Matt McAvoy Book Review

I was sent this book in a PDF format for reviewing, but I would have loved to hold the physical book in my hand, to experience through feel and vision, rather than the filter of an electronic screen, its joyous vividness.  The illustrations are just wonderful, and gloriously capture the wonders and pleasures of the undersea world.  But this isn’t only a book for children – at least, not for very young children; I would consider its target audience to be young teens and upward, and it will most certainly be enjoyed by many adults alike.

Of course, this book is an educational reference guide, so it contains far more value than simply being an easy-on-the-eye picture book.  It appears that Linda Soules has been exceptionally busy, creating and publishing almost 50 such books, by her own account, with well over 100 more in the pipeline.  Whilst they are relatively short, with word counts of under 10k, it is not simply the writing which is admirable, but the research and attention to detail that goes into each project.  You would initially consider Linda to be an expert in deep-sea diving when reading this instalment, but then it occurs to you that surely she can’t be professionally versed and familiar with all 180 proposed vocations in this series.  This leads then to the conclusion that it is a tremendously well-constructed piece of work, in a writing style which is informative without being patronizing, and intelligent enough to credit its reader, regardless of age.  Linda doesn’t hold back on the terminology, yet manages to make her point in a way which is articulate, intellectual and well-educated in the subject.  It is a well-written and grammatically conscientious book which, despite its somewhat rudimentary approach to the subject, manages to establish itself as something of an authority. 

I felt perhaps at times it may have been a little too concise, and there are moments which could have benefitted from further elaboration.  This further gave the effect of feeling like some moments were perhaps a little out of place among the immediate context, and felt somewhat scattered.  I also felt that the presentation could have been a touch more exciting in respect of page layout, image placement and text formatting, which maybe felt as if it could do with polishing.  These are mere aesthetics, though, and nitpicking on my part; younger readers certainly won’t be fazed by these observations, and it is they, after all, who will likely benefit most from reading this book, with its comprehensive subject areas and an extensive, definitive glossary.  I haven’t previously read any elementary books on deep-sea diving, but I doubt there are many as good as this one, as honest and down-to-earth about some of the harsh realities of the work, nor as motivational to aspiring young divers.