'The Abyss That Surrounds Us' is one of those books that snuck up on me—I picked it up expecting a fun adventure, but it turned into this intense, emotional ride I couldn’t put down. At its core, it’s about Cassandra Leung, a young trainer of Reckoners (basically giant sea monsters used for defense) who gets kidnapped by pirates. The twist? The pirates want her to train their own Reckoner. The story dives deep into survival, loyalty, and the blurred lines between right and wrong. The world-building is fantastic—imagine this dystopian future where rising sea levels have reshaped society, and Reckoners are the last line of defense against pirate raids. But what really got me was Cassandra’s character arc. She starts off as this privileged, somewhat naive girl, but being forced to work with pirates forces her to question everything she’s been taught about morality and power.
What I love about this book is how it doesn’t shy away from complexity. The pirate captain, Swift, isn’t just a villain—she’s layered, charismatic, and challenges Cassandra’s worldview in ways that feel painfully real. The relationship between them is tense, unpredictable, and weirdly compelling. And the action scenes? Absolutely gripping. There’s this one scene where Cassandra has to navigate a Reckoner through a storm that had me holding my breath. It’s not just about the spectacle, though; the stakes always feel personal. By the end, I was left thinking about how far I’d go to survive in a world that’s literally sinking—and who I’d become in the process.