Annette's Book Spot: mermaids

Showing posts with label mermaids. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Audio Book Review: Of Poseidon, by Anna Banks

I found Of Poseidon to be a bit too over the top for my tastes, but I still think there could be wide appeal for the intended audience.

Galen is the Syrena (read: Mermaid) ambassador to the humans. Not that any humans know anything about the Syrena. Well, there are two of them that do, and they help Galen. When he meets Emma on a beach in Florida, there is instant attraction, but Galen can't figure out why. Until he realizes that Anna is possibly Syrena -- and she doesn't eve know it!

Of Poseidon is about Anna discovering her powers and figuring out her heritage, as she and Galen become more and more involved -- but both are denying their attraction to each other. There are two factions of Syrena - those that follow Poseidon and those that follow Triton, and this causes some additional tension.

Anna and Galen's relationship is cute -- too cute for me. I didn't like the denial of feelings and the dishonesty. Anna is supposed to be tough because she is stubborn and thinks for herself. I found this stubbornness made her more annoying than tough. This may have to do with the narrator's voice, but I found Anna to be too whiny. I got so tired of her voice.

The repetition of certain phrases drove me crazy. And I've NEVER commented on this in any other review I've written. So you know it was big, if it bothered me. "Oh my sweet goodness!" and "Triton's Trident!" were repeated over and over. Even if people speak this way in real life (some are very repetitive, I know), authors SHOULD NOT do this.

As far as the plot and some of the big surprises, well, I wasn't surprised. This was a situation where the characters couldn't figure out what was OBVIOUS to the reader. Even teen readers would pick up on most of these answers fairly easily and much before the characters. This slowed down the story and weakened the plot, and all the delay of figuring things out really isn't necessary.

Of Poseidon would appeal to younger teens. It's a totally clean, cute read that less experienced readers will find easy and entertaining.

I found the narrator to be too high-pitched and whiny, like I said. She did vary the voices for the characters which made it easier, but the combination of her voice and the immaturity of Emma was a bit much for me. I'm sure that's the way she was supposed to narrate, but I had issues.

Published by Feiwel & Friends, 2012
Audio Book obtained from Sync YA
336 pages

Rating: 2.5/5

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Book Review: The Twice Lost, by Sarah Porter

I must admit that I was disappointed with The Twice Lost, but part of the problem is that I didn't read the first two books (Lost Voices, and Waking Storms) in the trilogy.

The United States government is trying to exterminate all of the mermaids. The general population doesn't know that mermaids exist, let alone that they are responsible for sinking ships and causing countless human deaths. Luce is trying to swim along the coast and warn all the tribes of mermaids that the humans are murdering them.

Eventually Luce becomes a leader and forms the Twice Lost Army to try to fight the government, but there is resistance from places that neither Luce nor the government are aware of.

I had difficulty caring about the characters, and this is probably because I don't know their back stories. Luce apparently once had a relationship with a human boy, but it took most of the book to put together the pieces of what happened, and I still don't have all the details. There's also a lot of back story about Luce -- how she became a mermaid, how she was supposed to be queen but refused, and a lot about her relationship with other mermaids, one of which she is looking for through much of the book -- but I didn't know why. I think this missing information is essential to connecting with The Twice Lost.

Certain humans who have had encounters with mermaids hear the mermaid songs in their head. Why? What happened to them -- they weren't killed but somehow they are permanently affected. Don't get it.

There were other problems I had with the book that were unrelated to the back story, though. It's very long, and the pacing to get to the "good part" was very slow. I would have appreciated another edit of the first 200 pages.

I found some logical problems and plot holes too. Mermaids have to sleep with their tail in the water, but they have to be able to breath air. How do they deal with the tide going in or out while they sleep? This is really a minor thing, but it bugged me!

Mermaids used to be humans. I know they led horrible lives and that's why they become mermaids (another thing I don't really understand, but...) Why do they hate humans so much that they want to kill ALL of them? I couldn't buy that.

All of a sudden, they talk about mermaid larvae. Where do those come from? Why are they important? What are they for?

This is just a small sample of the confusion I felt at times. The writing style is readable, and other than being long, I wanted to find out what happened. I didn't CARE what happened, but I still wanted to find out.

If you enjoyed the first two books in the series, I'm sure you will enjoy finding out what happens in The Twice Lost. If you enjoy mermaid stories, I would definitely start with the FIRST book, Lost Voices. Then you can decide if you want to continue with the trilogy.

Published by Harcourt, July 2, 2013
ARC obtained from Library Media Connection Magazine for review
471 pages

Rating: 2/5

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Book Review: Deep Betrayal, by Anne Greenwood Brown

Deep Betrayal is an entertaining sequel to Lies Beneath.

Lily hasn't seen Calder for over a month. She does't know where he is, and she doesn't like being land-locked. She wants to return to her home on Lake Superior and join her mom and dad.

When her parents show up for her graduation, and Calder does too, Lily insists on telling her father that he's a merman, just like Calder. She wants to help her father, but Calder doesn't think it a good idea.

Lily does return with her parents to the lake, and her father becomes what he was meant to be. But also, dead bodies start turning up on the lake. Lily and Calder are trying to catch the mermaids that are doing the killing.

I found Deep Betrayal to be very interesting. I really wanted to continue with Lily and Calder's story, and I wasn't disappointed. The writing is easy, the story moves quickly, and the mermaid lore is clever. The romance is OK, but I wouldn't say it sizzles. I'm just not blown away by these characters. I think I'm a little confused about parts of the mermaid lore. For example, Lily's life was in danger when she left the lake, and now that she's returned, all that danger just seemed to fizzle out. I never wanted to stop reading -- Deep Betrayal held my interest, but on the other hand, I wasn't ever "wowed."

