This was an absolutely stunning novel. A Song Below Water read more of a contemporary novel than a fantasy novel. It’s a fantasy novel but contained a lot of relevant topics from racism, social justice and current politics. This was a quick read for me; I was instantly drawn into the world Morrow created with sirens, mermaids, gargoyles and more fantastical creatures. It was a packed book that was fast-paced. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and wanted more. The magical realism element was strong in this novel; I fell in love with the world Morrow created, it felt real to me.

I really enjoyed reading a novel featuring strong Black female characters. I believe there is a huge gap in literature, especially YA literature that doesn’t feature these characters. That needs to change, and this book is the step in the right direction. There’s a huge gap in my reading where I don’t read nearly enough books by Black authors, or authors of any minority. I have them on my shelves, and in my NetGalley lists, but it’s only until recently that I started to be more conscious of my gap in my bookshelf.

I absolutely loved this book. I was initially drawn in by the absolutely stunning cover, but from the moment I started reading I was hooked! I honestly took a month to read this, as I wanted to savor every moment and sit with it for a while. Though I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next, I was so reluctant to finish the book and leave the world and characters. There was an incredible mix of mythology and a version of our world that gripped me and left me wanting more.

‘A Song Below Water’ is an incredible book that covers so many important topics such as racism, microagressions and police brutality, seamlessly blending them into an urban fantasy setting that both highlights and contrasts these issues. It’s an important book in so many ways – the themes in the book are similar to recent awareness of events (Black Lives Matter, Breonna Taylor’s murder, protests and the highlighting of systemic racism and police violence,) that are finally being discussed and at the forefront of peoples minds right now, but this is a problem that has been going on for such a long time but has largely been ignored by not just the media but the general public. Not only does this book highlight problems in society for Black people, but it also discussed Black hair care, and has two incredible and strong Black female leads, who have the most beautiful friendship. Representation is so important, and we need to be reading about Black characters experiencing love and joy, not just reading about their pain and suffering.

In terms of characters, we have Tavia, a Siren hiding her powers from the world. Tavia is (rightfully) terrified of the persecution that comes with being a Siren. She has spent her whole life hiding who she is, with a father who wishes she was ‘normal’, despite the Siren lineage coming from him. Only Black women are sirens, and so they are treated like criminals, unlike the other magical beings who can be any gender or colour, and so are safe and revered. This book highlights the struggle of the Black community (but particularly Black women) and their treatment from the police, media and the racism they suffer in all aspects of their lives. Tavia is Black and a Siren, and we see her fear of being discovered, but also the realities of her life as a Black woman. Her fear when she’s stopped by police, or her discomfort around the other people in her class, who can’t possibly understand her because they’re white and therefore privileged. Tavia is isolated in every aspect of her life, but she’s such an incredibly complex, brave and strong character. We see her grow throughout the book, into someone who realizes that she’s powerful in more ways than just her siren call, and her story arc was incredible and brought me to tears at times. I loved reading about her learning more about her power, and discovering who she really was meant to be.

Effie is yet another amazing and complex character. She has her alternate Ren-faire life as Euphemia the Mer, which she wishes was real, and she lives for her time there. She’s an incredible swimmer, and spends most of her time at a local swimming pool honing her craft to perfect her character. She’s incredibly dedicated, even learning sign language to be able to communicate when she’s underwater in her tank. This also comes in useful due to Tavia’s use of sign language when she can feel her Siren call coming out, which is something that bonds them together. The Ren-faire was something Effie did with her mother, and after losing her, she hopes that she can connect to her more through making her way up the faire ranks to get to the Hidden Scales, a mysterious tent that writes all the stories that she feels may hold the answers to her and her mother’s life. Effie has gone through so much, and yet she finds such joy in being Euphemia that it was beautiful to read. I absolutely adored her story, and watching her progress and find out more about herself.

