Once again I didn't check the bookjacket or equivalent before reading and was surprised at the world I found myself in.

Review in a word: atmospheric. I have a vivid mental image of this world, and it is misty and haunting. In my mind it's a pen-and-ink drawing; thin lines, shadows, an effective depiction of a mood, details left to be inferred by the imagination this drawing awakens. I am interested in the world this invokes.

The problem maybe is obvious - this wasn't a drawing, a still, but a story, and the story isn't enough for the book, maybe too sparse and sometimes too obvious. The world-building is so promising but so minimal, it doesn't fill that void either. There is a lot of promise in this writing and voice and imagination, and I might read another work, but I can't say I loved this one.

I do wonder... I've read stories that were very much a sketch that I found so brilliant and meaningful, and I've read stories that were heavy on a personal symbolism that I didn't understand at all. Maybe the author and I just don't have enough overlap. ( )

Lovely, beautiful, lyrical, gorgeous writing. That is the one thing you should take from this review. That even though I personally did not just love the story, it is so beautifully written that I will recommend it to everyone. I can't blame the author too much for the rest of my feelings. There are abounding comparisons made between this and The Night Circus. And The Night Circus is my story. It is one of my loves. I don't feel quite the same about this story, even though there is a circus involved. But, even though I may love that other circus book more, this one feels meatier somehow. It explores heavier topics like class structure and prejudice. ( )

A magical read, feels like a fairytale. ( )

I didn't know what to expect when I received this book. The blurb on the back seemed really interesting, but doesn't really clue you in on much of the book's plot. While I did like the book, I felt it was lacking somehow. There were some aspects of the world Logan created that I wanted to know more about.

This book changes perspective a lot, but focuses on Callanish, a young gracekeeper who lays to rest the dead of the sea-dwellers, and North, a performer on a traveling circus ship. They live in a world where the seas have rise, causing land to be found only as small islands, and people are either "landlockers" or "damplings". There is no in-between. We as readers aren't given much detail about what happened to the earth, if it even is Earth, or why there is such a rivalry between the two groups of people.

I really liked the stories of Callanish and North, and the way their lives intertwined. Once their stories merged, I became more interested. However, I felt like the After was unnecessary. The last chapter ended really beautifully, but the After, which was written completely in dialogue, didn't match the eloquence of the rest of the novel.

If you are into folklore and myths, give this book a try! ( )

[Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.]

In a world overrun by water, there are two types of people: the landlockers who live on the land and the damplings who live their lives at sea. Callanish, a landlocker at birth, has become a Gracekeeper, living at sea and overseeing the watery burials of the dead. North, a dampling all her life, is a performer in a traveling circus, Excalibur. Neither feels truly understood by others and both feel a loneliness and yearning to find something more until unfortunate circumstances cause their paths to cross.

Talk about an enchanting and somewhat dark tale! The characters and their development are definitely incredible here. I found myself simply engrossed into the world that Logan created, anxiously looking forward to what would happen as I turned each page. Even though the description may bring to mind images of that ill-fated Kevin Costner film from a number of years ago, I can assure you this is nothing like that. This is a well-written story of the journey two women take to find themselves and relative happiness in a world that is not conducive to either. (Granted, there is that trend of merfolk in science fiction/fantasy writing that has been so prevalent over the past year coming up here, but it's very much in the background to the whole story, so it can be forgiven.) For a debut novel, this is an absolutely excellent start, and I personally look forward to more from this author going forward. ( )