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redentrapy's review
4.0
Wow this is the best mermaid book I've read. It was totally original and I was totally unprepared for the twists in this story. It had me on the edge of my seat through the whole thing. The characters are well developed and all three main characters were lovable for different reasons and annoying for different reasons but they wouldn't be realistic if they didn't have annoying traits.
The plot one day a hurricane blows through Yara's island and Treygan brings her someplace 'safe' which happens to mean turning her into mermaid so that her 'boyfriend' Rownan can't kill her to get home. The mythical creatures in this realm can't go home because the gorgons closed the door to their realm after a debt was not paid. Yara is the only way for the. to get back home. This book has mythological creatures like Medusa, Posiedon, sirens, gorgons, mermaids, and selkies. Not only that but they are portrayed in such an original and interesting way.
Yara's character was a little annoying. She was whiny amd a bit self-centered, and I didn't really like her in the beginning but at the end she surprises and redeems herself. Treygan is the angsty, moody, aloof, anti-social, Edward-like character that finally learns to have a good time though he stays pretty consistently in characters through the whole book. Rownan was the handsome, asshole that you want to punch through most of it. I loved Nixie's character though and I loved Yara's first teacher (can't remember her name). The story was so good that the characters didn't bug me as much.
The plot one day a hurricane blows through Yara's island and Treygan brings her someplace 'safe' which happens to mean turning her into mermaid so that her 'boyfriend' Rownan can't kill her to get home. The mythical creatures in this realm can't go home because the gorgons closed the door to their realm after a debt was not paid. Yara is the only way for the. to get back home. This book has mythological creatures like Medusa, Posiedon, sirens, gorgons, mermaids, and selkies. Not only that but they are portrayed in such an original and interesting way.
Yara's character was a little annoying. She was whiny amd a bit self-centered, and I didn't really like her in the beginning but at the end she surprises and redeems herself. Treygan is the angsty, moody, aloof, anti-social, Edward-like character that finally learns to have a good time though he stays pretty consistently in characters through the whole book. Rownan was the handsome, asshole that you want to punch through most of it. I loved Nixie's character though and I loved Yara's first teacher (can't remember her name). The story was so good that the characters didn't bug me as much.
gator468's review
2.0
2.5 stars... I really wanted to love this but there were some things that really bugged me that I couldn't get over. However, I probably will read the others in the series because I do enjoy this author and love other books by her so I'm willing to see if I might like the next ones better.
jadeeby's review
4.0
Originally posted at my blog Chasing Empty Pavements
So I started this book like a day before November and then all the craziness of November happened and even though it called my name several times, I had to ignore it otherwise I knew I'd get nothing done! So the minute I felt relieved of my November chores, I opened this bad boy up and delved into Karen's AMAZING world of mermaids, sirens, selkies and gorgons. I know, you're a little confused by that sentence but it's okay...read the book and you won't be!
The Good: Oh my word, what an amazing world Karen has built in this novel. I love the setting descriptions and the introductions to all of the water species. I thought Karen did such an incredible job setting up this fantastical (but honestly, kind of believable) world that involve mermaid's smoking C-weed and half man/half seal's who drink blood. It's a crazy, trippy ride under the water in Tangled Tides, but what a fun ride it is. Yara, the main character is feisty and sarcastic and I really love her. She's that type of character you root for from the very beginning. She demands loyalty, and loyalty she gets. Don't get me started on the men in this novel. I wasn't hip on Rownan until I learned a little bit more about his past and then I understood his actions and demeanor but Treygan on the other hand. Yum. He's probably the sexiest merman I've ever envisioned. I love all the other crazy cast of characters too. Pango and Merrick, the gay merman couple, Delmar, the beefy but sentimental best friend of Treygan, Koraline (who I really hope to see more of in the next set of books!) and even Nixie tugged at my heartstrings a little bit! I thought the romance in the story was great and I loved that it wasn't insta-love and I absolutely love that Yara's ability to believe so strongly in love ends up saving everyone. It's such a beautiful notion...even for a cynic like myself. This was an incredible debut from Karen!
