Salt the Water

by Candice Iloh

Cerulean Gene is free everywhere except school, where they’re known for repeatedly challenging authority. Raised in a free-spirited home by two loving parents who encourage Cerulean to be their full self, they’ve got big dreams of moving cross-country to live off the grid with their friends after graduation. But a fight with a teacher spirals out of control, and Cerulean impulsively drops out to avoid the punishment they fear is coming. Why wait for graduation to leave an oppressive capitalist system and live their dreams? 
 
Cerulean is truly brilliant, but their sheltered upbringing hasn’t prepared them for the consequences of their choice — especially not when it’s compounded by a family emergency that puts a parent out of work. Suddenly the money they’d been stacking with their friends is a resource that the family needs to stay afloat.
 
Salt the Water is a book about dreaming in a world that has other plans for your time, your youth, and your future. It asks, what does it look like when a bunch of queer Black kids are allowed to dream? And what does it look like for them to confront the present circumstances of the people they love while still pursuing a wildly different future of their own?

Genres: Young Adult, Poetry, LGBT, Queer, Audiobook, Fiction, Contemporary

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 3, 2023

About the author

Candice Iloh is a first generation Nigerian-American writer, teaching artist, and youth educator. She is a graduate of Howard University and holds an MFA in writing from Lesley University. Her work has earned fellowships from Lambda Literary and VONA among many others. Her debut novel, Every Body Looking, was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Reviews

[Karis · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, this is the first book I've read by Iloh and was really excited about it. The cover and the premise really drew me in, and I was positive this was going to be another addition to the wonderful verse novels I've read this year.

Unfortunately, as indicated by my rating, this wasn't the case.

But before I give the reasons to why, I will say the writing is still very good. The verse is really creative with its formatting, where there's extra space between words and the lines scattered across the page. It's beautifully lyrical; I struggle writing poetry but I love seeing it when it flourishes like this. That's the primary positive quality I can give this book.

The rest is both meh and confusing. The exploration of systematic restrictions and its negative impact was interesting, but I felt like it could have gone further than what was presented. Additionally, the characters are very flat. Besides Cerulean, the other characters don't have much identity outside their relationship to the main character. This is especially apparent in the ending, the very thing that solidified my disappointment in this book.

At the end of the book, Cerulean runs away and is never seen/heard from again. I was baffled when this happened, even read through the last few chapters again just to make sure I didn't miss anything. This is revealed to us in their brother's POV after going through their friend's POVs detailing how Cerulean impacted them and a time skip ten years into the future. Not only was this rushed and disorienting, but it makes Cerulean look so shitty. Their friends and family were so supportive and loved them so much, and yet they disappear without a trace so easily? Yes, I have no doubt they felt so guilty and shameful after dropping out due to their school's oppressive restrictions, and the fact the hospital bills after their dad's accidents only pushed them further off the deep end. But them running away accomplished nothing but make their family miserable! I thought they were sending money because their mom mentioned an envelope without a return address, but nothing came from that. Then their dad started talking on the very last page about how surviving by yourself is powerful, which I found to be absolute bullshit. It's one thing to survive when you literally have no one else to support you, but Cerulean had so many people! They could have made things work, but no, they had to run away and that's the end. I wasn't this frustrated when I initially finished this, but it made me angrier the more I thought about it.

Overall, I would not recommend this book. This whole reading experience made me rethink my interest in Iloh's other works and made me wish I read something else during my flight, instead.

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can*]

I thought this was a semi okay slice of life type story but I lost interest about 45min from the end... just couldn't anymore.

I liked the bits more than the whole... maybe if it was longer it would have worked better? *shrugs*

The writing isn't bad... just the execution.
I did like the book of hers I won off goodreads and have one more on my kindle so I'll give that one a try but it won't be for a little while yet.

[Hannah Showalter · Rating 3 out of 5]

very sweet ya verse novel about race, queerness, and community!! loved the points it made about the problems with the structure of education! i found the third half just a little strange and the plot was kind of meh near the end, but overall would recommend!

[audrey (completely gone rn) · Rating 3 out of 5]

start on: 7.1.25
end on: 7.3.25

what.

