Above Us The Sea by Ania Card

 

Above Us The Sea by Ania Card

Tiny Overview

Polish immigrant Toni leaves Cardiff University in the midst of an identity crisis. While clubbing, she meets Gav, who completely changes her life. Some for better, some for worse. 

Themes:

• Contemporary literary fiction
• LGBTQ
• Love
• Loss
• Trauma
• Identity
• Belonging
• Migration

Context

Card had no literary background prior, undergoing Jericho Writers mentoring to create this novel. In a separate interview with Diva Magazine, she stated that "Being an immigrant underpins all my writing", and how being an immigrant comes without a sense of belonging, how queerness gives one; they both give people a sense of belonging by the feeling of being out of place.

My Waffling

Almost cried to this book. I heavily felt the feeling of the queer community, and was able to relate loosely to it.

But because of this gay book Storygraph recommended me Inevitable. And I don't know if I can forgive it for that. 

I love Cardiff anyways, and on the rare occasion I am there every couple months I think of this book, and how it could of been me if I was smart enough to get into the Uni. I would go as far to say this is one of my favourite books, even if Toni did infuriate me at times. I could not understand some things she did, but I kept reading and I'm so happy I did. However, this is another gay book with a bad ending. I've learnt that if the gay book is not porn, then a tragic ending occurs instead. It's a pattern that happens in many of LGBT books, and I can't say I'm happy about it. Being gay is sad enough, facing adversity and prejudice, why would I want to read a book that reflects that, when I'm trying to leave that reality behind for an hour or two? This critique is not about Card's book - just books in general.

This book is another one that catfished me. I thought I would be reading a soppy gay love triangle book, and instead lived through a Polish woman's crisis as she navigates through grief, love, moving, and affairs. A minute of reading this was not wasted, it was definitely worth my time. Highly recommend. 

4/5