“A Song Below Water” by Bethany C Morrow

Release Date: June 2, 2020
Series: A Song Below Water #1
Publisher: Tor Teen
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Description

“Tavia is already at odds with the world, forced to keep her siren identity under wraps in a society that wants to keep her kind under lock and key. Never mind she’s also stuck in Portland, Oregon, a city with only a handful of black folk and even fewer of those with magical powers. At least she has her bestie Effie by her side as they tackle high school drama, family secrets, and unrequited crushes.

But everything changes in the aftermath of a siren murder trial that rocks the nation; the girls’ favorite Internet fashion icon reveals she’s also a siren, and the news rips through their community. Tensions escalate when Effie starts being haunted by demons from her past, and Tavia accidentally lets out her magical voice during a police stop. No secret seems safe anymore—soon Portland won’t be either.”

My Thoughts

This young adult fantasy debut could not have been released at a better time. A Song Below Water isn’t just a story about The Struggle™. Morrow gives teen readers something to hold onto right now and something to work toward for the future. She offers more than a story about race or racism. Using the tropes of fantasy, she digs into the nuances of Blackness, of being a Black woman in a white supremacist and patriarchal society, of intersectionality, of systemic oppression, and state tyranny. Protest is more than fighting back with chants, posters, spray paint, and bricks. It is using our words to give hope and inspire the next generation…

Read the rest of this review at Tor.com.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy.