The Shape of Water by Guillermo Del Toro
So,
this book is far out of my comfort level for genre. I’m don’t know myself to
venture outside of my regular norm. From my regular WWII historical fiction, to
police procedural, I rarely venture into uncharted territory of Guillermo Del
Toro. I rarely find myself branching out to any sort of science fiction or
fantasy. I think the last fantasy novel I read was the City of Heavenly Fire by
Cassandra Clare back in 2014, and that one was dragging the series out too far
and ended up being a 2/5 star book for me. Where all I can say is that I thoroughly
enjoyed those book, and ended up giving it 5/5 on my Goodreads account.
The Shape of Water was an absolute
knockout of a book. I was hesitant to pick it up at first, and that’s mainly
due to the nature of the story. The giant creature and a human being, and the
love story are usually an off switch for me. I think that’s because it usually
makes me think of Beauty and the Beast. This story was anything but your run of
the mill stereotype. It had moments of suspense, fear, joy, surprise and tears.
It was a slow pick up but once things got going and the author kind of decided
where things were going and I gathered my bearings the story began to gain
traction. I found the more that I read, the more involved I became in the many
points of view involved in this story. I found that most of the small details
were relevant, and made smile when they came back into focus. The details and
the communication in this book is so well conveyed to the reader, it makes
reading this book a quick easy read.
“This is
how she was taught to do it at Home, in every area of life. Thin out the
mystery of life, the fascination, the lust, the horror, until you no longer
question it.”
Elisa Esposito is a graveyard custodian
for the Occam aerospace research facility. Elisa was an orphan as a child and
unable to communicate verbally which makes her an outcast in most aspects of
her daily life. One night when she is at work she is granted access to clean up
a classified room which contains the captured creature from the amazon. Elisa
finds herself waiting throughout the day for the next time that she can see and
spend time with this beautiful creature. As the visits increase in frequency,
so does the bond with the Amazonian creature. Elisa begins to share with the
creature and even teach the creature things that Elisa enjoys from her own
world. The creature begins to embrace what this strange woman has to offer him.
Richard
Strickland is a blood thirsty soldier who was tasked with capturing the monster
from the amazon. Richards’ point of view in the story shows the emotional and
mental destabilization of the character. He becomes so obsessed with the
creature, and eventually with the creatures death. He’s untrusting and fears
Russian moles on the Occam centre. Robert Hoffstetler is the scientist who is
tasked with the studies on the creature while it’s in captivity. This character
struggles with his conscience and moral codes throughout the book.
Honestly
with the dynamic of the many characters and the simplicity of reading of the
book, this book is must read, for anyone enjoys reading. This story has a nice
balance of everything that makes a story amazing. Hands down one of the best
books that I have read this year.
After
finishing Guillermo Del Toro’s The Shape of Water, I have decided that I am
moving on to the Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin.
