A Song Below Water

This was an interesting, timely urban fantasy about being Black and the power of a voice told through mythological creatures (like sirens). This book is a powerful tale involving the current Black Lives Matter moment with fantasy elements. The creatures are interesting. The magic is definitely something I want to know more about.

The pacing was a bit off in places, especially at the beginning. I was also occasionally confused about how the magic worked in this world.

Overall it's a good story and one well worth supporting! Pick it up

 Imagine my surprise as I went into this book expecting contemporary and what I got what magical realism 🙃🙃🙃
I was so shook holy shit 😂😂
This was a really interesting read that went in probably every single direction I WAS NOT expecting. I have a habit of going into books without knowing much about them, but I usually at least know the genre. For this I didn't lmao. But I enjoyed it despite some flaws. Overall, it was intriguing and engaging, despite my early pacing complaint.
I adored the relationship between the two sisters, and I found myself being very intrigued by the people Effie was getting closer and forming bonds with. I really liked Wallace too, I wanted more of him, and I wished we could have seen more of the friendship between Effie and Isabella too. However, I thought Tavia's storyline was somewhat tame in comparison. Don't get me wrong, I loved the self-acceptance and confidence she found, but I think I actually just would have liked to see her interact with more people. I don't know.
I wish the world had been more flushed out in general. I felt thrown into a parallel world, but I never really felt comfortable with it. It could have benefited from more exposition in that regard. The ending also felt a bit rushed in comparison to the pacing of the majority of the book (which, aside from being slow in the beginning, I really liked! It was a very comfortable pacing for the most part) 

This was a fun, magical book. It included many important discussions on racism and prejudice, while creating this urban fantasy world of sprites and sirens and gargoyles. The relationship between the 2 sisters was so sweet and wholesome and really incredible. However, I found myself bored a few times throughout. The magic of the world was confusing to me and wasn't that interesting. I think this is more of a personal preference, however, than a fault in the writing. I'm not into urban fantasy often, and I also listened to this as an audiobook, which sometimes lends to me being confused and missing certain things.

All in all, I would recommend this book. It really highlights the struggles of Black people, especially Black women, in a way that is really impactful.