The Bad: There was only one thing that bothered me a little bit about the novel and that was the use of some of the slang words that happen in "real" life that seemed very out of place and jilted the story for me. Like the word "hella" that I saw a couple times. To me, it just made that piece of dialogue so much weaker than it could have been if those slang words weren't in there. But that's being nit picky.
Overall, I thought this book was FANTASTIC and highly recommended. I give it an A!!!
So I started this book like a day before November and then all the craziness of November happened and even though it called my name several times, I had to ignore it otherwise I knew I'd get nothing done! So the minute I felt relieved of my November chores, I opened this bad boy up and delved into Karen's AMAZING world of mermaids, sirens, selkies and gorgons. I know, you're a little confused by that sentence but it's okay...read the book and you won't be!
The Good: Oh my word, what an amazing world Karen has built in this novel. I love the setting descriptions and the introductions to all of the water species. I thought Karen did such an incredible job setting up this fantastical (but honestly, kind of believable) world that involve mermaid's smoking C-weed and half man/half seal's who drink blood. It's a crazy, trippy ride under the water in Tangled Tides, but what a fun ride it is. Yara, the main character is feisty and sarcastic and I really love her. She's that type of character you root for from the very beginning. She demands loyalty, and loyalty she gets. Don't get me started on the men in this novel. I wasn't hip on Rownan until I learned a little bit more about his past and then I understood his actions and demeanor but Treygan on the other hand. Yum. He's probably the sexiest merman I've ever envisioned. I love all the other crazy cast of characters too. Pango and Merrick, the gay merman couple, Delmar, the beefy but sentimental best friend of Treygan, Koraline (who I really hope to see more of in the next set of books!) and even Nixie tugged at my heartstrings a little bit! I thought the romance in the story was great and I loved that it wasn't insta-love and I absolutely love that Yara's ability to believe so strongly in love ends up saving everyone. It's such a beautiful notion...even for a cynic like myself. This was an incredible debut from Karen!
The Bad: There was only one thing that bothered me a little bit about the novel and that was the use of some of the slang words that happen in "real" life that seemed very out of place and jilted the story for me. Like the word "hella" that I saw a couple times. To me, it just made that piece of dialogue so much weaker than it could have been if those slang words weren't in there. But that's being nit picky.
Overall, I thought this book was FANTASTIC and highly recommended. I give it an A!!!
rgyger's review
1.0
I have to say that this book did not impress me. The only good things I have to say about it is that the author is vary good at describing what is going on. I could always picture what was going on. That and the hero was pretty cool. Now for what I did not like.
First, the author changed mythology to make the story what she wanted. She made the gods and monsters "loving" and "caring" when all the myths say that they were self-centered and cruel. Then she made it so that the dead monsters went to their own heaven instead of the Underworld where all beings went when they died.
Second, one of the characters claims that he is in love with his wife, but then screws around (emotionally) with a teenager all in the name of love. I don't know about anyone else but I would have been livid if I found out that my husband was doing that.
Third,and this was the worst part, the author kept contradicting herself. I shall list some of the most annoying:
•They are mermaids who can not be out of water for more than twelve hours yet almost the entire book is with them on land, and every ceremony they have and even their houses, are on land.
•The hero makes a big fuss in the beginning about how stupid it is that humans wear clothes and that they only wear clothes so that they do not offend the humans when they are around, but then processed to wear clothes every time that he is in human form, even sometimes when his is not, and so does everyone else even when they are on an island that humans can not find.
•The mermaids and selkies are constantly complaining about how boring and beneath them the humans are, yet two couples decide to become human so that they can be together instead of just becoming both mermaids or both gorgons and such. But then again, they REALLY can't hate humans if they spend most of their time in human form now can they?
