Desdemona and the Deep

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Sadly, Cooney doesn't really explore these issues - they are important for the general set up of the storyline, but it's all a black and white affair, no grey at all. Who doesn't oppose a rich mine boss sacrificing hundreds of lives to find a new oil field? Who doesn't oppose working conditions leaving people severely maimed? Similarly, the transgender character's feelings are hardly portrayed - on the contrary, it's a shallow, flat character that behaves as no real people do: it falls in love instantly, rescinding a regular life for something completely unknown, all because of a character it knows for a couple of hours.

But of course, these are not real people - these are characters in a 2019 fairy tale. One could argue to cut the fairy tale - as a genre - some slack: it's supposed to be black and white. It's supposed to be that way because - from Grimm onward - published fairy tales were meant for children, and children need their moral lessons spelled out to them loud and clear. Pondering upon the difficult childhood of the witch or the carnivorous nature of the wolf would only confuse our toddlers. Yet while Desdemona And The Deep has a YA feel at times, its audience is not children - the language is to difficult for that.

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Please read the full review on Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It