BOOK REVIEW: The Seawomen, by Chloe Timms


Review by local, Ally Aldridge

SUMMARY:
Everyone on this island has a story. This is mine.

Esta has known nothing but Eden's Isle her whole life. After a fire left her orphaned and badly scarred, Esta was raised by her grandmother in a deeply religious society who cut itself off from the mainland in the name of salvation. Here, fear rules: fear of damnation, fear of the outside world and fear of what lurks beneath the water - a corrupting evil the islanders call the Seawomen.

But Esta wants more than a life where touching the water risks corruption, where her every move is watched and women are controlled in every aspect of their lives. Married off, the women of the island must conceive a child within their appointed motheryear or be marked as cursed and cast into the sea as a sacrifice in an act called the Untethering.

When Esta witnesses a woman Untethered she sees a future to fear. Her fate awaits, a loveless marriage, her motheryear declared. And after a brief taste of freedom, the insular world Esta knows begins to unravel...
The Seawomen is a fiercely written and timely feminist novel, at once gothic, fantastical and truly unforgettable, for fans of Naomi Alderman, Margaret Atwood and Kiran Millwood Hargrave.

REVIEW:
Wow! This book is dark and twisty. I’ve always wondered how people fall prey to a cult leader. How fears can control.
Esta lives on a patriarchal island where they fear the seawomen, and every challenge the islanders face is blamed on the sins of their women. Punished by God, they must repent to be saved. Esta sees through the lies and dangerously seeks answers to questions that if she was a good holy girl she’d ignore.
This book reminded me of the darkness of The Handmaids Tale. The way the book made me turn the page out of morbid curiosity that people could live this way. The history and characters are written so well, it was difficult to put down.
What an amazing debut!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

AVAILABLE FROM:
All good bookstores: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/1425/9781529369564
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