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Soulwanderer by Tina Wittendorff Mortensen follows Melerina in a life underwater, the only world she knows. Already feeling different to her friends and family for being a lighter shade of green than her peers, Rina explores the dangers and realities of other worlds whilst also exploring a side to herself she didn’t know she had.
Admittedly, and as many of you are aware by now, I don’t really read fantasy novels as I find them repetitive and often unimaginative, so while I gladly accepted this book, I did expect to encounter that same feel as other fantasy books. Though I will say now that there were some of the typical tropes, the world building that Mortensen creates is extremely unique – I don’t think I’ve ever read a book set underwater so it’s fair to say that was new to me. The layers of world building were quite interesting too, and the author does explain aspects that readers would definitely have questions about, like where do tears go and how does one tame their hair?!
As mentioned above, there were some things that could have been improved on, such as the writing, you would sometimes get sentences that might not have made very much sense, or the point of the paragraph didn’t come across as neatly as it could have done, but nothing so egregious that it really brought the reader out of their fantasy bubble.
To add to this, the romance-trope and the repetitive nature of Rina coming to terms with her romantic situation and then getting angry for absolutely no reason did become as annoying as this writing is common in fantasy. I think I would have loved the friendships explored more, particularly with the Dr, as characters like Lucco came to irritate me, mainly because I could expect how Rina would react such was the reliance on classic tropes.
Overall, this book is definitely one to read if you’re a fantasy lover – if you love Cassandra Claire or Sarah J Mass, I encourage you to read this unique take on a fantasy novel and indulge yourself in the romance that this book explores.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐/5