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chenoadallen's review
4.0
I really loved this book. It's really a story about relationships and loss and growing up. If you want a supernatural tale, this isn't it. I actually enjoyed the ambiguity around whether mermaids and the like exist - it feels appropriate to the story about Neen and her family (we never really know another person's motivations - like why her mother left). I couldn't tell when the story was set - which actually didn't bother me - but given that the author bothered to get old norse translations (and emphasized the Christians just showed up), I'm not sure muddling the time frame was intentional. Although other reviews that the characters weren't fleshed out enough to feel sympathy for them, I thought the characterization was pretty good, especially Ushag.
s_hay's review
3.0
Merrow is one of those interesting stories where you are intrigued but have trouble settling in as you are spending much of your reading time trying to figure out the setting. I managed the place setting, that was fairly obvious, it is the time of the book that I could not place and that left me puzzling through the story. Much of it seemed very old. There was talk of viking warriors and lots of folk lore. But the lore was dying out and at one point 'the new millennium' was mentioned. Which millennium??
Either way the story was an interesting mix of realism and folklore. What do you believe when you are told by local villagers that your mother who went missing was part mermaid? Neen wants to believe that her mother is out there somewhere and that she did not just drown herself as her aunt claims. Neen has heard the stories about her family and even has 'the scale' or rough scaly skin that marks her as part mermaid. And she loves the sea, it calls to her as a mother calls a child. Is it the sea, or is it her mother pulling her in and calling her home?
Good for ages 12 and up.
Either way the story was an interesting mix of realism and folklore. What do you believe when you are told by local villagers that your mother who went missing was part mermaid? Neen wants to believe that her mother is out there somewhere and that she did not just drown herself as her aunt claims. Neen has heard the stories about her family and even has 'the scale' or rough scaly skin that marks her as part mermaid. And she loves the sea, it calls to her as a mother calls a child. Is it the sea, or is it her mother pulling her in and calling her home?
Good for ages 12 and up.
bookalchemist's review
4.0
I'm not entirely sure what I expected this novel to be like, but it wasn't what I read. Instead of the standard 'omg I'm magical and part fish!' kind of mermaid story, Merrow is more closely related to Hild, by Nicola Griffith. I feel like you might need an appreciation for Anglo-Saxon literature to really enjoy the spare dialogue and heavy emphasis on oral storytelling as a culture in this book. I love that we never really get an answer. Maybe there are merrows. Maybe not. What matters is what helps you sleep at night, and make friends, and move on with life. The sea is beautiful and brutal, and life is simple if you let it be.
winifara's review against another edition
Didn't like writing style. The author bounced all over the place and I couldn't follow the story at all.
burnourhistory's review against another edition
2.0
I had the expectation of mermaids. What I got was the implacation of mermaids via some nicely written, quasi lore, but that's about it. The 'folklore' parts of the story, even the ones not pertaining to mermaids, gave the book a whimsical feel yet it lacked in most other ways. The characters were all mildly interesting but largely flat, the pacing was a odd and jarring at times, and the overall plot just didn't hold my attention.
insipidurbanism's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
cascadingcause's review against another edition
2.0
BTW, no mermaids in this book. Despite it being called marrow and there being a mermaid tail on it. There are no mermaids in it.
This story slips in and out of past and present tense so fast you can't keep track. It doesn't even notify you.
The characters aren't developed and they don't feel at all like people. There's no reason for anything they do. I spent most of the book skimming because it was just too many descriptions and not enough actually going on. Very disappointing overall. But I gave it two stars because it's a creative idea, just not well executed.
This story slips in and out of past and present tense so fast you can't keep track. It doesn't even notify you.
The characters aren't developed and they don't feel at all like people. There's no reason for anything they do. I spent most of the book skimming because it was just too many descriptions and not enough actually going on. Very disappointing overall. But I gave it two stars because it's a creative idea, just not well executed.
koby's review against another edition
4.0
Everything turns into a story the moment it's done. The facts of things do not store well. They rot and fall apart. But the stories we tell last and even grow."
A gorgeous, lyric novel about a girl on the edge of adulthood who is struggling to make sense of her mother's disappearance. Raised by her aunt in a wild and demanding place by the sea on what is, I think, the current day Isle of Man, Neen is fascinated by the stories of the Others, despite her aunt's dismissal. She also works to uncover the truth of her mother's absence.
Infused with legend and myth, this is a beautiful read. Although the protagonist is 12, this book is for older readers.
A gorgeous, lyric novel about a girl on the edge of adulthood who is struggling to make sense of her mother's disappearance. Raised by her aunt in a wild and demanding place by the sea on what is, I think, the current day Isle of Man, Neen is fascinated by the stories of the Others, despite her aunt's dismissal. She also works to uncover the truth of her mother's absence.
Infused with legend and myth, this is a beautiful read. Although the protagonist is 12, this book is for older readers.