The friendship and sisterhood between Effie and Tavia is such an integral part of ‘A Song Below Water’, and though they may not be related by blood, they really are sisters. They share such love for each other, and it’s honestly such a beautiful relationship. It was really refreshing to see that kind of friendship between adopted family. They help each other to grow and accept themselves through their love for each other. There are a lot of complex family relationships between many of the characters here, but Effie and Tavia always have each other no matter what, and that was so important to see.

Overall I absolutely adored this book. The plot was gripping, I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next, and I loved the setting switching between the mesmerizing Ren Faire and the girls ‘real’ life. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy, urban or otherwise! I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I finished it. I have so many questions, and so much love for this book – the only downside it is I wish there was more!

This is a siren story set in an alternative Portland. It also deals with social injustices with a “Hate You Give” vibe. I enjoyed it. I loved the gargoyle ! I recommend it.
Thank you Net Galley for the ARC.

While the first third of this moved slower than I liked, I'm glad I persisted through because the last third is pretty great. The novel is carried on the strength of who Effie and Tavia are as characters, the mythology of this world - sirens and elokos and gargoyles and sprites - secondary to how the girls interact with it. I also loved how the mythology was interwoven with real world social justice issues. It adds an immediacy and relevance to the mythology and also adds a level of understanding of these issues for readers who don't experience them themselves. (White people, predominantly, though I imagine that there are layers here that will read differently to different groups.)

Overall, definitely a recommended read.

The cover is what initially drew me to this book and I'm so glad it did. It tackles many current social justice issues, but does it beautifully. I highly recommend.

I really loved this book. It manages to fold together so many elements that are deeply meaningful to me.

It's a contemporary YA with a strong supernatural mythology woven into our present day world. The story has a very feminist sister-bond focus that I found so sweet and powerful. And the book deftly weaves this feminism and mythology into themes of American racism and police-instigated violence.

Tavia and Effie are play-sisters. Not technically related, they have a true, loyal sisterhood that ties them to each other in a way that sculpts their world. They aren't related, but they share their Blackness, and the fears and traumas that go along with being a Black woman in our world. Tavia is a siren, a secret that the sisters guard carefully, as it puts a target on her body. And Effie...well she's not sure quite what she is, but she knows that she is probably more than just a girl.

The story connects to The Little Mermaid, as Tavia wishes to be free of the burden of her siren's call, and every danger that it carries. But as the book goes further, it explores what it is to be a Black woman with a voice, and how much power her voice can give her.

This is a book that emerged exactly in the time that we need it. It focuses very directly on the violence and anti-Blackness that we're confronting every day this summer.

The story takes place in Portland, Oregon, which is the whitest city in America, and despite the very liberal values of the last several decades, truly did flood out a Black suburb early in the city's history. I've lived in Portland on and off since college, and read quite a number of books that are supposed to take place in Portland. This is the first time I read a book that truly brought the city to life for me (for better and for worse). And of course we've seen for ourselves how very volatile liberal whiteness can be, when a primarily community comes together with the intention of supporting the very underrepresented Black population.

All told, I thought this was a phenomenal book that focused on Black women wielding the power to speak and change minds, and it's one I think everyone should read – both because the mythos is fascinating, and because the realities are very appropriate.

Trigger warnings for racism, hate speech, gaslighting, familial rejection, hate crimes, police-instigated violence, police-instigated riots, silencing, and other expressions of racism.

This is a fun novel with even a more beautiful cover. It follows the story of Effie and Tavia and they are modern-day sirens.

The sirens are black women and are in hiding. The story deals with social-political issues. It's a short fun read with a lot of black girl magic elements.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me review this eArc copy.

LIKES:

I praise A Song Below Water for a selection of elements the story contained, so let’s talk about them one by one.

#1: Black representation in multiple contexts
The representation of black girls in this book was continuous, unapologetic, and presented in a variety of contexts. For instance, a lot of the rep in this book involves the trials and tribulations of caring for black natural hair, which was often humorous and uplifting. However, it doesn’t just stop there. Black representation also came in the form of police brutality of a black boy and a critical conversation about how black women and girls are often under-advocated for when tragedy strikes compared to black men and boys. This book is 100% timely with the contemporary black lives matter movement as it features the story of Rhonda Taylor, a black siren who was murdered and persecuted by the media in her death.

