Review- Daughter of the Deep- Rick Riordan

Buckle up, everyone, this one will be more of me rambling than a review. But hey, it'll cover all my honest thoughts while reading it, so that's something. 

Ok, so in case you're new here, I usually start my book reviews with how I got to know of the book, why I decided to read it etc. Well, this is a Rick Riordan book, so of course I heard about it. It was on his blog, and everyone was buzzing about it. I'll be honest, I wasn't as excited as I'd be if it was one of the mythology series. Maybe that's just 'cause then I'd be used to it, while with Riordan writing something sci-fi, based on Jules Verne's classic (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, FYI), I wasn't sure what to expect. 

Anyways, more to the story of how I got the book. I was sulking at a grocery store (which I now consider a hobby. Sulking, I mean. Not necessarily at a grocery store.), and happened to glance at the Rick Riordan bookshelf (out of habit). There was one book sleeve with a character I didn't recognize. Was it one of the graphic novels? When I pulled it out, I saw that it was Daughter of the Deep! Which was pretty crazy, and went down to luck as a) the book was somehow available only a month after its publication b) at a grocery store, of all places, when I didn't notice it in the websites of the local bookstores and c) I don't even go to the grocery store that often, 'cause pandemic and all. I wasn't allowed to read the book during my exams, which was fine. I got to read most of it while I was on holiday, so I'll always think of the holiday when I remember this book, and the other way round.   

Here's the plot: Ana Dakkar is a freshman (9th grader) at Harding-Pencroft Academy, a five-year high school that graduates the best marine scientists, naval warriors, navigators, and underwater explorers in the world. Her weekend end-of-year trials, however, don't go as planned when there's a huge tragedy. The professor accompanying them informs Ana that their rival school, Land Institute, and Harding-Pencroft have been fighting a cold war for a hundred and fifty years. Now that cold war has been turned up to a full broil, and the freshman are in danger of becoming fish food. Oh, and Ana must be protected at all costs 'cause she's a descendant of someone really important, but thought to be fictional. 

Well, finally on to the review! Let's start with the book cover. Both the versions look so pretty (I may or may not be throwing shade at some of the other book covers. I mean, what was that one cover of Son of Neptune?!)! I'll admit, it was a little strange to read about a character who sounds different, and the plot is more science-y. Like Uncle Rick's familiar light humor is there, so while you can tell that he wrote it, it also sounds different enough to make Ana a different narrator to, say, Percy. The way he did it is actually really cool, like the changes are light, but enough to show the difference without you forgetting it was written by Riordan too. 

Then the characters, you guys! Ana (of course), Ester, Nelinha, Gem- the list goes on. They're all really well-developed and there's also quite a lot of representation. Every person has a different walk of life, so it's not possible to have one character define an entire culture, race, gender etc., and while I don't know enough to know if the representation was done well, it was read over by sensitivity readers, and with the minorities I am a part of, I think the representation quality was way better than that in the other books. 

Another point: animal friends! There were plenty, from Socrates to Top! Also, can we talk about how there is literally not a single character Uncle Rick has written who doesn't have at least one major tragedy in their life? Yeah, they all need hugs (as long as they're OK with it) and therapy. One of the really cool points was that the characters were realistic, and had very relatable experiences. 

Moving on to the story. I didn't read the original book that inspired it (I'm sorry, I just have a hard time getting into the language of the classics, so I usually don't read them unless I absolutely have to), and am not an expert at ocean/navy/marine/science-y terms, so it was a little confusing at times (more than mythology haha). But I still found it interesting. 

Now, the actual story- I think reading the first one or two chapters was the hardest. There was quite a lot of information, and not in a light way. Most of the time, Riordan's character are new to the whole business, and have no idea what's going on either. If they are veterans, the concepts of the world had already been explained beforehand. So the info-dumping was a little hard to get through, but I promise it gets better. 

Another thing is at first I found the catalytic event/inciting incident/big thing that gets the story going quite big but quick? Like it was a huge thing that happened really fast, and I was as shocked as the characters. But as I read on, it made more sense for it to happen like it did, with the plot twist (which was quite the twist if you ask me, and had me internally screaming). And there's the fact that the story had to end in one book. 

Honestly, when I was more than halfway through the book, I was starting to panic. How was Uncle Rick going to wrap everything up in only a hundred or so pages? And it was supposed to be a standalone. It did end well, though. However, I still want to know what happens next. Not to spoil anything, but then ending does leave a lot of room to wonder about what happens next. I think it'd be cool to see what happens like a decade or two later, y'know? Or maybe a spinoff, as there was no definitive ending. 

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this book. It often looks overwhelming and confusing to start Rick Riordan's books, as there are so many. With this one, though, you don't need to anything before starting it, as it's a standalone. So this is the perfect book to pick up if you're curious about Riordan's writing style, but are not ready to commit to a huge series. 

Ratings (by me):

Characters (in terms of development): 9/10

Plot: 8.5/10

Interest level (in general): 9/10 

Did I forget that the last post was my 100th post? Yes, yes I did. I felt pretty stupid afterwards, but hey, it's the achievement that counts. So hello to the 101st post! Thank you to everyone who stuck with me on this somewhat strange journey! If you read this book, what do you think? If you haven't, do you want to? Let me know in the comments! I definitely have theories and headcannons for this story, so keep an eye out on the Instagram account for that (which is basically a place where I dump the random-est thoughts). Hopefully I'll see you guys next time!

Note: Not sponsored and just my opinions