When Kasienka moves from Poland to England, she finds herself unwelcome in her new school. As if that wasn't hard enough, her mother is obsessed with finding the father who abandoned her family. Here, her story is told through the lens of short poems, each forming a chapter.
Many years ago, I read another of Sarah Crossan's books, One. It is about a pair of conjoined twins, and how they make the decision to be surgically separated. It is also told in free verse, and is utterly heart-breaking but wholly beautiful.
Memory of this gave me high expectations for The Weight of Water, which were mostly fulfilled.
The poetry was flowing and lyrical, allowing almost brutal honesty in the themes of the book. It's sad, but quietly uplifting, and each subplot is handled with enough care to make it feel genuine. Crossan manages to build character and place in a believable and likable way, even with minimal time dedicated to internal monologue or long conversation.
However, that is where my major problem with the book lies. Even written in prose, The Weight of Water would be a short book, but in verse the story skips by, and I read it in a little over an hour. This gives a weighty story much less time than it deserves to unfold. I also felt that context from Kasienka's life in Poland would have added an interesting contrast by showing her when she was at her happiest.
Overall, though, it's a short and enjoyable read. If nothing else, The Weight of Water is an engaging and moving distraction, which, given some time, it could be so much more.
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Book Reviews
Não FicçãoCarried over from my Tumblr, this is a personal project tracking what I read through time, largely because of my awful memory. These aren't long reviews, but the books are varied, and the opinions are honest, so I hope you enjoy.