(no review will be written)

[Amy Mahoney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was absolutely loving this novel in verse… until I wasn’t. I found the poetry moving and appropriate for Cerulean’s story, and I was already imagining purchasing copies of this text for classroom libraries through the schools where I work. But then the last third of the book left me confused. The shift in both narration and plot felt abrupt and incoherent to the point that I went back and reread to see if I had missed anything. I hadn’t. In rereading, I realized that this shift actually exposed many shortcomings that upon reflection, I couldn’t deny existed throughout the book.

[Book Nerds In MN · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written novel in verse. I started out thinking this was going to be a 5 star read, and really enjoyed it until about the 1/2-2/3 mark, then things started to get confusing. POV switched back and forth without warning, and it seemed to end abruptly.
I think this is an author to watch however, and look forward to seeing what they write next.

[Richelle Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you @penguinteen for my review copy!

I grew up in the Bronx and reading this book was a nice trip down memory lane! This was my first time reading anything by this author and the last half of the book had me all in my feels.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful YA novel in verse about being Black and queer in America today. Great on audio and perfect for fans of authors like Angie Thomas. Many thanks to @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review.

[Mr. Mumbauer · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book tried to do many things at once and failed to accomplish any. The characters lacked depth, the plot was haphazard, and the themes seemed to shift with every chapter. I was left confused and frustrated almost as though someone had removed parts of the book and replaced them with random portions of another story with like-named characters. This is my first ever single star review. Certainly not recommended.

[lyraand]

"a novel-in-verse about a free-spirited genderfluid teen who drops out of twelfth grade after a confrontation with a teacher, but when a family crisis forces them to suddenly take on immense adult responsibilities, their dreams of living life off the grid with their friends crash into the harsh realities of a world full of roadblocks at every turn."

[Alexis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, I literally didn’t touch this book since the last time I picked it up. I don’t like the structure of this book. I don’t like how there are some words missing, no punctuation, how the overall structure differs from page to page. I get it’s probably to be symbolic of some sort to represent the characters, but it just made me confused. It’s like I couldn’t read. Also, I think I couldn’t get attached to the book because I could really relate to it. But the best POV was Airyn’s. He really didn’t say much, but I feel like all of his emotions were out there just enough.

[elise · Rating 3 out of 5]

a quick but thoughtful novel in verse. i wish it was a bit longer!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had me hooked until the ending, which I didn’t understand at all. I am a much bigger fan of Iloh’s Every Body Looking.

[Katherine Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Amazing and profound idea with terrible execution. WTF ending makes the reader think they've missed half the book, but that's not the case. Half a book is missing, but it's not the reader's fault they can't find it.

[draco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Salt the water is the first official book I am reading from this author. I do have another saved to read, and I definitely will continue to check out this author's other stories they have. This was a very quick read in poetry format about the main character Cerulean who's plans of going off the grid with their friends and moving out of the Bronx is stopped short when a family emergency and a disagreement with their teacher causes them to drop out of school.

The things I loved about this was the queer/nonbinary representation, the diversity, found family between the friends, focus on black culture and Cerulean's interaction with their family and how supportive their family was of them. I liked a lot of the quotes and the message of not letting other's silence you, the discussion of schools and how teachers are to their black students etc.

While I did like a lot of things, there are things I didn't really enjoy. I thought the story ended kind of abruptly. I usually do not mind open endings, but the big time jump of Cerulean leaving, the sudden switch to the other povs felt very rushed and the pacing did not feel right to me. I think we could've spent more time on the time jump so we could have more time to discuss Airyn's thoughts.

Overall, this book was good and really well written, but there were little things here and there that caused me not to absolutely enjoy it.

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group, Dutton Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Links to all my socials

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

**Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the eARC. This in no way changed my rating**

This is my first of Iloh's work and it won't be my last. I REALLY enjoyed their poetry. The book is about a nonbinary teen named Cerulean who is trying to make it through their last six months of public high school so they can live off the grid with their friends once they've all graduated. Unfortunately, their teacher, Mr. Schlauss is making that task a Herculean effort and an accident causes their family life to upend.