So, my opinion is that it is not the worst I have ever read but I would not recommend it to anyone who is more than a casual reader.
First, the author changed mythology to make the story what she wanted. She made the gods and monsters "loving" and "caring" when all the myths say that they were self-centered and cruel. Then she made it so that the dead monsters went to their own heaven instead of the Underworld where all beings went when they died.
Second, one of the characters claims that he is in love with his wife, but then screws around (emotionally) with a teenager all in the name of love. I don't know about anyone else but I would have been livid if I found out that my husband was doing that.
Third,and this was the worst part, the author kept contradicting herself. I shall list some of the most annoying:
•They are mermaids who can not be out of water for more than twelve hours yet almost the entire book is with them on land, and every ceremony they have and even their houses, are on land.
•The hero makes a big fuss in the beginning about how stupid it is that humans wear clothes and that they only wear clothes so that they do not offend the humans when they are around, but then processed to wear clothes every time that he is in human form, even sometimes when his is not, and so does everyone else even when they are on an island that humans can not find.
•The mermaids and selkies are constantly complaining about how boring and beneath them the humans are, yet two couples decide to become human so that they can be together instead of just becoming both mermaids or both gorgons and such. But then again, they REALLY can't hate humans if they spend most of their time in human form now can they?
So, my opinion is that it is not the worst I have ever read but I would not recommend it to anyone who is more than a casual reader.
ameserole's review
4.0
Actual rating: 3.5
Tangled Tides was interesting to say the least. However, I absolutely hated the main character.
Yara was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo annoying. She whined all the god damn time and I just couldn't like her no matter how hard I didn't try because I honestly didn't. I also had no idea how these guys all liked her. At first, I thought they were deaf.. but sadly they weren't. I just wanted to slap her senseless until she realized to stop whining about everything.
I totally get that Yara woke up one day as a mermaid swimming under the sea. However, she's no ariel or little mermaid. Maybe the little annoying mermaid, if anything. Besides her, the selkies and sirens in this book were interesting enough. They did creep me out with how blood thirsty they were..
She also has a sort of triangle going on. Yara has two guys: Treygan and Rownan. Neither deserve her and I didn't want her to end up with them either. Rownan was basically the bad guy that she would stupidly trust. Treygan eventually developed feelings for Yara but I really didn't want to ship them. Plus he was the ONE person she should've trusted all along.
Again, one of the many reasons I didn't like Yara. She made the stupidest decisions and trusted the wrong person EVERY TIME. Maybe if she used common sense I would've liked her a lot more.
Overall, it was an okay book. The ending was kind of underwhelming for me. I'm still going to dive into the second book because I have questions and I also hope that Yara will be different.
Tangled Tides was interesting to say the least. However, I absolutely hated the main character.
Yara was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo annoying. She whined all the god damn time and I just couldn't like her no matter how hard I didn't try because I honestly didn't. I also had no idea how these guys all liked her. At first, I thought they were deaf.. but sadly they weren't. I just wanted to slap her senseless until she realized to stop whining about everything.
I totally get that Yara woke up one day as a mermaid swimming under the sea. However, she's no ariel or little mermaid. Maybe the little annoying mermaid, if anything. Besides her, the selkies and sirens in this book were interesting enough. They did creep me out with how blood thirsty they were..
She also has a sort of triangle going on. Yara has two guys: Treygan and Rownan. Neither deserve her and I didn't want her to end up with them either. Rownan was basically the bad guy that she would stupidly trust. Treygan eventually developed feelings for Yara but I really didn't want to ship them. Plus he was the ONE person she should've trusted all along.
Again, one of the many reasons I didn't like Yara. She made the stupidest decisions and trusted the wrong person EVERY TIME. Maybe if she used common sense I would've liked her a lot more.
