Plot summary: A Song Below Water

Effie and Tavia are best friends, and thank goodness they have each other. Tavia is a siren, a fact which she has to keep completely secret or risk terrible persecution. Effie is struggling with mysteries from her past that seem determined to haunt her. And they’re both young Black women, in a world that doesn’t support them at the best of times.

When a siren murder trial sparks outrage and protest, both Effie and Tavia are set on a path that will see them coming to terms with family secrets and discovering hidden depths.

Content warnings:

• Violence and reference to murder
• Racism
• Police brutality

My thoughts on A Song Below Water

In A Song Below Water, the debut young adult novel from Bethany C. Morrow, only Black women can be sirens. Mistrusted by society, they’re silenced, forbidden to use their magic voices to influence others. Tavia keeps her identity a secret to avoid the suspicion and persecution that would follow if she revealed her powers. While simultaneously listening for her grandmother’s voice – the one she inherited her siren identity from.

Effie is her best friend, she lives with Tavia’s family, and she’s got some problems of her own. Her mother died when she was young, and she has no idea who her father is. She’s haunted by an incident in which a group of her friends were turned to stone in front of her, the work of mischievous sprites, and strange blackouts and visual effects that seem to be happening increasingly frequently.

The setting of A Song Below Water was interesting

The setting for the story felt like a fun mix of fantasy and contemporary. The author weaves in a bunch of different mythological creatures and has them just knocking about in Portland.

It was really interesting to read how these different magical people and creatures interacted. If anything, I’d have liked to see more about this! But I’ll get onto that later.

The relationship between Effie and Tavia really felt like the heart of the story. I loved both characters and their friendship. It wasn’t a completely frictionless relationship, but they understand each other really well and I think their supportive friendship was my favourite thing about the whole story.

Do you love stories with a twist on our world, and brilliant friendships? You should check out Opposite of Always and Early Departures, by Justin A. Reynolds.

As you might expect, the story explicitly discusses racism

A Song Below Water addresses racism and prejudice head-on, and without apology. At the same time, it managed to make room for two Black teenagers to have fun together, talk about crushes and nerd out about their interests.

One of the plotlines concerns the murder of a Black woman named Rhoda Taylor. Her case isn’t getting too much attention, until the defendant says that she was a siren. Suddenly the question becomes whether she deserved it, whether she might even have compelled her boyfriend to kill her.

The case lights the fuse on a number of frustrations and concerns, in a way that feels very reminiscent of the Black Lives Matter protests over last summer. One of the interesting things about A Song Below Water is the way the story particularly emphasises the double discrimination faced by Black women. The possibility of them having hidden siren powers provides a flimsy justification for the suspicion with which they are treated by society. And Tavia grapples very honestly with each of these components of her identity over the course of the story.

I had mixed feelings on the writing in A Song Below Water

For the most part, I really enjoyed the writing style. It had a casual and chatty style which made for an easy read, even when dealing with difficult topics. Like I’ve said, I loved the way Effie and Tavia related to each other throughout the book.

On the other hand, I did find it hard to distinguish between Effie and Tavia’s narrative voices. They seemed completely distinct from a distance, with their own traits and personalities. But the story is told through alternating between their two perspectives, and I sometimes found it hard to remember whose point of view I was reading in.

Some of the other secondary characters felt a little thin to me as well. And some of the worldbuilding, which I was keen to read more about, felt rushed or incompletely explained at times. The author set out some really interesting dynamics between different factions of mythical creatures and capabilities, but it was hard to fully explore that within the context of the story.

On balance, it felt like there was a lot the author wanted to cover, and sometimes the pacing ended up feeling off as a result. Particularly as I approached the end of the book, it felt like we were having to skim over certain things in order to reach a conclusion that tied everything up.

In conclusion…

I don’t want to give away specifics about the ending, but I think it’s important to state that as much as this book grapples with the real effects of racism, and the specific combination of racism and misogyny faced by Black women, our protagonists are in a good place at the end. In a time when it’s all too easy to find unrelentingly grim stories about the times we’re living in, this isn’t that.

A Song Below Water feels like an important and timely book, and I think the way it mixes the fantasy and contemporary elements could have added to the story in a fascinating way. At times it did, but there were definitely points where it felt like there was just too much going on. Ultimately reducing the impact of both sides of the plot, the fantasy and the realism elements.

I would definitely recommend it to anybody who likes YA fantasy, particularly fantasy that overlaps with our world. And I’ll be eagerly anticipating any future YA releases by Bethany C. Morrow!