Jake Hyde doesn’t swim—not since his father drowned. Luckily, he lives in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, which is in the middle of the desert, yet he yearns for the ocean and is determined to leave his hometown for a college on the coast. But his best friend, Maria, wants nothing more than to make a home in the desert, and Jake’s mother encourages him to always play it safe.
There’s nothing “safe” about Jake’s future—not when he’s attracted to Kenny Liu, swim team captain and rebel against conformity. And certainly not when he secretly applies to Miami University. Jake’s life begins to outpace his small town’s namesake, which doesn’t make it any easier to come out to his mom, or Maria, or the world.
But Jake is full of secrets, including the strange blue markings on his skin that glow when in contact with water. What power will he find when he searches for his identity, and will he turn his back to the current or dive headfirst into the waves?
I’m here with my first ever DC graphic novel and I am so happy about it. My boyfriend Mark bought me this and Shadow of the Batgirl for me for Christmas and I was so excited to pick this up. Once I did, I couldn’t put this down and I sped through this in an evening. It is a stunning book with an absolutely beautiful muted, blue colour pallette that showcases Jake’s ability perfectly.
This book was so emotional, diverse and centers around a friendship. I really enjoyed that the friendship took such a big role in the story, as we don’t often see male/female protagonists as best friends. Jake is struggling with a lot of things in his life – being gay, wanting to apply to a different university to his best friend, and the strange blue markings on his skin. I really loved how this story begins completely normally, with Jake and his friend Maria on a hike in the desert where they live. We are introduced to Jake’s ability alongside him, in a cautious and uncertain manner, and I really enjoyed how it was weaved subtly throughout the story.
This is very much a coming-out story, and I really enjoyed reading about Jake and Kenny’s romance. The only slight disappointment for me was that this relationship felt a little insta-love, which I think is partly due to this being a graphic novel and therefore not giving quite as much space for the characters to get to know each other. However, I really liked the side-characters, and I loved how it included Jake’s relationships with his friend Maria’s parents. I related to some of the conversations he had with them so much, specifically because Maria’s dad said the same line as my friends dad said to me at an emotional time in my life, and therefore reading that scene made me cry!
The diversity in this book is absolutely brilliant, with Jake being Black, Maria being Latin, Kenny being Asian and the teacher, Mrs Archer, being Native American. There was a section at the end of the graphic novel about the characters, and it included a paragraph about Mrs Archer and how important the authors felt it was to include a Native American character. On top of the diversity, You Brought Me the Ocean explores some very heavy themes, such as homophobia, bullying, physical assault, friendship issues and loss of parents.
Overall, this felt like a perfect graphic novel to introduce me to reading DC as the superhero factor takes a backseat and is definitely subtler than you may expect. This was a quick but emotional read and I really loved it!
★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars
-Beth
May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽
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