Although not all books have decided to use 19th-century American novelist Herman Melville as a minor supporting character, readers will soon realize that such books have a proper nautical theme.
Aquina is a very voyage book, but there are no white whales. This is not a book about hunting or catching anything. It’s a book about letting go in the end.
Dark Horse
Relegated to a close cast of characters for centuries, Aquina could be called a generational trauma if there was a generation to investigate. Instead, it is a book that features a sad seaside immortal group and their serious mythical sin group.
The character of our perspective is, if we could call her very much – a 20’s mber who suffered from chronic pain in the distant year of 1973 and did not understand her origins. It is not until a man who claims to be his father begins to realize that her life is even more horrifying than expected that he drags her into the secret town of Aquinna, Massachusetts, until he claims that it is her father.
The story suffers from some readability hiccups as it jumps from character to character to period, and the central mystery is largely telegraphed. We know there is something in the waters of Aquina. The problem is overcome by the scratched illustrations of Rachele argano. We are loved by this world, but visually captivated, so it can be desolate and harsh.
The book escapes near that conclusion after centuries of flashbacks establish what we need to know and after amber-based action has come to work. This is a book about people who have an intimate relationship with the ocean.
Ultimately, Aquina accomplishes what it is trying to do, but it does so without much surprise. It may be stylish, but it lacks the power of the story, which requires a lot of attention, let alone a second reading.
“Aquinnah” is visually interesting, but not a story-wise surprise.
Aquina
Scattered but cluttered for centuries, Aquina presents an average Lovecraft ocean horror story with no many twists or turns.
Convincing illustrations.
A big historical area.
The central mystery and horror lack conviction.
