book review: the gloaming by kirsty logan

 

Rating: five stars

Wow. That was magical and mesmerising and so, so beautiful. It was definitely less fantasy and more magical-realism than I had expected (no actual mermaids, rip), but I absolutely loved the slightly off-kilter tone and the Gothic atmosphere, and the blending of reality with magic to the point where you're not sure what's real and what's not anymore. The writing was just gorgeous, so descriptive and poetic, and I loved all the sea imagery. I seriously couldn't put it down, I'm obsessed with it aaaaaaah

The story is set on a tiny, isolated, rural island, where a subtle magic permeates everything, where the sea is a part of everyone's lives and it takes and takes and gives nothing back, where people slowly turn to stone and go up to the cliff when their time comes to die. The descriptions and tone were absolutely perfect; the landscape was so vivid in my mind, it was absolutely spellbinding. It follows a family who live in a massive run-down house: Peter and Signe and their children, Islay, Mara, and Bee. The narration is split between all of them, although Mara definitely gets the larger share of pov chapters, and, while the story belongs to the family as a whole, the story mainly focuses on her experience of the tragedy that befalls them and her relationship with Pearl, the mysterious mermaid performer who arrives on the island just after Mara's eighteenth birthday and who steals her heart.

I loved the characters so damn much. Islay is cold and selfish and absolutely awful and genuinely cares for her family deep down and she's so well written and I love her. Signe is your typical mother who seriously warps her daughters' views on life and love due to her own misconceptions, and yet you forgive her for it because she's just trying to the best for her children; I wanted to dislike her but she's so nuanced and her story is so sad that I loved her instead. Peter's storyline is heartbreaking. You know exactly what's coming but it still hurts. Pearl lives in a house built into a hill and her job is to dress up in shiny wigs and a tail and pretend to be a mermaid, and... she's somehow the most sensible out of all of them? She's definitely the only one who knows what an actual healthy relationship looks like lmao. At first I thought she was a little manipulative, but towards the end I think she genuinely loves Mara and wants the best for her.

Strangely enough the character I didn't connect with as much is Mara, who is... supposed to be the main character? She didn't seem to have much of a personality outside of being a daydreamer and simping over Pearl 24/7 (not that I'm complaining that's relatable as hell), but I loved her as a flawed character dealing with her trauma and wishing to escape the island. I also thought she was a slightly unreliable narrator, which I'm always here for. // SPOILER: (I thought the way she treated Pearl towards the end is quite unfair, Pearl never forced her to leave the island with her, she was simply living her own life away from the toxic influence island and Mara chose to leave with her, but I think that's the point? It makes sense in the context of the fairy stories Mara was raised hearing, where a story is only a romance if a couple stays together for the rest of their lives. Her perception of what love is is a little warped, and she has yet to learn what a healthy relationship actually looks like.) 

I wasn't too sure about the ending, it felt a little incongruous with the rest of the book, but it didn't change how much I love this story. I definitely recommend it for fans of magical realism and sapphic romance, as well as anyone who likes reading about messy, flawed characters and beautiful settings.