The Forever Sea

That cover makes me want to pin it onto my wall and stare at it forever. The book follows Kindred who is on a quest to find her grandmother, and who takes a ship over grass seas to find her. The world here is so unique and beautiful and magic, and more often than not, I was completely hooked and in awe of Johnson's voice and style. Excited for 2.

The idea of The Forever Sea being mile-high prarie grass that holds dark creatures and mysteries is quite interesting. There's magic built on song, bones and fire that is the fuel that drives the ships across the grass. Very intriguing.

But the pacing is kind of slow, and not even the gentle, beautiful prose that builds this universe can do much to fix it. I wish the same amount of energy had been poured into building the characters as well. I would've loved to dive deeper into their minds. I wanted more of the dark deep of the grass.

It's a fun, unique read (with lgbt characters) that maybe could've done with 20% less pages describing the grass and the singing.

DNF - PG 9

Why?

Because of the framing device.

The story starts in the future, well past the time of the main events, from the sound of it, with a storyteller telling us the story of Kindred and the events in this book. And the storyteller has sections throughout the book (at least one I found by flipping through the pages) and one at the very end.

I do not like this conceit, there is a reason I have passed on certain other books that use this device, because I will constantly be pulled out of the story and reminded that this is a story. (Yes, I know it is, but the best stories are super immersive. I do not find this immersive.)

If I had known this was the basis for the book, I would never have attempted it - but nothing in the synopsis indicates that this is used to frame the story. Which is a shame, because the prologue was interesting and involving, until I realized what was going on. (And let's just admire that cover for a sec.)