Overall, it was an okay book. The ending was kind of underwhelming for me. I'm still going to dive into the second book because I have questions and I also hope that Yara will be different.
nuttkayc's review
3.0
it was good. it was bad. it was both. a little bit teen romance. story was alright.
sjeckert's review
3.0
I have mixed feelings. Pros: awesome mythology and main plot! Cons: didn't really like Yara, insta-love, love triangle...three things I hate. So yes, I'm torn. I would have loved it with major changes to the romantic subplots and if Yara was more mature.
nerdyfangirl's review
Mini-Review: A hurricane of emotions and mythical creatures with star-crossed lovers who refuse to give up on each other, on love, and on hope for a better future. Mermaids and selkies and sirens, OH MY!
My Thoughts:
Note: As a blogger, I have come to know quite a few writers online, both published and aspiring authors; Karen Amanda Hooper is one of them. She is an awesome person and I'm happy to have stumbled upon her blog when I was first starting out, not only because she is such a cool person (she really is) but because it gave me the opportunity to learn about her work. So I was more than happy to add my list to the names of potential reviewers when Rhemalda took on Tangled Tides, and I was thrilled when they sent me a copy of the eARC. My feelings for the author aside, I really enjoyed this book.
Now then, when I started the book, I will admit that it took me a few pages to really settle into Yara's perspective. It wasn't the writing or that she isn't easy to relate to (because she is), I just needed to settle into the story and to accept the way Yara sees the world and people around her. Hooper throws you into the action immediately -- there's no waiting around -- and then things are happening non-stop.
The characters are easy to relate to and, personally, I found myself rooting for everyone. What can I say? I didn't want anyone to get hurt. Obviously there has to be some pain involved, but I won't spoil that for you lovely readers; though, I will admit that I was so invested in everyone by the end that there were tears.
The world building is fantastic, and I am so incredibly intrigued by the process of changing forms and also happy that Hooper actually explains it rather than just glossing over it all. And the writing! Dual POV is hard enough to pull off, but Hooper tackles three (THREE!), and it never gets confusing. I loved seeing things from multiple points of view, especially considering the opposition between them all. It was very well done and definitely added more to the story.
Tangled Tides is a fantastic tale of tormented sea creatures, hope, and love, and I can't wait to see what else Hooper dreams up.
My Thoughts:
Note: As a blogger, I have come to know quite a few writers online, both published and aspiring authors; Karen Amanda Hooper is one of them. She is an awesome person and I'm happy to have stumbled upon her blog when I was first starting out, not only because she is such a cool person (she really is) but because it gave me the opportunity to learn about her work. So I was more than happy to add my list to the names of potential reviewers when Rhemalda took on Tangled Tides, and I was thrilled when they sent me a copy of the eARC. My feelings for the author aside, I really enjoyed this book.
Now then, when I started the book, I will admit that it took me a few pages to really settle into Yara's perspective. It wasn't the writing or that she isn't easy to relate to (because she is), I just needed to settle into the story and to accept the way Yara sees the world and people around her. Hooper throws you into the action immediately -- there's no waiting around -- and then things are happening non-stop.
The characters are easy to relate to and, personally, I found myself rooting for everyone. What can I say? I didn't want anyone to get hurt. Obviously there has to be some pain involved, but I won't spoil that for you lovely readers; though, I will admit that I was so invested in everyone by the end that there were tears.
The world building is fantastic, and I am so incredibly intrigued by the process of changing forms and also happy that Hooper actually explains it rather than just glossing over it all. And the writing! Dual POV is hard enough to pull off, but Hooper tackles three (THREE!), and it never gets confusing. I loved seeing things from multiple points of view, especially considering the opposition between them all. It was very well done and definitely added more to the story.
