Rating:
Genre: YA Fantasy
Recommended Age: 15+ (violence, gore, language, sexual assault/mentions of rape)
Pages: 342
I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley. Thanks! I also then went out and bought my own copy halfway through this book. All opinions are my own.
Synopsis:
Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most--a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian's heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.
The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby--it's his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she's more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good--But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind's greatest enemy?
Under the sea
Under the sea
Darling it’s better
Down where it’s wetter
Take it from me
Up on the shore Elian sails away
From his kingdom he doesn’t want anyway
While Lira is stealin’
Princes hearts while beatin’
Under the sea!
Okay now that I got that out of my system, let’s start this review! If you couldn’t tell from the song I really liked this book! I felt the character development was well done for the main characters, the plot kept me intrigued, the pacing was well done, and I also felt that the book did a great job at re-doing the tale of The Little Mermaid. For a book that was marketed as a retelling, it was completely it’s own.
That being said, this wasn’t a direct retelling. If you’re looking for The Little Mermaid, this isn’t it. Lira is bloodthirsty and brutal. But the author does do a hilarious job at including several little stabs at The Little Mermaid. The book is duel POV between Lira and Elian, and the e-copy I had from Netgalley did not have chapter headings. When the POV would change it took me a bit to figure out that a different narrator had taken control. Fortunately, this was fixed in the final version of the book. The book had some plot holes concerning language and how easy it was for everyone to be multi-lingual and the book didn’t do a good job at world-building. At one point a character was introduced with a circus background from a kingdom the reader was not introduced to and then it was never mentioned ever again. Homeboy disappeared out of the book. We also didn’t get any real development or connection with the side characters even with how lovable they seemed.
Verdict: Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I loved the story. Although it’s a stand-alone it didn’t feel too short and it was a beautiful high seas adventure tale.
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