So…trigger warning for that.

#2: Centering black women in Lore/Mythology
This has got to be my favorite part of A Song Below Water. Black women and girls weren’t just included in the mythos aspect of the book, they were the face of it. In this book, sirens are historically known to be black women. For me as a black reader, that was really nice to see because I have had personal experience with people telling me that interest in such mythology is a “white person thing.” Slowly but surely, we are breaking down the idea that black people having genuine interests is not somehow us “trying to be white.”

#3: Complex family dynamics
This one is just kind of self-explanatory. Whenever I see non-traditional households in books, my heart sings. Living with extended family or not-family-that-feel-like-family is the reality of so many people around the world, yet the vast majority of fiction loves to stick to the classical two-biological-parent household. I personally grew up in an untraditional household and most of my friends in real life did too!

#4: The unique approach at fantasy/ realistic fiction
Disclaimer: I know that “realistic fiction” implies that the events of a book could genuinely happen in real life, and obviously, sirens, sprites, and gargoyle bodyguards don’t exist IRL. However, the blend of a real-life setting (Portland, Oregon), with real-life points of interest and societal/city norms, mixed with mythological creatures simply inhabiting that realistic setting was quite an interesting dynamic to navigate.

Although I do have intense criticism for this aspect of the book which I will discuss next, I do have to commend the bold approach of making this dual setting seem so normal that the reader wasn’t supposed to question it.

…Unless they did.

DISLIKES:

I have two major critiques for A Song Below Water. The first is how I felt that the world building and the introduction to the mythology of this book is utterly nonexistent. In the beginning, we are directly told that the setting is Portland, Oregon. However, the introduction to the mythical creatures that inhabit Portland as everyday Portlanders was so unexplained that it caught me completely off guard.

I went into this book expecting to learn about sirens because that’s what was blatantly obvious from the synopsis. And while the book did go in depth with the history and significance of sirens and their lore, the same energy was not given to the various other creatures. I went into this book knowing nothing about the mythology of sprites, gargoyles, etc, and I came out of this book knowing little-to-nothing about sprites, gargoyles, etc.

The unmatched energy to giving these mythical creatures background was very frustrating and made it hard for me to care about their complexities. It also made it hard for me to understand some of the significance of major plot points that dealt with the conflict between creatures because of their lore.

Finally, the other point of critique I have for this book is how, overall, I felt as though this book felt very ambitious in how many things it was trying to achieve and with little structure to stand on. Don’t get me wrong—YES there are important conversations in this book. YES, it is important to represent black girls and women as multifaceted and not just the tirelessly strong activist. Yes, I absolutely commend this book for the important conversations it holds.

But I felt overwhelmingly disappointed by the book’s execution and lack of smooth storytelling. A book can be really good in content but really bad in execution, and that’s exactly how I feel about A Song Below Water.

Talia lives with a secret: she’s a siren. She has a powerful voice that can compel people to do things. That makes people think sirens are dangerous. Talia and her family keep her siren identity a secret because of the prejudice against sirens. Talia’s best friend, Effie, has questions about her identity. She blacks out and can’t remember what happened. Effie isn’t sure who she really is, especially since her grandparents don’t have any answers for her. Both girls discover their identities as their secrets are slowly revealed.

Talia and Effie had an extra layer to their identity, with their magical abilities. This makes their intersectional identities more complicated. They were black and female, with magical powers. Race played an important part in this book. There was a murder trial for a black woman, where it was revealed that she was a siren. It ended up being a part of the defence, as a way to justify her murder. There was a protest in this book which reminded me of the protests happening throughout the world this week. The characters had to deal with racism, as well as discrimination against their magical identities.

I loved the fantasy elements of this story. There were sirens and gargoyles. Effie’s background was a mystery that they had to solve. I guessed who she was fairly early on in the story, but I was surprised at the way it was revealed. The fantasy elements added some distance between the race relations in the book and reality, but they were a great way to tell the story.

