Scorpionfish - Natalie Bakopoulos

Rating: ⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Tin House Books for the Advanced Copy received through NetGalley.

I really am unsure of how to even write a review for this. And that's not because I disliked it, but because I'm not sure if I liked it.

It was an interesting story, but the plot was so all over the place it seemed like there were mini-plots that seemingly existed even though there was no grand plot. It was also like the story was being told from the present, but also from the future? Like the narrators (Mira and The Captain) would be in the present living a moment, but then add a snippet of their life from the future? Very confusing. I wanted more from specific aspects of this book. And what it actually provided, are the things I could've actually cared less about. I didn't really enjoy Nefeli, even though I feel like I was meant to. I enjoyed Rami, but was indifferent about Dimitra, Fady and Leila. It was like they weren't who mattered, and Rami was only there to provide Mira something to do. Aris was actually the worst. I disliked him, both because of how he treated Mira and also because of how he was such a dick in general. When it comes to The Captain, I was interesting in his relationship with Katerina and what happened with her unspoken lover. However I also wanted SO MUCH MORE from the "relationship" that was brewing between him and Mira. It was there, yet it was non-existant and this frustrated me to no end.

My main issue with the book was that it had no plot, like I've previously mentioned. I'm realizing now, that the only reason I was remotely interested in it is because I was waiting for something to happen the whole time. Not just the romance I had hoped for, but anything, something interesting. I didn't get that until the second to last page, and only briefly. And it really only wrapped up this mini-plots that I only kind of cared about.

The ending, like the rest of the book, left something to be desired. It was this whole book about internal conflict and relationships yet, everything seemed to be wrapped up in a bow. But not a pretty bow, a messy bow that kind of looks good from one angle, but looks completely disastrous from another angle.

I was looking forward to this book because I thought it would be a lot more than it ended up being, and I'm simply disappointed.