Song of The Abyss Book Review

Pub Date	15 May 2024
Publisher	Emma Hamm/Self-Published
Page Count	386 pages
Genre	Romance, Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Goodreads Star Rating	4.28
My star rating	4

Song of The Abyss Book Summary

Song of The Abyss by Emma Hamm is the second installment in the Deep Waters series and it follows Daios as he embarks on a mission to kidnap Anya, a daughter of a general, in order to get her father to change the way humans are treating People of the Water. But, unexpectedly, he finds that he likes Anya and her company, and that she likes him too.

Song of The Abyss Book Review

As mentioned in my review of Whispers of The Deep by Emma Hamm, I finished both that book and this one within a day and a half. So you can say that I enjoyed them (a lot). But you also might notice that I rated Song of The Abyss 4 stars while I gave Whispers of The Deep a glowing 5 stars.

That is not to say that I liked this book any less. In fact, I might have enjoyed it even more. But I feel like Whispers of The Deep is a more accomplished book — the author set out to do this thing and did it so well. And while its sequel is fun and romantic, perhaps even more so, it wasn’t as well done. 

The couple in book one had many obstacles to their relationship. For one, they were different species who hated each other. They couldn’t communicate through language. They weren’t aware of each other’s needs (for example, that Mira could have died from cold or eating just fish).They were on the run from other undines the entire time, with that threat always looming in the background. They didn’t even know that a relationship between them was possible. 

There are a few more but you get the point. So many obstacles. And all of them made their romance more interesting, more developed. 

On the other hand, Daios and Anya never had any of those issues. Sure, they were different species at war but Daios at least knew that they could work (based on Mira and Arges), and Anya was pretty clear that she was working against her father too. 

They already had an accessible way to communicate and Arges told Daios how to take care of a human. And while that allowed this book to be more romance-focused (and more romantic), it also made for a less developed couple.

They like and trust each other almost immediately — which was fun to read, but overall made for a less exciting book. The only real obstacles they had were internal and somewhat easy to overcome. 

But, as I said, I might have liked this book even more than the first one. Especially because it has one of my favorite tropes (would you call it a trope?) — a battle–hardened lead who never knew kindness and love, and a heroine who gives him just that. And the opposite is true as well — Anya never had anyone who really cared for her and she found it in Daios. 

Their story is really soft and tender and just lovely overall. I liked that both of them had disabilities and how it was handled, and how they worked together. 

What I didn’t like is how Mira and Arges almost became villains in this one. Not in the true sense, mind you, but they were very judgemental and frowned upon this relationship. Which is strange, considering they were happy to look for ways for humans and merpeople to connect at the end of their book. 

I loved Mira in her book — she was resourceful and brave despite everything — but in this one, she just seems overbearing, rude, and bossy. 

And I’m not sure what happened to Arges. Because at the beginning, he notices Daios has feelings for Anya and he gives him advice. He tells her how to take care of her and even where to take her. Even when Daios denies his feelings, Arges tells him that he can fight all he wants, but there’s no use. 

But then when Daios and Anya rejoined the group, he acted as if he didn’t know any of this and was the most surprised of them all that they were in love. I really didn’t like that and I wish both Mira and Arges were more supportive (it would have made more sense). 

And I get that Daios made their lives a living hell in part one, but at the end they did accept him and later on, Daios tells them that the biggest reason he acted that way is because Depthstriders told him something terrible will happen if Arges keeps Mira alive. 

But other than weird personality changes and discrepancies, I really enjoyed Song of The Abyss. As I said, I might even prefer it to part one. It’s just a less accomplished book than Whispers of The Deep, and that’s why it got 4 stars from me. 

Either way, this series is quickly becoming my favorite and I can’t wait for Maketes’ book in November. If you’re looking for a new fantasy romance to dive into, I highly recommend this one!