I really enjoyed this story!

Thank you Tor Teen for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Compelling use of allegory and connecting mythos with the reality of our modern world. So interesting to see the how the view of sirens also is used to basically show how society views women of color--specifically Black women and sexual them to make them be seen as the villain, the seducer. This book is beautiful and it does start out a little slow for my tastes but the writing is very interesting and in depth.

Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me and I did not finish, I really liked the book’s premise but I didn’t enjoy the writing style.

I heard mermaids and I picked up the book. That was all I needed to be sucked into it. Additionally, the element of adoption (which is VERY close to my heart) made the book even more appealing to me. I genuinely did not know what to expect as I opened the book - I was hoping for more of an underwater adventure - but what was delivered was SO. MUCH. BETTER.

**If you are expecting a fantasy book, be aware that this is more urban fantasy/magical realism. It's worth mentioning immediately in the review as the misconception seemed to be a sticking point in many of the reviews I read prior to picking up the book.

A Song Below Water follows two young black girls (Tavia & Effie) navigating life - both magical and non-magical - in Portland, OR. With a stunning whirlwind of fantasy, racism, current events, topics, and politics, Morrow creates an engaging and heart wrenching read. The parallels drawn between racial injustices with the use of magical beings (specifically Sirens), as well as tensions between the magical species themselves, help readers to empathize and shed light on a topic that gets ignored far too often.

My favorite part of this entire novel was the friendship between Tavia & Effie. Far too often I feel like the YA genre gets swept up in love, and to see a novel surrounding two friends and their struggles to not only survive, but THRIVE together, is as refreshing at the Sirens that steal scenes in the novel!

I would highly recommend this novel to any and all!

3.5 stars. Loved the sisters, enjoyed the (beginnings of) the mythos, found the writing engaging and the plot was alright. I'm not the target audience and tbh it made me feel ooold (do kids nowadays really say "legiterally"?) but if you're not averse to YA this is great. Setting wise, it felt a little unfinished, but had a lot of stuff I haven't seen in anything else in the genre (ren faires, gargoyles, excellent conflict resolution between and by teenagers) and there is so a lot here that's timely and worth absorbing. Would recommend for teenagers in your life, for sure, and maybe even a bit younger.

Yes!! I loved this book!
Firstly, I love books that take place in our natural world, but have elements of magic. Sort of urban fantasy-esque? Tavia is a siren and must hide this from everyone. She lives with her mom and dad and sister, Effie. Though Tavia and Effie aren't sisters by blood, they are sisters at heart and I adore their relationship so much. They truly love each other and are always there for each other. This book tackles current human rights issues in such an amazing way and I know this is a story I'll remember for a long time to come.
Thank you so much to Tor Teen & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

A Song Below Water
Authors: Bethany C Marrow
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ / 5
Reviewed: Maya

I’m struggling to gather my thoughts on how to review this one. I went into the book aware of the hype that had surrounded it, so my expectations were very high. There were certain parts that I really enjoyed, but there were many parts where I was very confused. I really liked having Black main characters, having Black magic and mythos. The Black Lives Matter movement shown in this book was all too real and the incorporation with the BLM and the fantasy elements was very well done. The fantasy was really interesting, but even by the end of the book, I was still super confused about many of the different elements, such as ‘elokos’. As I was reading on my Kindle I was able to search up these words, but I would have preferred for Marrow to actually explain these fantasy elements, as they played a large part in the storyline. The story felt very slow for me at certain points, and I was expecting there to be more action, or at least, some more explanations about the numerous ‘information dumps’. Overall, being able to see the BLM movement through Black characters, but the fantasy didn’t work as well for me because of the lack of explanations or background information.

This is a hard-hitting fantasy story that suffers from a lack of world-building. I spent at least the first half of the book being confused about the mythology surrounding this fantasy-Portland, and by the end, I'm still not sure I fully understand it. That being said, the things it says about social justice, racism, bigotry, and the fight for equality are timely and well-done. The fantasy itself was not my cup of tea, and I found the pacing a bit slow, but I think this will resonate with many teens.

