Emily M’s Reviews > Be the Sea > Status Update

“As soon as they reached the apartment…Wend’s body flooded with relief but also nervous energy. That combination hit in the aftermath of social anxiety…Wend didn’t have a name for it but knew from long familiarity they wouldn’t be sleeping anytime soon. They either needed a repetitive physical activity or something warm to hold.”
Wend #relatable once again!

“The suggestion that Wend wasn’t passionate…rankled. It echoed times when Wend had been called emotionless because their mind processed input differently…A glance at Aljon and the sour lemon expression on his face suggested…similar feelings in him, perhaps from years of people conflating being ace with not wanting as much as others could. They felt so much…what they’d come to call a ‘belly full of tears’”

“Avery asked, without looking at the server, ‘Could we get a bunch of teaspoons, so everyone could taste?’ Wend made an effort to look at the server then, a person who couldn’t have been over 30 but nonetheless smiled at Avery with parental fondness and brought them a dozen teaspoons. ‘I have so many spoons, it must be a good day!’ Avery joked”
Youngest character being the one telling neurodivergent dad jokes, LOL!

Oof. Shelly is stressing me out! I like the trio of Wend, Viola, and Aljon, and she seems poised to screw it all up with her “hippie Karen” energy!

This isn’t the most elegant writing; it is very direct and straightforward. But I wonder if it is because of that that I keep feeling emotional hits, especially for experiences I’ve rarely if ever seen described in fiction! Like how overwhelm in other areas can make one’s skin prickle with over sensitivity. Or that feeling of “Oh no - I committed to one too many social things today, and now I’m struggling”

LOL, I feel you, Wend! I would also rather be climbing walls SNS bouncing on rope bridges than listening to subtext about relationship drama involving someone I don’t know!

“‘Are you trying to free yourself from your past?’ Viola barked a harsh laugh. ‘No matter how often I reinvent myself, there’s no being free of me. I don’t think I’d choose it even if I could.’ ‘Me neither,’ Wend said. ‘After all the people who rejected me or tried to change me, I can’t do that to my prior self.’… ‘There you go then, something else we have in common.’”

"We don't know how jellies think. That's the point...Swarms of jellies have clogged up cooling pipes and shut down nuclear reactors more times than makes sense. I've photographed them for articles that jokingly called them anti-nuclear protesters."

“‘If no one got there until today, that means you saved a life.’ Wend wondered if it was the right thing to say. ‘Some rich old guy.’ Viola waved the comment off… ‘Someone’s father. An elder. A person.’.. ‘I know…At least something good came from carrying that thing around…’”

Also, cynically, that rich old guy might finally fund production of the generator that saved his life!

Wend’s autistic social-interaction-related inner monologue is so relatable it is kinda stressing me out, LOL.

“Most of that speech came out the way Wend had planned” “Wend took a deep breath, wondering if the words were meant as a joke.” “Still no reaction from Viola, nothing Wend could interpret or build explanations around” “Wend struggled to express the appreciation they truly felt without misstepping again”