Review of Fishbowl by Bradley Somer

Fishbowl

Fishbowl by Bradley Somer is a compilation of the lives and stories of inhabitants of an apartment: the Seville on Roxy, and how these people become interconnected. Somer uses the interesting perspective of a goldfish sitting on an apartment’s balcony to tie the lives of the inhabitants through constantly foreshadowing his eventual death by a fall from the twenty-seventh floor.

Through this, Fishbowl caused me to experience a whirlwind of emotions, empathizing with each character in the apartment building and showing me characteristics and views of each character that I myself had. By limiting the setting to an apartment building, but showing how this limited setting has multiple layers of stories through the inhabitants and passer-byers, Somer develops a unique perspective: the reader sees how each character, in a sense, is a representation of an aspect of themselves, and through the goldfish falling from the twenty-seventh floor and the overarching setting, how such representations are connected.

Somer’s voice, matter-of-fact and straightforward, results in an unbiased narration for the reader to develop their own opinion and personal connection with the characters of the Seville on Roxy. Fishbowl is best suited for young adults and adults alike, but overall, it isn’t limited to a specific audience; it develops a relationship with any reader who can empathize with its characters, but such readers must have the maturity and appreciation for the flaws each character has, and therefore, themselves.

Reviewed by Susie He