Book Review: THE SECRETS BELOW

Title: The Secrets Below

Author: Camilla Sten and Viveca Sten

Translator: AA Prime

Publisher: Amazon Crossing Kids

Pages: 352

My GoodReads Rating: 

The story begins with a little baby girl, who falls out of her mother’s arms while they are on the deck of their boat. The next chapter takes us to the Stockholm Archipelago, with 12yo Tuva on her way to school. She is shunned by her classmates, especially Hanna, Isabelle, Axel and Rasmus.

On a particular field trip in the woods surrounding the school, Axel suddenly disappears. The police question Tuva on the disappearance as well as on the trance-like behaviour of Rasmus. This is the third disappearance of this kind.

The story is written in the first person, present tense PoV of 12yo Tuva.

 

WHAT I LIKED:

I liked the fact that Tuva sought to resolve issues on her own, and that Rasmus was a good friend, and not the ‘hero’ in her story. It is good to see young girls essaying powerful roles in their own lives.

Among the minor characters, I liked Tuva’s parents.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:

The mean girls, Isabelle and Hanna, and Grandma Gerd seemed like caricatures. There was no reason for why they behaved as they did.

The fact that we never ‘see’ the antagonist ourselves weakens their power over us.

What I really liked was the attempt to raise awareness about oceans and how to prevent pollution. But the plot gets lost between the emphasis on mankind’s deliberate disrespect towards nature and the supernatural antagonist.

 

WHAT DIDN’T WORK FOR ME:

I found the writing a little repetitive, then realized that it was meant for school grade children. Also, I don’t know if some things have been lost in translation.

I didn’t find the plot very impressive. But then again, I’m not the target audience. Young children who are not very familiar with the genre would have a better experience.

I wasn’t sure if merfolk as heroes were very credible. Bringing together diverse myths such as the mara, the merfolk, fairies, elves and gnomes seems like overkill. The word, mermaid, is never used, possibly in order to be politically correct.

We receive no closure on what happened to Axel. It should have been addressed here, not left for Book 2 in the series.  

ALL SAID AND DONE:

I would have liked to see more of the dynamic between Tuva and her parents, and to understand a little more of her backstory. Also, the antagonist should either have been human or supernatural, but not both together.

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.)