Review: The Abyss Surrounds Us

Title: The Abyss Surrounds Us

Author: Emily Skrutskie
Series: The Abyss Syrrounds Us
Volume: 1
Genre: Post Apocalyptic, Science Fiction
Release Date: February 8, 2016
Goodreads

After rising sea levels reshaped world, the seas became a lawless place. Cassandra Leung has spent her life learning to train Reckoners, genetically engineered sea monsters that protect ships from pirates in the NeoPacific. When, on her first mission, her Reckoner fails, she is taken captive by pirates- who present her with a new Reckoner pup to train, and offer her an ultimatum: as long as the pup lives, so does she.

Out of Ten: 8/10

Review at a Glance: This was a quick, fun read. It contains so many cool things, and I'm really looking forward to the sequel!

Review: I mean, sea monsters, folks, SEA MONSTERS. How cool is that? (Very cool.) The sea monsters in this case a genetically engineered with DNA from different species. In my brain our two main Reckoners look like a combination of sea turtles and plesiosaurs... I would love a picture of what they're meant to look like because I feel like I possibly don't have a perfect imagine my head.

Our main character, Cas, begins the novel at the end of her training, just about ready to be a fully fledged trainer. One of my favourite things about her is how she knows the Reckoners, and also how she applies what she knows from them to her interactions with humans... Also that she's very competent. I mean, obviously she faces some super-tough decisions, (borrowing words from The Winner's Curse here) she plays the game to its end, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what that end is. She's a consistently structured character and I really appreciate that!

While the action isn't non-stop, there is always something happening. If there isn't a high-seas battle going on, there's Cas making her way on the pirate ship, or Cas and Swift's adventure visiting Swift's home. The action scenes were fairly well done, though I think sometimes I did get a bit lost? Mostly, I think, because, as I mentioned I didn't quite have a picture of exactly what the Reckoner looked like.

Now that I've mentioned Cas and Swift, I feel like I should mention them some more... I liked how Swift's character was revealed to the reader, and watching her change in Cas's eyes, while also being a very flawed character. Their relationship was interesting in that it... kind of proceeded in fits and starts, and yet didn't feel stilted? They figured each other out, and I also quite liked how they agreed equal footing was super important for relationships, and didn't wouldn't begin anything romance-wise unless they were able to be equals. (Also points for casually non-straight characters!)

Overall this was a fun, short read. While there were a few moments where I got a bit disengaged from the story, I still had a really good time reading it, and I'm looking forward to seeing where the sequel takes Cas!