AMAZING!!!!!!!!! This is a clever YA novel that uses fantasy elements to draw attention to what's happening in United States of America and the systematic oppression of the African-American and Latinx communities. I wish I had read this book sooner... it is a new favorite of mine! It is a real page-turner and I finished it in one day! I will read everything Bethany Morrow writes in the future!

This book is told in alternating perspectives from best friends Tavia and Effie as they struggle to find their voices, speak their truths, and to accept the things about themselves that their families and communities have taught them to be afraid of.

This is a modern-day fantasy that takes place in Portland, Oregon, and it sets a lot of current social justice movements like Black Lives Matter and Say Her Name in a world where many humans are descendants of mythological creatures. We see sprites, gargoyles, elokos, and sirens. And some of those groups enjoy more power and privilege than others.

Tavia is a siren, but this a detail that she is forced to keep secret because in her world, only Black women are sirens and taking ownership of their voice and their power is seen by society at large as a threat. It’s considered acceptable to force known or suspected sirens to wear collars that dampen their voices so that others can feel safe. And when a black woman is murdered, the defense attorneys try to use just the possibility that she was a siren, and that her voice might have been a weapon, to get her murderer a not guilty verdict. So Tavia has to grapple with her anger over this injustice and her fear of being targeted if her secret is found out, because suppressing her siren call is becoming harder to do.

Effie, on the other hand, thinks she’s mostly human, but worries about the ancestry she’s inherited from the dad she’s never met. She’s also trying to escape the notoriety of a sprite related incident in her childhood from which she was the only survivor. She finds her escape in the local Renaissance Faire, where she cosplays as a mermaid and hopes to someday become part of the guild to which her deceased mother belonged. The past won’t leave her alone though, as increasingly strange and unsettling events start to follow in her wake and run the risk of putting both her and Tavia in danger.

This book has some interesting characters and a really strong sisterhood between Tavia and Effie. There’s activism, magic, high school drama, family drama, and a little splash of romance. The mythos of the world is really interesting, but it is significantly tied to the reality of current events related to racism and sexism, so this title reads a little more like contemporary realistic fiction than fantasy. If you are looking for books like The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, then A Song Below Water could be your next great read.

The concept of this book, the way it talks of racism and police brutality was really great.. my problem was more with how it was narrated. I wish I had enjoyed it more because I think it is very important!

Bethany C. Morrow’s A Song Below Water is a tale of sisterhood and friendship, but more importantly, it shines a light on just how the voices of Black girls and women are consistently silenced. While the story is told in the form of a fantasy book with sirens/mermaids, it’s clear that the metaphor is something very relevant that people should acknowledge. While Tavia struggles with this the most due to the fact that she’s hiding her siren identity from others, there is no mistaking the message of this book.

Morrow’s writing easily created a cast of characters that were relatable and easy to love, specifically in relation to our two protagonists. The sisterhood between Tavia and Effie is something that you want to have with your own friends. While their bond is clear, they are unafraid to push one another and offer support to one another at all times. Despite the misogynoir that they face, Tavia and Effie do what they can to fix a system that is broken. What I enjoyed most about this was that despite their strength and courage, we still saw how vulnerable Tavia and Effie could be.

While we go through the Tavia’s and Effie’s journeys, Morrow does not mince words when it comes to depicting the racism and prejudice found throughout the book. But this was absolutely necessary to show the struggles that Black people, specifically Black girls and women, have dealt with for hundreds of years.

In terms of world-building, where I feel some readers may be conflicted is that while this book falls under the fantasy category as it deals with sirens, it reads more like a contemporary novel. So, for readers who were looking strictly for something solely fantasy-based, you may be left wanting more. However, for those who enjoy contemporary books and might want a stepping stone into the fantasy world, A Song Below Water is certainly a great way to dip your toes into those fantasy waters.

Utterly timely, A Song Below Water is a beautiful display of friendship, fantasy, and fighting for what's right at all costs. This novel should be on everyone's TBR lists right now!