I really liked the poems, both as a whole narrative and on an individual level, which isn't always possible with novels in verse. It's rare that individual poems written to be prose can stand on their own, but Iloh's are deeply powerful and moving. I can see why this was a Printz honoree this year. If you haven't read this, I would recommend it. I think it captures well the unfairness of public schools, especially towards minority students (Cerulean is Black and queer, making them a doubly marginalized character), the unpreparedness of school teaching degree programs, the apathy of teachers who are in the government programs to teach "underprivileged" children in exchange for loan forgiveness, and the restorative power of family, both blood and found.

The only reason it wasn't a 4 star is because the ending felt very abrupt for me, but again, I think the narrative up until that point is wonderful and well-written. Would highly recommend it. 4/5 stars

[Bek (MoonyReadsByStarlight) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️?

I loved the first, like, 2/3 or 3/4 of this. I was thinking it would be 4 stars or higher, but then things really really turned. It really rushed and left me kind of confused about what exactly it was trying to say. If it was going to take the turn it did, I wish it went into more. If it was going to take the turn it did, I wish it went into more. I hate that it did end up rushing and going where it did because it was so promising in the beginning. I loved the family set up and the friend group, the support they had even if school was messed up. There was a lot of really important commentar on top of everything else.

The ending being sad was confusing just bc it was totallt different from where I thought it was go. But if it had to go how it did with them running away, I get if we don't get the MCs POV, exploring missing people or loss. But then why don't we get more about the immediate fallout or the people around them? It's like they started something with exploring how a person can impact so many people, but didn't follow it all the way through, like they ran out of time.

[D'Linda Pearson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Initially I was very excited to read this one, a queer ya story dealing with family trouble and finding their footing in this world. It is written in verse so it reads fairly quickly and sometimes that can hinder the story, by not experiencing enough depth. The story follows Cerulean primarily but then towards the end we get a few more POV’s which I’m not sure really enhances the story overall. And the ending just kind of happened, I didn’t feel any kind of resolve or many emotions for the MC.

I will say the way the public school system is depicted in this story is absolutely disgusting and I feel so sorry for anyone who has to go through feeling like less than a person. Teachers and schools are supposed to be a safe space no matter where it’s located. *insert unnecessary bunny hole/TED talk*…anyways, this book has emotion but the storyline itself just didn’t quite do it for me.

[T’Layne Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

That ending. Gahhhh. I’m sitting here challenging my opinion, wondering if I’m blinded by internal biases or capitalist programming or something. But I don’t know…
I can’t understand it except in a really negative way…
Disappointing, this had lots of promise. I would try reading another book by this author in the future.

[Bant · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

This is a stunning novel-in-verse. The ending is hopeful, even in it's open-endedness.

[Allie Slocum · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is beautiful. I just don’t know how I feel!!! So that’s why a 3.

[Becky Ginther · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gotta be honest, I didn't love this one. The writing was very "pretty," but the story just didn't do it for me. The premise behind it was intriguing, but you really needed to build up the characters here to have an impact and they just fell flat. The ending was jarring and felt out of place.

2 stars instead of one only because of some of the beautiful poetry and writing.

[Kaylin Wright · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5 I don't know how to feel about this one. The first part was promising, but I feel something was lost in the final half.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

For most of this book, I would have given it a 3. Beautifully written, but I wasn’t connecting; this was me, not the book. But the ending. Wow.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I got this book! But it's an easy read and could be relevant to those experiencing what cerulean dealt with.

[Jess Witkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that’ll make you stare out and contemplate the world. There are no tidy resolutions or closure in this lyric novel. It’s a thinker, an unanswered wound, a future still in the making.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was listening to the audio book and it was a bit difficult to get into.

[kait ♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

i don't want to hear another thing repeated for the next 1,000 years and even then it would be too soon

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

i loved about the first two thirds of this book but the last third has so many big shifts (in topic, time, and pov) that i thought were a little jarring/unexpected. to me the ending felt unfinished because it was all just so sudden and then so open ended in a way i am not used to in ya books. i think i would have liked it better if the “shifts” i am talking about (sorry that’s so vague but i don’t want to give spoilers) happened earlier in the book so we had more time with the other characters in the future. it was also horribly sad - this book had a sudden accident/injury/medical emergency, which are not easy for me to read about and so that was hard. but also, the author wrote beautifully and i loved all the characters and the equal attention to friend and family relationships.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5