Buddy Read: Swimming in the Monsoon Sea

After the disaster that was our first buddy read, we are back again for take two! It was, you might say, an inauspicious start. Anna didn’t even pick up this book until Saturday morning (hence why the post is delayed until Sunday. Thanks for ruining my carefully organised schedule for this month, Anna). But now, we’re sorted, and ready to review!

So, read on to find out if this week was better than the last!

Swimming in the Monsoon Sea

Shyam Selvadurai

Goodreads

Rep: gay mc, Sri Lankan characters and setting
TWs: period typical homophobia, almost drowning

The setting is Sri Lanka, 1980, and it is the season of monsoons. Fourteen-year-old Amrith is caught up in the life of the cheerful, well-to-do household in which he is being raised by his vibrant Auntie Bundle and kindly Uncle Lucky. He tries not to think of his life “before,” when his doting mother was still alive. Amrith’s holiday plans seem unpromising: he wants to appear in his school’s production of Othello and he is learning to type at Uncle Lucky’s tropical fish business. Then, like an unexpected monsoon, his cousin arrives from Canada and Amrith’s ordered life is storm-tossed. He finds himself falling in love with the Canadian boy. Othello, with its powerful theme of disastrous jealousy, is the backdrop to the drama in which Amrith finds himself immersed.

Shyam Selvadurai’s brilliant novels, Funny Boy and Cinnamon Gardens, have garnered him international acclaim. In this, his first young adult novel, he explores first love with clarity, humor, and compassion.

Anna’s Review

Rating: -/5 🌈

Charlotte already shamed me for not starting this book soon enough and honestly, that should tell you all you need to know about my feelings here. Swimming in the Monsoon Sea absolutely is not a bad book, not in any sense of the word. We just didn’t… click. You know the tired cliche of “it’s not you, it’s me”? Well, it’s actually very true in this case.

This is a well written, calm book. Very poetic, to be honest. Deeply rooted in the Sri Lankan culture, which I personally find incredible – we definitely don’t get enough ownvoices (!) books not set in Western Europe/USA. The whole plot somewhat hinges on Shakespeare’s Othello. I’m just listing all the good stuff, yes, I’m aware! And yet I didn’t even manage to finish the book?

Like I said, DNF-ing this one was a very personal desicion. I’m a mood reader and I knew that if I forced myself to read something that I’m just not feeling at the moment, I’m gonna end up hating it. And I don’t want that! So I actually moved the book to my “on hold” shelf (yes, I have a shelf like this and yes, there are two books on it) and hopefully, I will be able to come back to it another day. When I’m in the mood.

Charlotte’s Review

Rating: 3/5 🌈

Sometimes you read a book and it just feels quiet and warm like being wrapped up in a blanket with a cup of tea on a cold day (yes, specific metaphor, but bear with). It envelops you in a sense of softness and kindness and you feel almost at ease reading it. That’s probably how I felt reading this book.

Not a lot happens in this book, but in a way, not a lot needs to happen. It’s a coming-of-age story, but more like, coming to realise you are not straight and at least beginning to come to terms with that. And also, nothing bad happens. Yeah, there’s a bit of casual homophobia from the other 14 year-old boys (which is called out!), but that’s it. Sometimes I feel like authors of gay coming-of-age stories think they have to put some awful scene where the main is confronted by some homophobia, because it’s realistic or whatever, but honestly, I like the feeling of safety that you get when there isn’t one. (This may also be because I’ve been scarred reading so many straight-authored coming-of-age stories that do this.)

The one thing I was less keen on? He does have a crush on his (biological) cousin, which, yeah, okay, it was just a crush and nothing happened, but. His cousin.

Did you join in with this buddy read? What did you think?

We’re back next week with our reviews of Girl Made of Stars!

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