The Siren, the Song, and the Spy by Maggie Tokuda-Hall (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Siren, the Song, and the Spy by Maggie Tokuda-Hall Fiona Hartley-Kroeger Tokuda-Hall, Maggie The Siren, the Song, and the Spy. Candlewick, 2023 [320p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781536218053 $19.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 9-12 With Evelyn and Flora/Florian now together and happily numbered among the Sea's mermaids, Tokuda-Hall broadens the scope of the tale begun in The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea (BCCB 6/20), introducing new perspectives to reveal more about the Nipran Empire and the motley, pirate-led coalition bent on bringing it down. Among these are a young girl named Thistle, a sister and brother duo of warrior Kaia and gentle Koa, and characters from the previous volume, most notably Genevieve, apprentice to the formidable but now dead Imperial agent, the Lady Ayer. Once a staunch believer in Imperial superiority and benevolence, Genevieve has a change of heart when she witnesses the massacre of Kaia and Koa's people. Her disillusionment is a hard one, laying bare her naive complicity in the lies and atrocities Nipran is built on, and Genevieve becomes (both directly and indirectly) the pivot upon which world-altering events turn. As in the first volume, the diversity of the archipelagic world is again proudly, organically on display, with a variety of nationalities and cultural experiences shaping characters' relationships to the Empire. Though the sheer number of perspectives may daunt some readers, the polyphony is precisely what enables the nuanced exploration of colonialism and realistic plurality of gender identities and sexualities. In the face of this bounty, a few plot contrivances and rough edges in the prose and pacing are eminently forgivable. Most importantly, the novel's decolonial imagination challenges readers to re-envision received notions of power, accountability, compassion, grief, liberty, and resistance. Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois