Book Review: "The Mermaid's Voice Returns in This One" by Amanda Lovelace

-

 

Cover of "The Mermaid's Voice Returns in This One" by Amanda Lovelace
*Spoiler alert!*

4/5 stars

The third and final volume of the “Women Are Some Kind of Magic” series reveals that after the deepest, darkest parts of her journey, Lovelace is ready to confront her past and move on.

Writing, an essential survival mechanism to start with, has become more of a way to take joy in merely creating. Therefore, the title referencing The Little Mermaid seems very apt here.

GIF: Ariel signing away her voice to the sea witch

“Star light/Star bright/First star/I see tonight/I wish I might/Flee my skin/For but a night”

The previous lines may indicate that writing is still a survival mechanism for Lovelace—as I’ve pointed out before, writing is many things all at once for different people—but I feel that these words betray also the wonder one finds in the words of another, that allow yourself to experience many lifetimes in your very short one (cosmically speaking). Pure joy and defiance.

While I could relate to aspects of Lovelace’s life experience as I read the first two volumes in this series, I really connected with this one.

Finding your voice again after it seems that it was gone forever is one of the best things I’ve felt in my life, and I think that Lovelace feels a similar kind of triumphant joy. The world does its best to take away your voice, but can never take it away completely. Although, it does try its best.

Happy reading, and don’t let your spark be extinguished.

--BookOwl

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review: "Lore Olympus, Volume Five" by Rachel Smythe

-
Image
  4/5 stars *Spoiler alert!* Volume five of the “ Lore Olympus” graphic novel series continues the modern, soap-opera take on the tale of Persephone and Hades. I think this one ups the ante on the story a bit, because the volume reveals some deep trauma on the part of Persephone that is threatening to split the Greek pantheon itself. “How does a goddess go from being called ‘Maiden’ to ‘Bringer of Death’!?”   This series has truly tackled a bunch of series topics from mental health to sexual assault and abusive relationships even as it is balanced with the comedic side. There is quite a bit of humorous moments, such as this gem from Hera, when talking about her husband, Zeus: “He’s an arrogant buffoon who overreacts at the drop of a hat.” Of course, Zeus proves her right—shocker—when finding out about an incident in Persephone’s past in which a whole village was destroyed by immediately issuing an arrest warrant for Persephone and her mother, Demeter. This throws Olympus into
Read more

Book Review: "The Poppy War" by R.F. Kuang

-
Image
  4.5/5 stars   *Spoiler alert!* I am not sure how The Poppy War didn’t win the Goodreads Choice Awards in 2018 in the category of fantasy or debut author. The first entry in the Sino-Japanese War inspired fantasy blew me away.   “Well, fuck the heavenly order of things. If getting married to a gross old man was her preordained role on this earth, then Rin was determined to rewrite it.”   Our protagonist, Rin, won me over quickly with her determination and persistence. (Notice how I say protagonist and not hero .) A dark-skinned peasant girl from the southern provinces of Nikan is slated to be married off by her criminal adopted parents and will do anything to change her fate. Her only hope of getting out of her home village is taking the prestigious national exam and testing into the tuition-free military academy of Sinegard .   Rin studies to the point of self-harm. But she passes the exam and tests into Sinegard , where she is thrown into a brutal academy to learn how to become the
Read more

Book Review: "Children of Dune" by Frank Herbert

-
Image
  3/5 stars *Spoiler alert!* Children of Dune , the third entry in the “Dune” series, gets three out of five conflicted stars from me.  “Governments, if they endure, always tend increasingly toward aristocratic forms. No government in history has been known to evade this pattern. And as the aristocracy develops, government tends more and more to act exclusively in the interests of the ruling class—whether that class be hereditary royalty, oligarchs of financial empires, or entrenched bureaucracy.” Never let it be said by me that this science fiction epic does not explore lofty ideas about human civilization, governance, and political and religious philosophy. That is not where my quibbles with Children of Dune lie. The worldbuilding is extensive and lovingly cultivated by the author. Another point in the series’ favor. No, my quibbles are mostly characterization-based.   “They who learn the lesson of self-deception too well shall perish by that deception.”   First, Alia got done di
Read more