Daughter of the Deep Review

What Happens in Daughter of the Deep?

Life at Harding-Pencroft Academy was predictable and ordinary before the disaster. After an attack from the Land Institute reduced Harding-Pencroft to nothing, the only survivors are a group of twenty freshmen. As the Land Institute continues to pursue the survivors, Ana Dakkar steps up to lead the group out of their precarious situation.

Who are the Characters in Daughter of the Deep?

The characters of Daughter of the Deep are divided into four houses at Harding-Pencroft Academy. The Dolphins are the communicators, the Cephalopods are the engineers, the Orcas are the medics, and the Sharks are the bodyguards. Our lead protagonist is Ana Dakkar, a Dolphin, and the last in line in her family after a disaster at HP. Her best friends are Ester Harding, an Orca, and Nelinha de Silva, a Cephalopod. Although not on great terms, Gemini Twain is Shark and is Ana’s personal bodyguard.

Daughter of the Deep Review

Rick Riordan is back and in a big way. Daughter of the Deep is a completely different vibe than most of Rick’s work, and I loved it. It was dark, mysterious, and full of funny moments. The comedy of this one was considerably more dry than any of the Percy Jackson novels, but I thought it worked well with our characters and the way the plot was shaped. As with many Riordan novels, my favourite aspect of this book was just the setting.

The entire underwater world that Rick has created is spectacular. From using multiple Jules Verne novels to shape the lore, to the fantastic underwater terrain our characters cover, the details put into this novel are immaculate. The world-building makes it easy to imagine the different areas of the globe our characters cover, as well as the super cool school to which they belong.

Although HP Academy is not in the picture long, I feel it opens some doors towards a nearly Harry Potter like experience, with the different houses and such. It will be interesting to see which route is taken to revive the school, or if it is revived at all.

I thought our characters were really, really good at filling out gaps between each other. If one of the four was lacking in one area, there was a counterpart to pick up that slack. It made for a really cohesive group. While they may not have always got along, their characters meshed really well, and it made it really enjoyable to read.

The way they grow together over the course of the novel is fantastic. Ana, Gemini, Ester, and Nelinha are completely different characters by the time the ending rolls around. With this being a series, I am super excited to see where our plot carries our characters.

The plot is really the second best thing about this book. The characters are good, but this plot is what keeps the pages turning. Twists and turns, betrayal and trust, not a lot of love but a ton of hate. All things that make this novel way more engaging, and also things we haven’t seen a lot of out of Rick Riordan.

The way we dive nose first into these themes and don’t shy away from any of the more gnarly details is a little bit off-brand, but I thought it added character to the book and really took it a full step away from his other works. Overall, a really smooth sailing plot that only catches itself a couple times with no major plot holes after the first reading.

This is probably the best Rick Riordan novel I have read yet, and I loved the Percy Jackson books. From subs to torpedoes, this feels like a darker, more realistic Percy Jackson, with a deeper cast of characters. It’s such a fun book, and it flies by once you get into it. Don’t let the first 60 pages or so discourage you, the rest is going to be gone before the third sitting.