Mystery

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Review This book has stuck with me for more than ten years. Re-reading, I was slightly alarmed at the writing style -- it's really not very good at all. This was one of Oppel's earliest books, and it definitely shows. The characters are somewhere in their teens, and often act younger, but then talk like roles in a play. They each have a single motivation, and occasionally reveal things about that motivation in brief speeches that are meant to sound emotional.

That said, I can definitely see why the imagery stuck with me so long. That part is really, really good. The key images seemed just the same the second time, bodies changed by the water, terrible and yet strangely glorified. The water as something with a compelling aura even to the reader. Some of the themes are clunky and obvious, but there are also threads of a strange sibling relationship based on adolescents' fascination with their own bodies. Rivalry, codependence, the strange way people blame a sick person for being sick. I can't say if I'd like the book as much if I was discovering it as an adult, but I'm glad to have re-read it. ( )