Tangled Tides is a fantastic tale of tormented sea creatures, hope, and love, and I can't wait to see what else Hooper dreams up.
hyms's review
4.0
3.5-4 stars
I don’t have much experience with books about mermaids, so I may either be perfect or incapable of reviewing this properly. I have, however, read two other books by Karen Amanda Hooper and I feel more than qualified to review her as a writer. And I really love her! Her books are always entertaining, well-written and so funny and Tangled Tides is no exception. It was fast-paced, funny and I had such a hard time putting it down (seriously, school, workouts and housework should be on hold whenever you’re reading something amazing!).
The story starts out with a storm and takes off pretty fast from there. Yara is only human for like 5 or 6 pages and then her new life begins. It may seem a bit rushed, but I liked it. There was so much to know about the merfolk and Yara’s role in events to come that the beginning being a little rushed was a small price to pay. But frankly, it didn’t stop at that. A few things through the story were a bit rushed and not quite explained to my satisfaction and even if it didn’t ruin the story for me, it annoyed me quite a bit.
I really liked Yara. She was sassy, funny and didn’t put up with anybody. She was a bit whiny at first, but she was just turned in to a mermaid, so I figured I could cut her some slack. I loved her bantering with Treygan and the development between the two of them was so sweet. Rownan was an awesome character and he was so complex! I never guessed any of his secrets and I loved that.
The world building was amazing. Everything was described and explained so well and I loved how it wasn’t ‘just’ about mermaids, but had all sorts of creatures and mythological appearances.
I’ve read a lot of reviews trashing the book because of things like the c-weed and seagarettes that Treygan and Rownan smoke to stay alive, but I didn’t find it insulting. I found it rather hilarious along with a bunch of other stuff re-written to fit the universe below the waves. Yes, drugs and cigarettes are bad, but there had to be some sort of thing keeping them alive THAT THEY WANTED TO GET RID OF by getting back home and the c-weed and seagarettes are the perfect tool for it.
Overall I really liked this book. It isn’t as good as The Kindrily series, but definitely worth a read.
I don’t have much experience with books about mermaids, so I may either be perfect or incapable of reviewing this properly. I have, however, read two other books by Karen Amanda Hooper and I feel more than qualified to review her as a writer. And I really love her! Her books are always entertaining, well-written and so funny and Tangled Tides is no exception. It was fast-paced, funny and I had such a hard time putting it down (seriously, school, workouts and housework should be on hold whenever you’re reading something amazing!).
The story starts out with a storm and takes off pretty fast from there. Yara is only human for like 5 or 6 pages and then her new life begins. It may seem a bit rushed, but I liked it. There was so much to know about the merfolk and Yara’s role in events to come that the beginning being a little rushed was a small price to pay. But frankly, it didn’t stop at that. A few things through the story were a bit rushed and not quite explained to my satisfaction and even if it didn’t ruin the story for me, it annoyed me quite a bit.
I really liked Yara. She was sassy, funny and didn’t put up with anybody. She was a bit whiny at first, but she was just turned in to a mermaid, so I figured I could cut her some slack. I loved her bantering with Treygan and the development between the two of them was so sweet. Rownan was an awesome character and he was so complex! I never guessed any of his secrets and I loved that.
The world building was amazing. Everything was described and explained so well and I loved how it wasn’t ‘just’ about mermaids, but had all sorts of creatures and mythological appearances.
I’ve read a lot of reviews trashing the book because of things like the c-weed and seagarettes that Treygan and Rownan smoke to stay alive, but I didn’t find it insulting. I found it rather hilarious along with a bunch of other stuff re-written to fit the universe below the waves. Yes, drugs and cigarettes are bad, but there had to be some sort of thing keeping them alive THAT THEY WANTED TO GET RID OF by getting back home and the c-weed and seagarettes are the perfect tool for it.
Overall I really liked this book. It isn’t as good as The Kindrily series, but definitely worth a read.
nicklelove's review
4.0
Read my full review at my blog. :D
First of all, I would like to thank Karen Amanda Hooper for introducing me to the wonderful world of merfolk, selkies, and other mythical creatures mentioned in the book.
