A Song Below Water

Every complaint I've ever had with the YA genre has been lifted through this book. I loved the mythology, I loved the play sister dynamics, I loved the activism and real situations involving racism (mysogynoir specifically) that demands activism, I loved that I wasn't annoyed by any of the characters for falling into shallow or cliched tropes, and I cannot wait for the next book. I felt like I was reading from an actual teen's perspective. There was an appropriate amount of angst and teenage insecurity without being contrived or whiny. When I was a teenager, I hated that the YA characters I was supposed to feel connected to were all selfish poor decision making bitches. Fantasy is one of my favorite genres so I appreciate that the mythical creatures in this story are lesser known and from a wide variety of cultures. Gorgons and sirens from Greece, gargoyles from France, elokos from Mongo, and sprites from all around Europe. My favorite scene was when Tavia and Effie are just lying on Gargy's back in the reserve and having a normal sister conversation. Effie and Gargy are the real otp.