If you enjoyed Lies Beneath, you will certainly enjoy Deep Betrayal, and although Deep Betrayal could be read without the first book, I think you will greatly benefit from having the back story of the characters. So I highly recommend your read Lies Beneath first.

Deep Betrayal is another in a recent collection of mermaid books, that fans of these creatures will want to experience.

Published by Delacorte BFYR, March 12, 2013
eARC obtained from NetGalley
352 pages

Rating: 3/5

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Book Review: Fathomless, by Jackson Pearce @JacksonPearce

Fathomless is a strange book. I don't mean that in a bad way. It's not easy to describe. It's a fairy tale -- but a dark one.

Lo lives in the water. She knows she used to live on land, but her memories of that time are fading quickly.

Celia is one of a set of triplets. She and her sisters have interesting powers. Celia can see glimpses of people's pasts if she touches them.

Jude loves to write songs and play the guitar. A freak accident causes him to fall into the ocean and almost drown, until someone save him. He thinks it was Celia. But was it?

There's more to the story. Celia and Jude and Lo build strange, tenuous relationships as they try to help each other. Jude is in love with Celia -- but is it only because she saved his life? Lo longs to be human again, especially since Celia has helped her remember her past. But can she ever return to that life? She needs someone to fall in love with her -- could it be Jude? Why can't she remember what happened to make her live like she does now? She's been told by the other water dwellers (her "sisters") that she was brought here by angels, but why does Celia always hear screams when she looks into Lo's past?

It's complicated, and the relationships are intricately developed. There's a web of deception that complicates things also. The romance was OK, but for me not the best part. As these three main characters try to work out a future, Fathomless take us on a ride through the water as well as the sandy beach.

The story is well told. The setting was sometimes so vivid I felt the sand on my feet and the salt air on my skin. I really wanted everything to be OK for these three. I did care about them, and I didn't understand what was going to happen in the end, which kept me quickly turning the pages.

The only part of the story I didn't like was the lore about the "angels" that brought the girls to the sea and supposedly took them away to live happily when they were "old." I didn't really get that part, and the ending that included a showdown with these "angels" was kind of confusing to me.

Fathomless isn't a happily ever after "Little Mermaid" Disney-type tale. It's dark and at times depressing. The mermaids aren't nice -- somewhat like those in Lies Beneath. They can be deadly. The parts where Lo is fighting back and forth with her human alter-ego were some of my favorites. This was a unique and interesting spin on the mermaid theme.

All in all, Fathomless is a worthwhile read, but I don't think its a book that will stick with me or leave a lasting impression. I enjoyed the experience, and I will recommend this to my mermaid and fairy tale fans.

Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, September 4, 2012
ARC obtained from Library Media Connection Magazine for review
304 pages

Rating: 3/4

Monday, June 11, 2012

Book Review: Lies Beneath, by Anne Greenwood Brown @AnneGBrown

Lies Beneath is a mermaid adventure story that will have you on the edge of your seat.

Calder White loves the tropical waters, but is called back to Lake Superior every summer to be with his three sisters. They are merpeople, and not necessarily the gentle, nice creatures we might think of. These mermaids must kill humans to survive. They kill humans who are happy to steal their emotions, otherwise they are destined to be unhappy and depressed.

Calder is summoned north by his older sister, because they have found Jason Hancock, a man they have been after for years because his father made a deal with Calder's mother that he would give her his son, Jason. So, now they intend to kill Jason, since their mother died because the elder Hancock didn't keep his promise.

The plan is for Calder to get close to one of Hancock's daughters, which will allow him to lure Jason onto the water where the mermaids can collect their debt. Things get complicated when Calder becomes attached to the daughter, Lily.

These are not your Disney mermaids. They are mean, and conniving, and unforgiving. Calder is a bit more redeeming since he hasn't killed a human for a long time. He really wants to escape from his sisters' influence, but the only way he can do that is if the oldest sister frees him. She will free him if he helps them kill Hancock. Calder's relationship with Lily developed at a nice pace, and was believable. I liked how Lily was skeptical -- she didn't instantly fall for Calder, like he was used to.

The pacing of Lies Beneath is very quick and almost frantic at the end. The situation seems to be insurmountable--there's no way for a "happily ever after" for all of these characters. That's where my problem with Lies Beneath begins. In order for things to work out in the end, there are just too many convenient plot devices. Something happens so fast, that once character "doesn't notice." Another thing happens, and the mermaids don't know it because they couldn't hear it. The mermaids could always read each other's thoughts when they are in the water, until it isn't conducive to the plot.

Throughout Lies Beneath, Calder and his sisters use their ability to make people forget things when it's advantageous. This is a great "power" to have, but I don't see what it has to do with being a mermaid -- just made things to easy for them at times.

I still enjoyed Lies Beneath very much. I could related to the characters, and I felt the danger they were in. The Lake Superior setting was interesting --"the Lake never gives up her dead." Remember the song? It kept going through my head as they were discussing the lake and it's lore.

Those who enjoy mermaid fiction should not hesitate to pick up Lies Beneath. I'm sure there will be lots of interest in my library.

Published by Delacorte, June 12, 2012
eBook obtained from NetGalley
320 pages (qualifies for my Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge!)

Rating: 3.5/5