Beneath the Burning Wave

This was an ambitious take on an epic YA fantasy series exploring gender fluidity with elements of Egyptian and Japanese culture being infused in the story. I'd originally even thought the book was an adult fantasy series rather than YA, due to its complex worldbuilding and how different it was!

Twins Kaori and Kairi are two sides to the same coin, two halves of a whole, and the only twins to be born to an island, foretold to be it's ruin. The premise of the story and the worldbuilding was intriguing, but the first section of the book did confuse me when I read it, mainly because the reader isn't slowly introduced to these elements, but rather, is thrown into the deep end.

Thankfully by the midpoint of the book, I was able to comprehend the situation and plots afoot, however there were certain choices made that I was a little disappointed by. For one, considering how genderfluid the characters are meant to be, they seem to be stuck within a fairly heteronormative society with homophobia clearly evident.

Even when Kairi forms their own society, he changes and creates new pronouns that further emphasise the gender differences, looking down on women and elevating men. I had hoped due to the genderfluid setting that this wouldn't have been something prevalent in the book, however I understand that Danns may have made this choice as a political commentary.

My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

TL;DR: If you're looking for an atypical YA read, this might be the one for you.

Highlights: queer MCs/romances