d_s_t_e's Wattpad Reviews

UNDERWATER by OG-Dara [Mystery/Thriller]

Ife Oladapo's life is destroyed the day her classmates find out that she's been stealing from them. Failing to understand that she's suffering from kleptomania, a serious mental health disorder, they unanimously shun her. Her boyfriend Leo breaks up with her, and a bitter rift forms between her and her best friend Grace, leaving her painfully alone. And things get even worse when she begins to get threatening notes from a person with the alias of "Underwater". Will Ife be able to make new friends and solve this mystery or wind up dead at the hands of a person from whom she's stolen something far too precious?

Overall, I think the author of this book shows great promise as a storyteller. Even from the beginning, the events were laid out in a compelling way. The prologue was short and yet each tiny thing that happened in it was well-timed and perfectly concise, each one flowing into the next to form a perfect storytelling pattern, and that is just the first example. 

Nearly every chapter left me wanting to find out what would happen next, an excellent quality to have in a thriller novel. The author showed a lot of skill in ending chapters on the perfect note to urge the reader to click on just one more without ever resorting to clichés or tired old tactics.

In fact, the entire book was full of fresh ideas and techniques. Perhaps part of this is due to the fact that it is written by a Nigerian about a Nigerian and I personally am unfamiliar with the culture, but I can certainly say that I enjoyed this aspect of the book whatever the case may be. The imagery and metaphors were often creative and surprisingly fitting. There was only one place where I read what I thought must be a Nigerian saying I was unfamiliar with, and even then I was able to figure out what it must mean and to find that it was fitting for the scenario.

Speaking of the cultural context, I did personally find it helpful that the author provided in-text translations for any dialogue that wasn't spoken in English as well as brief explanations of terms that were unfamiliar to me. It was clear that the author made an effort to make the book accessible for an audience ignorant of Nigerian culture while also being unafraid to depict that culture exactly as it is. There were a few things that I still failed to understand (What exactly is a "nylon" in the context of needing one for shopping? I understand that "picking dirt" is a punishment, but what does it involve? "Cortina"? "Yoruba"?) , but I always had enough of an idea to not distract much from the story. Some things were obvious enough as a brand name or a type food, for example, while a few others could be learned with help from Google. I only mention it in case the author would find it helpful to know what an average American might fail to understand. The sad truth is that our schools and our media don't teach us much at all about Nigeria.

Going back to the descriptions though, I also have to say that I appreciated the fact that they were both brief and compelling, that in the space of just a few words the author could often evoke the perfect image and also have it fit the tone or even serve a storytelling purpose. The image in the prologue of Ife squeezing "the non-existent life" out of a feather pillow is one great example of an image that is instantly understandable, interesting, and demonstrative of her intense frustration. The rest of the book is filled with similar examples, from objects to locations to people. The only time it felt a little overdone was the chapter in which the narrator spends a bunch of time explaining how the rain is a reflection of Ife's poor mood; this is a very common use of rain in stories and didn't need to be explained at all. Other than that I found myself writing something along the lines of "great description!" into my notes over and over again. It really is one of this story's strengths.

I also loved some of the characters, but overall they were hit-or-miss for me personally. I really loved the relationship between Ife and her mother, for example. They had all the familiar tension between parent and teenager, but they also had it unfold in their own unique way. I loved seeing how Ife's kleptomania was causing a strain in the family. I loved seeing her parenting style and how the Nigerian culture has shaped it. And I also loved seeing that Ife and her mother had moments where they showed their love and support for each other in spite of everything. Their relationship had true complexity and realism in it. Another character I loved was Elle, the mysterious girl Ife meets at her support group sessions. I found her to be intriguing and interesting right away, and I only liked her more and more in the chapters that followed. She was a character who definitely kept me reading.