. . . the wind gusted, ripping her hat from her head and sending it out over the bay. She spun to grab it, missed, and teetered precariously on the edge. The wind whipped again, lifting her skirts up around her knees, and she heard a voice on the wind – or was it her own voice speaking to her in sing-song, carrying her rhyme back to mock her for her childish fears? ‘One for the people who live in the deep.’
If you aren’t aware already, K.B. Hoyle is one of my favorite authors. If I could only pick one Youth Fiction series to keep if every other YA book disappeared . . . it would be The Gateway Chronicles, her spectacular fantasy series. I can say that because The Chronicles of Narnia is filed in the Junior Fiction department, and The Lord of the Rings is filed in Adult Fiction. 🙂 Needless to say, I was thrilled to pieces when I received an email that delivered an advanced reader copy (ARC) version of Hoyle’s new book Son of the Deep.
You’re here for the answer to a single question: should you read it? Dear reading friends, you’ve come to the right place for that answer. Read on!
Summary
Once upon a time . . . Orpheo never meant to disobey his father or betray his kind, but when he finds the young human woman weeping over the death of her own father, his compassionate heart moves him to comfort her. All Rose ever wanted was to make her father proud, but after the mysterious Boy in the Sea eases her through her grief, Rose throws aside her reservations and vows she will find the boy and marry him. As Rose despairs of ever finding him, Orpheo sells his voice to the Sea Witch and gives up his family in a desperate bid to fulfill their love and heal a hundred-year rift between their worlds. But restoration cannot be bought through black magic, and when Orpheo becomes human, Rose does not recognize him. At the end of all hope, only great sacrifice can bring Rose and Orpheo a happily ever after.
To Read or Not to Read
I read Son of the Deep in one day, approximately seven hours. This story is not incredibly fast-paced, neither is it full of action/adventure scenes. That aside, I couldn’t put it down. I’ve been waiting to read this book for a long time and could not contain my excitement once I got a copy of the ARC! Without further ado, let’s get into it.
I have few complaints here. Hoyle is a fabulous middle-school/high school age writer and she knows her boundaries, unlike the plethora of authors out there who seem to have forgotten the innocence of childhood. I will mention a few things below that you may want to consider, specifically for children who are on the younger end of the spectrum interested in this book.
The term “ass” is used sparingly in a few conversations – in my opinion unnecessary, but reading that at the age of 12-14 wouldn’t have bothered me. No other curse words are used. Some blood and mild violence can be read throughout. We do encounter a few incidents that involve the siren qualities of mermaids. Shipwrecks, a few gun shots, and some knife-related injuries make up the majority of the violent content. Several people express fear over the unknown and mythical realm of the people of the deep.
A few chaste kisses throughout build some romantic tension; however, nothing continues beyond that physically. A naked man washes up on a beach, but nothing explicit is “shown” or explained. We get some descriptions that make it obvious characters are attracted to each other.
Essentially, this is a chaste, romantic fairy-tale written for the JF and YA communities of readers.
K. B. Hoyle has an enjoyable writing style, one that keeps readers coming back for more. Her writing in Son of the Deep reminds me of The Gateway Chronicles; however, she pulls the story building down a few notches to give us a single novel. Speaking as a writer myself, it can be difficult to transition between stand alone novels and series writing. That doesn’t seem to be hard for Hoyle! The story slows down in a few areas, but truthfully, no one wants to read a book that slaps you in the face every single chapter. 🙂
I often wax poetical on the implausibility of love at first sight. That kind of love is purely physical attraction – it’s emotional, passionate, and impatient. But love that lasts? That takes work. Lots of it. Not that I know all that well, I’ve never even had a boyfriend. But I’ve read books and spent plenty of time watching Hollywood try to give us the perfect couple. Yet, I’ve also seen the true love that exists between two Believers who desire to serve and encourage each other “’til death do us part.” Hoyle balances both examples of love well here – we get love at first sight, but we don’t have a wedding after three days. There’s difficulties, obstacles, miscommunications. Attraction and passion are present, but so are patience and faithfulness. It’s a rare mix, especially in YA these days.
I can’t say for sure there was an intent for this to be picked up as a sub-theme, but I observed a battle between the selfish yet genuine desires of the heart and the sense of duty and loyalty to that which is true. Ultimately, this is a fairy-tale: things turn out well whether the original decision at the fork in the road was wise, moral, and true or not. However, it reminded me of struggles I often had in high school. I felt a great many things in my wicked sinful heart and made decisions that I thought were good at the time based on those feelings. On the other hand, there were times when I made an extremely difficult decision and chose to obey my mother and follow through on something I had said I would do or that had been asked of me, despite my feelings. This is a legitimate struggle for many Christian teenagers and the exploration of that here reminded me of those growing years that taught me so much about the balance between truth and feeling.
Parents involvement, especially during the teenage years, can be frustrating for both parties.
Once again, this portion of the story line resonated with my high school memories. I often struggled back and forth with my mother over things that I thought were important that she found meaningless. Orpheus and his father do not see eye to eye on many things, but because of the faithful love between them as parent and child, we get a close up look into what’s actually a beautiful example of the influence of a godly parent. Orpheus, while going against his father’s wishes, actually makes a similar choice to one his father made in his youth. This particular sub-plot is not dealt with until nearly the very end of the book; however, the humility of a father in admitting that he was wrong and that he made mistakes is admirable. Children, especially teenagers, need to see their parents failings and their subsequent desire for forgiveness and restoration. Parents are a living testimony of the goodness and forgiveness of God to their children!
Until Next Time
Son of the Deep is a romantic adventure without the impure passion of The Selection series or the brutal violence of the Red Queen novels. It is an exciting and beautiful retelling of a favorite fairy-tale! Long story short – yes, of course, you should read this book as soon as it hits the shelves March 15th! I’m including a link HERE for the Amazon Kindle edition and HERE for the hardcover/paperback edition at Owl’s Nest Publishers. As of today, it is sold out for pre-orders at Owl’s Nest Publishers, but check back again to get your copy!
Until the next fairy tale dear readers! Enjoy your Wednesday and go read a book. 🙂
