This book is classified as a Young Adult fantasy; however, I feel the writing, world, and 13 year old protagonist, make more sense through a middle grade lens. My review will reflect the book in that light. 

Synopsis to give a better idea of what the story is about.
DON’T GO TO THE PARK AFTER DARK . . . 

After Claire is snatched from her local park, she is in the midst of being taken to her death when she is thrown off her abductors’ speedboat into dark, murky water.

Claire is disoriented and practically hopeless when suddenly, the light from the speedboat is blinding her. With dwindling seconds to spare and hardly a clue on what to do, Claire feels something latch on to her leg. She is yanked under and pulled through a portal, finding a mysterious being towering over her once she finally comes to a halt.

Decades later, a young girl by the name of Clove relives Claire’s unbelievable life through spine-chilling flashbacks. When Clove begins to crave more information as to why the flashbacks are happening, she turns to her crush, her brother’s charming, knowledgeable best friend, Lucas.

This swirl of young adult fantasy and budding romance is perfect for teens and adults who want to lose themselves in a world of mystical creatures, unraveling secrets, and a past that refuses to stay buried. A dual timeline weaves together eerie flashbacks and a present-day mystery that has only just begun to unfold.

My thoughts are as follows: 

Plot & Writing:

I believe this book suffered from unfocused editing, incomplete world building, and not enough time with a thesaurus.

 The story and concept had so much potential, I believe that if given strategic targeting it could have been much better.

The plot was slow to develop. 

 Most of the book is following Clove through her everyday life.

The only times this changed was when a flashback happened, or we switched to the alternate perspective. In flashback we would cover Claire’s side of things through Clove’s eyes, with the minor changes being details Claire had missed while stunned by the beauty of the mer world. 

 I didn’t feel like Clove’s perspective was fully developed.

Yes, we got more insight into what has happened with Claire but, I didn’t feel her story to be any more illuminating. Clove’s chapters are uneventful compared to Claire’s and her magical tour of the mer world.

There is barely any change in setting and so slight a variation in the day to day activities that I frequently forgot where I was in the story. It all felt like the repetition of one day rather then a stack of dominoes falling to push the plot forward.

 The story felt stagnant while also seeming like it should have been a situation to worry about. The urgency of the plot line didn’t match the tension level created by the inciting incident.

Our Main Character has been kidnapped! Suddenly these strange people are being far too nice and offering anything to help her… It just feels off.

 Things didn’t really pick up narrative wise until the last 40 or so pages. At this point I did start to get a little more interested in where things were going. But then things just ended, with nothing to make me want book two and no satisfying cliffhanger.

Calling back to my aforementioned thoughts on the misclassification in the age range of this novel.

The writing and the way the world is introduced is very reminiscent of a middle-grade/early-readers book series I read called the Kingdom Of Wrenly. I did enjoy these books, so the general feeling of nostalgia was welcome. Once I started viewing the story like this I was able to set aside my issues with the writing as they fit with the book a lot more.

World wise however, it is under developed even compared to the books I mentioned.

While this is the first instalment in the series, and it’s ok not to know everything about the world, I learned nothing of the way the world came to be or of how life is lived other then it seemed the author superimposed our world on top while changing one or two things to make it seem more “magical”.   

Some things that stuck out to me in particular were: supermarkets, tails being used like socks with special powers, and ‘sand’ Dollars as cash. While I know this is actually a shell that could feasibly be used as currency it felt overly simplistic. 

The supermarket chapter in particular completely ripped me out of my immersion in the story. 

Overall, the mer world did not seem as original as I would have wanted with a book that is so proud of its mermaid elements. 

Characters:

While the whole cast is generally likeable I found it difficult to connect with the characters. 

 Claire comes off as lacking in confidence, oblivious, and starry-eyed the second we get to the the mer world. Understandably so in a new and unexplored alternate world, but before hand I saw her as introverted but not completely unaware of her surroundings. I felt like I was reading two different characters.

Clove felt a little less disjointed. I didn’t understand her motivation for investigating the flashbacks, other than her desire to know why they happened.

There is little development character wise, the cast does not learn lessons regarding their growth as people, or how they affect each other with their actions. There was a shocking amount of dishonesty from Clove considering she makes multiple strong claims of being a kind and charitable person. I was left questioning the characters actions with no real set up for why they were taken. Overall, the main cast lacked depth, as to side characters, overly nice to the point of everyone feeling untrustworthy and perhaps dangerous. 

Representation: ethnic, queer. 

None. 

The only hint of potential representation was a poorly worded scene that made it seem as though Clove’s brother and his best friend could be dating and hiding their relationship, which they are in fact not. In terms of cast, a blinding sea of whiteness: All of them, merfolk included. There is not a single mention of anybody having a different skin tone or hair texture. Especially in a fantasy novel where it would be overly easy to add a side character or two, I found this incredibly non inclusive. 

Romance: 

I’m not sure this is pertinent considering I’m reviewing this as a middle grade book.

I wouldn’t expect there to be as much—if any—romance in a story written for younger people but there is a glimmer, so here are my thoughts: 

 Clove is presented to have strong feeling for her brother’s best friend Lucas. Though there is nothing to have you wishing for the two of them to get together, I do think they make excellent friends.

Enjoyment: did I enjoy reading the book, was it fun? 

Unfortunately, No. 

Reading the book was not fun for me. I almost stopped after 5% but felt it important that I finish to craft a fair review.

The story did not engage me, I was not interested in the characters and there was very little to make me want to see where they would go in the future. The writing was vague, the world felt deficient and I stumbled over the constant repetitive use of words. I really did want to like this book, it has the building blocks of a great story and I am truly sorry that I cannot grant it a glowing review.  

The Author personally reached out to me and asked if I would like to review her book. She was so sweet, and the way she pitched it had me extremely interested and excited to start; but in the end I found it lacklustre.