Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
Release Date: January 9, 2024
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy
Krescent Dune is buried under the weight of her dead parents’ debt and the ruinous legacy they left behind. The only way she can earn enough money to escape her unforgiving island is by fighting monstrous amphibians in underground fighting pits. She’s never lost a match, until now.
Desperate, Krescent is offered a deal. Her debts will be erased if she joins a hunting party for a dangerous rescue mission deep beneath the island. With no other choice, Krescent is forced to play nice as the group’s bodyguard, even though every step that brings them deeper underground means she must face the terrifying truth that she is trapped with her childhood enemy and people who would gladly kill her if they knew who her parents were.
As the group journeys down beyond where their maps end with creatures never seen before, Krescent begins to suspect there’s more to their rescue mission than first meets the eye. Soon enough, they are abandoned in the deep dark underground, with only monsters seen and unseen for company.
Tanvi Berwah's Somewhere in the Deep is a South Asian-inspired dystopian fantasy from the highly-acclaimed author of Monsters Born and Made. Krescent
Dune is used to fighting against monsters on her island of Kar Atish,
but she's unprepared for the monsters lurking in the deep. On the Island of Kar Atish, the lower class must carve out a living for
themselves either mining for a substance called zargunine that the upper
class, the Landers will pay them for or they can fight against wild
creatures from the deep in the pits.
Krescent aka Kress aka The Dark Dancer aka Kinkiller, has been fighting monsters for the past 5 years. She has the tattoos to show how many fights she has won. 5 years ago, her parents (Jar and Katya Dune) committed an act of terrorism leaving Kress with few opportunities, and a lack of money to escape the Island. Kress is buried under the weight of her dead parents’ debt and the
ruinous legacy they left behind. If she doesn't pay her debts, she could end up dead.
Because of her parents, she is no longer welcomed in the mines, and friends have become enemies. The only way she can earn enough money
to escape her unforgiving island is by fighting monstrous amphibians in
underground fighting pits. She’s never lost a match, until now. After being told by her handler Badger to lose a fight, Kress finds herself between a rock and a hard place. Desperate, Kress is offered a deal. Her debts will be erased if she
joins a hunting party for a dangerous rescue mission deep beneath the
island.
With no other choice, Kress is forced to play nice as the
group’s bodyguard, even though every step that brings them deeper
underground means she must face the terrifying truth that she is trapped
with her childhood enemy and people who would gladly kill her if they
knew who her parents were. Underground is where mysterious monsters and even more mysterious people are called Shadefolk. These mysterious people are kin to Kress and her mother, Katya who was responsible for killing miners to protect a secret.
Kin who have been protecting the island fearing that if the outsiders discovered the secrets of the island, would eagerly try to exploit it for their own uses. Kress must not only work with people who hate her, but the boy she may love with all her heart. As the group journeys down beyond where their maps end with creatures
never seen before, Kress begins to suspect there’s more to their
rescue mission than first meets the eye. Soon enough, they are abandoned
in the deep dark underground, with only monsters seen and unseen for
company.
*Thoughts* Apparently, this book is set in the same world as Monsters Born and Made, but you do not need to read the books in any order. In fact, in one chapter, it is mentioned about the Glory Race that Koral and her family provides monstrous maristags for the participants of the race. The author has posted that this story runs parallel to Monsters but on another island. If you have ever gone spelunking in caves, this book captures the horror of the darkness of depths unexplored so magnificently, and the monsters fought are brilliantly terrifying. Kress is a really good fighter, but she is not infallible. She gets hurt. A lot. She also shows that she is more than what she had to become to survive. One of steadiest characters in this book is Rivan who became her family after she was forced to hide her identity. Rivan and his two brothers actually care for Kress, and care about what she has to deal with in order to survive.
