Let's dive In Deeper Waters

  

So, it’s taken four books in 2022, but I’m finally not reading something that’s dual POV. This time we’re actually heading semi-fantasy, or at least, in a more fantasy direction. But yes, I read In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens. And before I even mention anything, the cover of my copy of the book? Gorgeous. Gorgeina Aguilera. Gorge Orwell. That whole thing of not judging a book by its cover? I judged this book, and I liked it – the cover at least. And yes, I am writing this intro before actually reading the book.

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Our Blurbanomically designed chair says that most princes would be eager for their coming-of-age tour, but Tal isn’t most princes. He knows he can’t partake in the adventure and debauchery his siblings enjoyed on their tours, not when letting loose could mean accidentally revealing his forbidden magic – and upending his kingdom’s hard-won peace. Then from there, Tal’s crew rescues a mysterious prisoner, Athlen, that Tal feels an intense connection to. Althen then jumps overboard, Tal then sees him later on dry land and gets himself kidnapped by pirates, and the ransom basically threatens to instigate a war.

What I wrote is an abridged version of the blurb. But there is a lot of blurb, I’m not going to lie, and I reckon that the book probably could have gotten away with not saying as much as it did. Like, immediately, I feel as though the getting kidnapped by pirates bit could have been removed, because the blurb does say that Tal meets up with Athlen on dry land, and that’s when he (Tal) gets kidnapped. It could have said something along the lines of how meeting up with Athlen somehow threatens the state of his kingdom, because we already know he feels an intense connection, so even before I started reading, that made me think, “Oh, Athlen probably has some connection to this forbidden magic then.” But the blurb did sell me onto reading the book, so for as much of it as there is, it still did its job.

Now, I’d call this book fantasy lite. Because, yes, it is fantasy, and there are things like magic and sea witches, all that jazz. But even though these things are throughout the story, they never feel all that big and domineering. It felt like I was reading a YA fantasy book, which I realise is a genre in itself. What I mean is: If you take a full-on fantasy book and then a full-on YA book (say, something like Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating – the last book I read) and blend the two together, that’s what this felt like. It was like contemporary YA set in a fantasy world. And that was something I personally really liked, since I don’t read fantasy all that much. This book was like a meeting halfway of them.

Chapter one opens with poor Tal just fighting for his life on his ship against the deadliest enemy, seasickness. We quickly learn that he’s the fourth of five siblings, and we get given a quick rundown of what the three before him are doing, and he’s very much in their shadows. They pick up Athlen really quickly, like first ten pages, and we also learn that there hasn’t been “true magic” in a long time, so really laying it on thick that Tal is special. And something I noticed, most of the blurb was run through within the first 30 pages. And, while I appreciated how quick the pacing was, it kind of doubles down on my point that there didn’t need to be that much given away in the blurb. Still, Tal meets Athlen again in a market on dry land, gets him some medicine since Athlen is trying to get some stuff for his friend’s mother. Then because Tal is fully smitten, he goes with Athlen, and then Athlen’s friend, Dara, fully just drags the royal family in Tal’s face, big fan of that moment.

I will say, you find out why Tal and Athlen have this intense connection before Tal actually gets kidnapped. Like, from the way that the blurb was going, I was expecting the kidnapping to happen much earlier than it did, like first three chapters earlier. But this ended up honestly being a different kind of book, or, I guess, pace of book than I was expecting it to be, which I very much appreciated. And even then, the kidnapping, while it’s obviously a large part of the book, I think it could have been dragged out a little bit longer. I say this not because what there is of the kidnapping in the book is inadequate, I actually think it does achieve what it set out to do, but I think it could have gone further. During the kidnapping era of the book, there’s obviously a want to portray feelings of desperation, loss of hope and disassociation. I think it could have been drawn out further and each day could have gone on longer to really drive those feelings deeper.

Tal and Athlen’s relationship throughout the book was cute. Since Tal had basically spent his entire life cooped up in his family’s castle, he’d barely ever been out, just like in general. So, he and Athlen were from completely different worlds, and they were discovering an entire world when they were together. However, there comes a point where their relationship gets deeper, and I would have appreciated it even more had they had more time together before that point. I know that’s really vague, but I’m trying to avoid spoilers. Like, I wanted a little more time to be spent on their relationship before it got to that deeper point. There’s a point in the book where Tal is spending time in Athlen’s home, and it could have been the case of the two of them just hanging out, playing, doing some kind of activity that would have gotten them closer. But there was always something going on in the book that forced them to move forwards. That’s not inherently a bad thing since it meant that the book always kept a good pace up, and that’s often a problem I have with fantasy books – I feel like they sometimes just drag on for too long. But I’m a greedy bitch, and I just always want more queer content, so I do wish that there had been a moment where Tal and Athlen could have just stopped, taken a breath and been together without the threat of having to move on.

All that being said, and to basically summarise the massive paragraph above: I liked what there was of the book, I just wished there had been more of it. Like, I’d say it’s good, but I wanted it to push to that great point. This can also apply to some of the side characters, too. Without going into too much detail (for spoilers again lol) there are some that get well fleshed out, and a few others that are sort of just… there.

The last ten percent of this book really got me good, I can’t lie. For a hot moment, and I’m not going to spoil what happens in the ending, but for a moment, I thought this book was going to play into my least favourite literary trope. While I was reading towards the end, there was setup for what I thought was coming, and I was watching warily, thinking that if they did play into the trope I hate, then the book would have honestly been ruined for me, but thankfully, it didn’t, and the book was not ruined.

Because of my utopian brain, I appreciated that this was one of those books where homophobia just didn’t exist. No one has a problem with Tal and Athlen’s relationship. There’s no point where they’re like, “Tal, no, you must marry a woman and continue the royal lineage.” Everyone is just cool with him liking men. And that’s something I really appreciated. There’s this Thai author, Jittirain, and they tend to write queer romance books in the way that straight people have been getting forever, but in their worlds, homophobia just doesn’t exist – and that’s the kind of stuff I love.

So, overall, I enjoyed this book. I think it did what it did well, however, there were definitely moments and feelings I would have liked to have seen pushed further and that I think could have been pushed further.

Okay, bye!