Black people getting genetically modified to claim their 40 acres under the sea. Cool idea but the plot was confusing. At the end I wasn't entirely sure what had happened and I didn't care enough to reread. (view spoiler)[From my understanding, the two main characters just got their mods and are moving in when they get attacked by white supremacists. They get saved by a merman only to get attacked again when they reach the undersea village. Except it turns out the second attack was staged by a r...

Um... this wasn't for me.

Incredible concept. Execution falls flat. 2043 is the opening story in the Black Stars collection. We travel to a time when reparations are finally being given to African descendants. There is just one condition, all of the reparations are to take place underwater.Following the story of Darden and Catherina, we are given glimpses of a modified world that is met by resistance with none other than white supremacists.I wish the author would have fleshed out more of the concept because otherwise thi...

A very confusing storyThis was a very confusing story. It was fast paced and had interesting moments. I didn’t like the abrupt ending. I think this needed to be a full length novel instead of a novella. There was too much going on and not enough time to flesh out all the elements. This would’ve been 2 stars but the narration by Levar Burton saved this from being a DNF.

What a weird and fascinating short story. I really did like it. I just think the ending kind of came out of nowhere and I got confused a bit here and there. I did like the premise of Black people getting their 40 acres via the ocean and being genetically turned into merpeople (I guess?). Though that does not stop racism from still being a thing with a bunch of white supremacy organizations doing their best to hunt and stop them. "2043...(A Merman I Should Turn to Be) follows African-descended US...

This really made no sense and was all over the place. Even LeVar Burton couldn't save this one 🤷🏾‍♀️.

I loved the concept of this story more than the execution. It reminded me a lot of Rivers Solomon's The Deep, which I just read a month or two ago. African Americans return to the sea and become mermen, this time voluntarily, as part of the United States' long overdue program for reparations for slavery. There were elements in the story that were fraught with tension, which I loved, but I didn't understand the whole music concert thing, which was happening at the same time. I believe I would enj...

This was the only one of the Black Stars group that I really didn't like. I'm not sure why, but I just didn't.

The storyline was all over the place. I hope the rest of the series gets better.

There's a real interesting premise behind this short story but it never quite makes the most of it. Set in a future where the advent of nanite technology and reparations from the US Government, in the form of forty acres of land under the sea, has led to the establishment of the underwater City of Bahari it follows the journey of Darden and Catherina as they descend into the depths for the first time. The city of Bahari, possibly one among many?, is intriguing as are its inhabitants and their wa...

I wanted to like this book but couldn't really follow what was happening. I kept hoping it would make sense in the end but it didn't. I know that this is a short story but there needs to be some exposition for the reader in order to truly understand things. It was poorly organized and, by the end, they kept throwing names out like I was supposed to recognize these characters.

It was a good idea, but not well executed. Confusing and boring.

I have no idea what I just read. Seems it was all over the place & confusing...

Like many others here — loved the idea and zoomed out concept: Reparations are finally coming and Black Americans can claim 40-acres . . . underwater, experimentally modifying claimants into merpeople — just didn't love the execution. Inspired from the Jimi Hendrix song 1983… (A Merman I Should Turn to Be) , the story was unnecessarily meandering and confusing. Would love to see this more fleshed out and refined.Audiobook, as narrated by LeVar Burton: I mean, master at work. It is always a pl...

Concept is cool, but the execution is confusing and disjointed, so it falls flat. It's more like a first draft to what could be a good story.

A very interesting premise that never quite gets off the ground. African American's being able to be modified and given 40 acres is a great concept. However most of the story focused on the opposition these new mermaids faced. It's not farfetched to imagine that racist would still try to harm racial minorities under the sea, however I thought that was focused on too much. And the ending was confusing and disheartening

Confusing Jimi's VisionReview of the Amazon Original Kindle eBook (August 2021)so my love Catherina and medecide to take our last walkthrough the noise to the seanot to die but to be re-bornaway from a life so battered and torn....forever... - Jimi Hendrix (excerpt from the song 1983... A Merman I Should Turn to Be (1968))2043... , the story, was an expansion on Jimi Hendrix's sci-fi song which imagined a future apocalyptic situation where the characters Catherina and the songwriter escape to a

This sci-fi short story starts out interesting enough. The year is 2043, black Americans have been finally given reparations; under the sea as merpeople 🧜🏿‍♀️🧜🏿. Unfortunately, from there it became confusing for me as it attempts to juggle between world building, battling the villains (white supremacists) and dissecting the relationships on the “krew”. All this in 31 pages. It felt like it started in the middle and ended in the middle. So I’m not sure what to make of it. Cool concept though.

Of the series so far, by far the worst. No flow, the writing was just off for me. Felt outside of a comfortably zone of writing and I just couldn't get into it. Jumped about a lot and just didn't make sense.

Different.. Slightly Lost. Wanted to love it. Hmmm wished there was more. Need more details of the back story and the storyline seemed somewhat off/hard to follow.