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A review by wolfeyreads
The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag
3.0
Representation: poc lesbian mc, f/f/sapphic romance, fat sapphic li.
Content warnings: Near-death experiences, closted, secret relationship, outing.
A cute selkie YA romance!
Morgan Kwon lives in a small town, surrounded by an island. She can’t wait to leave, so she can be gay and embrace all parts of herself. This is the plan, but when she meets Keltie, a selkie (love the play on that) with a bubbly and carefree personality, those plans quickly change.
I’m realizing a pattern when I read and I think I’ve been spoiled with all the wonderful stories where queer kids are allowed to be their most authentic and unapologetic self. They don’t hide who they are and don’t try to hide the person they like. And so, I was frustrated coming to this. I understand for plot reasons why the story went this way, but I felt like the treatment of certain characters could have been orchestrated more carefully. There is definitely shame still attached to queerness and not everyone is ready to accept their queerness, especially because there is violence toward those who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. But I think there is a difference between hiding someone because you are afraid you will be harmed and then hiding someone because you are embarrassed by them and not just outing you as queer, but as someone different and “weird,” outside the norm.
I also wonder what this text might be saying about first love, and how sometimes, we become so entangled in a relationship that we forget our friends and family. And maybe not just because we can be our complete selves, but because it's easier and less messy to keep a relationship a secret. That relationship becomes centered and that person becomes yours and you don’t want to share them with anyone else.
And while an outing of a character is never careful, I didn’t expect it to happen that way. But I can see why it did. I’m curious to read what other people thought about that.
That said, I did find this story incredibly adorable, but I think that’s mostly because I love fantasy realism and all things water. Keltie is very cute and I can't wait to see her in full color! And I always find the unashamed magical character amusing.
“I like to keep my life tucked neatly into boxes…”
I definitely feel like this book is saying a lot about what are the things about ourselves that we keep hidden, in “boxes” that make us the kind of person we are, which can often be destructive, impulsive, or distant when we ignore those parts. And how can we let go if things do not turn out the way we want them to, even though it’s painful. And ultimately, how can we accept ourselves without depending on another person to do that work for us.
I appreciate being able to read the ARC of this work, and while not everything in this book worked for me, I hope that readers really enjoy this!
Content warnings: Near-death experiences, closted, secret relationship, outing.
A cute selkie YA romance!
Morgan Kwon lives in a small town, surrounded by an island. She can’t wait to leave, so she can be gay and embrace all parts of herself. This is the plan, but when she meets Keltie, a selkie (love the play on that) with a bubbly and carefree personality, those plans quickly change.
I’m realizing a pattern when I read and I think I’ve been spoiled with all the wonderful stories where queer kids are allowed to be their most authentic and unapologetic self. They don’t hide who they are and don’t try to hide the person they like. And so, I was frustrated coming to this. I understand for plot reasons why the story went this way, but I felt like the treatment of certain characters could have been orchestrated more carefully. There is definitely shame still attached to queerness and not everyone is ready to accept their queerness, especially because there is violence toward those who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. But I think there is a difference between hiding someone because you are afraid you will be harmed and then hiding someone because you are embarrassed by them and not just outing you as queer, but as someone different and “weird,” outside the norm.
I also wonder what this text might be saying about first love, and how sometimes, we become so entangled in a relationship that we forget our friends and family. And maybe not just because we can be our complete selves, but because it's easier and less messy to keep a relationship a secret. That relationship becomes centered and that person becomes yours and you don’t want to share them with anyone else.
And while an outing of a character is never careful, I didn’t expect it to happen that way. But I can see why it did. I’m curious to read what other people thought about that.
That said, I did find this story incredibly adorable, but I think that’s mostly because I love fantasy realism and all things water. Keltie is very cute and I can't wait to see her in full color! And I always find the unashamed magical character amusing.
“I like to keep my life tucked neatly into boxes…”
I definitely feel like this book is saying a lot about what are the things about ourselves that we keep hidden, in “boxes” that make us the kind of person we are, which can often be destructive, impulsive, or distant when we ignore those parts. And how can we let go if things do not turn out the way we want them to, even though it’s painful. And ultimately, how can we accept ourselves without depending on another person to do that work for us.
I appreciate being able to read the ARC of this work, and while not everything in this book worked for me, I hope that readers really enjoy this!