The cover is pretty as mermaids go. It reminds me of that scene in the Little Mermaid where Ariel flipped her hair when she got out of the water as human. Anyway...
I had a bit of a problem with reading the ebook. Each chapter was told in the POV of either Yara, Treygan, or Rownan. While reading, the indicator would say, for example, Yara, but the continuing paragraphs are still on the previous person's POV. I guess it was messed up from the conversion from PDF to epub. Fortunately, I had common sense and used it while reading.
It took me quite a while to finish reading this because of various reasons. I wanted to finish it in a day but life keeps getting in the way. I'd say it was a rough start, it was slow paced and took a lot of pages to get to the point. But as soon as some secrets were revealed, it got interesting. I became curious about merfolk and selkies, and even sirens.
Yara was annoying. Wait, no. She's stubborn. I sometimes feel like she acts like a spoiled brat, which I guess makes her annoying at times. If she wants something, she wants it done right away. Treygan on the other hand, is a very patient merman, or is he just patient with Yara? He's also carrying a lot of burden within himself. Yara doesn't like him at first because she felt like he was responsible for what happened to her. I liked the constant bickering with between the two though. At some level I think it's cute, I found myself smiling silly while reading those parts.
I don't know how I feel about Rownan, he's not that bad but he isn't good either. He has his reasons for doing the things he did, and I think it's understandable given the circumstances. And at some point he was concerned with Yara's well-being. The other characters are likable, in my opinion, except for the other selkies like Jack.
When most the information were revealed, it made sense. I was out of the loop just as Yara was most of the time, which was a good thing, it kept me guessing where the story was headed. When I think about it, the lore and everything else, it's quite genius. Do you know how hard it is to come up with a plot that makes sense and make ends meet? At least, to me it made sense in the end. Even the references and Treygan's naiveness with human terminologies felt real.
Read my full review at my blog. :D
First of all, I would like to thank Karen Amanda Hooper for introducing me to the wonderful world of merfolk, selkies, and other mythical creatures mentioned in the book.
The cover is pretty as mermaids go. It reminds me of that scene in the Little Mermaid where Ariel flipped her hair when she got out of the water as human. Anyway...
I had a bit of a problem with reading the ebook. Each chapter was told in the POV of either Yara, Treygan, or Rownan. While reading, the indicator would say, for example, Yara, but the continuing paragraphs are still on the previous person's POV. I guess it was messed up from the conversion from PDF to epub. Fortunately, I had common sense and used it while reading.
It took me quite a while to finish reading this because of various reasons. I wanted to finish it in a day but life keeps getting in the way. I'd say it was a rough start, it was slow paced and took a lot of pages to get to the point. But as soon as some secrets were revealed, it got interesting. I became curious about merfolk and selkies, and even sirens.
Spoiler
Yara was annoying. Wait, no. She's stubborn. I sometimes feel like she acts like a spoiled brat, which I guess makes her annoying at times. If she wants something, she wants it done right away. Treygan on the other hand, is a very patient merman, or is he just patient with Yara? He's also carrying a lot of burden within himself. Yara doesn't like him at first because she felt like he was responsible for what happened to her. I liked the constant bickering with between the two though. At some level I think it's cute, I found myself smiling silly while reading those parts.
I don't know how I feel about Rownan, he's not that bad but he isn't good either. He has his reasons for doing the things he did, and I think it's understandable given the circumstances. And at some point he was concerned with Yara's well-being. The other characters are likable, in my opinion, except for the other selkies like Jack.
When most the information were revealed, it made sense. I was out of the loop just as Yara was most of the time, which was a good thing, it kept me guessing where the story was headed. When I think about it, the lore and everything else, it's quite genius. Do you know how hard it is to come up with a plot that makes sense and make ends meet? At least, to me it made sense in the end. Even the references and Treygan's naiveness with human terminologies felt real.
Read my full review at my blog. :D