Chlorine – Jade Song

Expectation: A horror story of a high school swimmer turning into a bloodthirsty mermaid in an act of rage. 

Reality: Aimless and boring, a few body gore sections weren’t enough to keep me interested before throwing in the towel.

My Take:

For a novel that lists a series of trigger warnings in the prologue, I expected a lot more from Jade Song’s debut “Chlorine.” 

Part coming-of-age novel and part speculative thriller, it all added up to an unfocused and frustrating story that went for occasional shock value instead of doubling down on interesting commentary about casual racism, sexuality, achievement and mental illness. 

Ren Yu is 13-years-old when she swims her first lap and finds that chlorine is a balm to the demons of her life. Over the next few years we see her blossom into one of the top swimmers in Pennsylvania, but as her body adjusts to womanhood, she seeks to escape human pain and responsibilities by turning into a mermaid.

Again, this is speculative/scifi so it’s not difficult to accept the idea, and Song did a decent job weaving global mermaid mythology into the plot. Even though we learn early that Ren achieved her mermaid transition goal, it felt so ancillary and not particularly engrossing. 

But I had doubts about this story as early as chapter three when Ren utters this line: “It was impossible to stick a hand up a bloody vagina and not fall in love with its owner.” I’m no prude, but ewww!

Initially I thought the story would go down a path similar to Stephen King’s “Carrie” where violence and body gore don’t overshadow the emotional connection the writer makes the reader feel for the characters, but that didn’t happen here. 

Not a single character is likable, and the tampon scene — and at least two others that are similar — are examples of how Song went for shock over substance. 

The pages are filled with hackneyed plots, stock young adult characters (lecherous teachers, disinterested parents, nitwit classmates) and an assortment of manifesting disorders — including OCD, anorexia, bulimia and orthorexia, to name a few — that made it feel as if Song simply pulled ideas out of a hat and mad libbed it all together. Each chapter was a vignette in Ren’s life versus a cohesive story. 

The Chinese-American representation, Song’s exploration of female sexuality and swimming (I’m a former competitive swimmer) were the only parts I found interesting. In general “Chlorine” is overwritten and underwhelming. 

I gave up at 65 percent completed — and I rarely quit a book — because I couldn't care less about how, or if, main character Ren was actually going to turn into a mermaid and seek revenge, or if she was simply experiencing post-concussion psychosis. 

The one bright spot was the audiobook narration by Catherine Ho and Imani Parks. Ho was responsible for delivering one of my favorite performances of 2022, and she once again applied the perfect disaffected and bitter tone to Ren’s growing mania. Parks, as Kathy — Ren’s only close friend — had infrequent interludes that provided a few moments of warmth. Still, their performances aren’t enough to garner a recommendation. 

Thank you to Libro.fm, HaperAudio and the author for an advanced listener copy of “Chlorine.” This exchange of goods — clearly — has not influenced my review. 

Rating (story): 1/5 stars

Rating (narration): 3/5 stars

Formats: Audiobook (library loan)

Dates read: May 22 – May 25, 2023

Multi-tasking: Good to go. In fact, do anything except listen to this book.