otherworldly (a Gargoyle keeping watch outside the girls’ bedroom window and magical visions) all within the bigger context of the fight against anti-Blackness and the finding of self. The overall impact of the book is so striking that it’s definitely worth a few overwhelming waves.


https://www.readingisresistance.com/post/reading-is-resistance-reviews-song-below-water-by-bethany-c-morrow

The persona of the siren in this book takes on deep current relevance as it is connected to the Black Lives Matter movement, with anti-siren violence and legal systems highlighted. Morrow centers both the power and the silencing of black women’s voices (in this case, all sirens are black women although not all black women are sirens). And the direct critique of the way Portland, Oregon, prides itself on keeping things liberally “weird” AND simultaneously conforms so closely to white supremacy culture is important and spot-on. I am especially grateful to Morrow for surfacing the real-life local tragedy of Devonte Hart’s fame and murder. Devonte and his siblings (all of whom were black children adopted by the white women who killed them) are referenced multiple times with chilling impact.


This is a book that I will be encouraging friends and fellow educators (especially of high school folx) to read and share. I am already imagining teaching this book alongside a text like Tiffany Jewell’s This Book Is Anti-Racist as part of classroom curriculum.