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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
This is a sequel to The Stepsister Scheme, this time following Snow, Talia, and Danielle as they deal with a mermaid princess who's gone insane due to a botched spell meant to turn her human. I really liked the characterization of the mermaids as a species, and it was interesting to see another "bad" ending to a fairy tale. The story was fun and a great read on a Friday afternoon, but like the first one it's not a long book so don't expect literary greatness - but DO expect entertainment! If you liked the first one, you will probably like this one as well.
I didn't like this one quite as much as the first book in the series, but it was still a fun read. Hines plays a lot with interpretation - the story from one person's perspective is very different from someone else's perspective, and our own perspective changes continually as the story progresses. I'd say that the first half of the book was kind of slow, but the second half was action-packed and fast-paced, and I pretty much read that in one sitting.
Wow, so, the second book is better than the first. Not that I disliked the first at all, but it really was an introduction compared to this one.
First off: I GOT IN EVERYONE'S HEADS. It was fun! I liked that. Not that Danielle was a bad POV in the first one, it's just I was intensely curious about the other princesses's thought processes.
Second off: I am so happy with the gay in this book. Like, normally I have to wade through pages and pages of ilk about how some female protagonist lurves some guy and angst, but in this book? It's some lady love, albeit currently unrequited. And it's kind of sad how little of that I get outside of porny vampire books. Kind of hit me in the gut and reminded me of my confusing teen years. I especially love the contrast between the human angst and the more freeform magic folk
Third off: Wow, it's really obvious that the author has some experience with therapy and people that have been through trauma. And it's nice to see some characters that have gone through trauma and survived juxtaposed with one that didn't--the latter being all too common. If there were ever a fairytale to use for these kinds of things, The Little Mermaid would be it.
These books so far are just hitting all the things I really REALLY wished I had growing up. Seriously. The author's daughter is so lucky!
First off: I GOT IN EVERYONE'S HEADS. It was fun! I liked that. Not that Danielle was a bad POV in the first one, it's just I was intensely curious about the other princesses's thought processes.
Second off: I am so happy with the gay in this book. Like, normally I have to wade through pages and pages of ilk about how some female protagonist lurves some guy and angst, but in this book? It's some lady love, albeit currently unrequited. And it's kind of sad how little of that I get outside of porny vampire books. Kind of hit me in the gut and reminded me of my confusing teen years. I especially love the contrast between the human angst and the more freeform magic folk
Third off: Wow, it's really obvious that the author has some experience with therapy and people that have been through trauma. And it's nice to see some characters that have gone through trauma and survived juxtaposed with one that didn't--the latter being all too common. If there were ever a fairytale to use for these kinds of things, The Little Mermaid would be it.
These books so far are just hitting all the things I really REALLY wished I had growing up. Seriously. The author's daughter is so lucky!
I was really looking forward to this one, and not just because it dovetails with my own mermaid story. The mermaid fiction that isn't a rehash of "The Little Mermaid" is few and far between, unless ups the mush or turns mermaids into monsters. Before I start let me just say I love me some Jim C. Hines. He's a cool guy and the writer I can most relate to in this world. I like his work.
But the story left me dissatisfied, maybe because my hopes were too high. It's an action-oriented plot, meaning characterization and plot get pushed to the background. There's lots of pirate ship fights, tense trespassings into enemy territory, and hand-to-hand/magic-to-magic combat. That means there's no neat revelations or "oh crap" moments that provoke an emotional reaction and make the plot page-turning like "The Hunger Games" did. It's a straight shot through -- no literary techniques like chekhov's guns or red herrings or allegories.
The characters are great, but I wished they had been explored more. And I felt he was padding near the end (maybe because I know he was padding near the end because he wrote it on his blog). Maybe it's just me, but I wanted to see more of the mermaid world. He had a great antagonist--Ariel made into a serial killer--and it looked like he was going to do a good job with her, but then she was reduced to a mewling, muttering straitjacket-wearer huddled up in a tower. Her potential as an enemy ended up largely ignored, and heroes are only as good as their enemies. 3.5 stars.
But the story left me dissatisfied, maybe because my hopes were too high. It's an action-oriented plot, meaning characterization and plot get pushed to the background. There's lots of pirate ship fights, tense trespassings into enemy territory, and hand-to-hand/magic-to-magic combat. That means there's no neat revelations or "oh crap" moments that provoke an emotional reaction and make the plot page-turning like "The Hunger Games" did. It's a straight shot through -- no literary techniques like chekhov's guns or red herrings or allegories.
The characters are great, but I wished they had been explored more. And I felt he was padding near the end (maybe because I know he was padding near the end because he wrote it on his blog). Maybe it's just me, but I wanted to see more of the mermaid world. He had a great antagonist--Ariel made into a serial killer--and it looked like he was going to do a good job with her, but then she was reduced to a mewling, muttering straitjacket-wearer huddled up in a tower. Her potential as an enemy ended up largely ignored, and heroes are only as good as their enemies. 3.5 stars.
Kind of long, but again the princesses didn't sit around waiting for some prince to solve their problems.
Another fantastic adventure of princesses rescuing themselves. This series is amazing.
I really loved this book this series only gets better the more I read of it. I still really love the characters they are all so well written I love the relationships between the characters romantic and friendship and more. I like how the characters have been developed more for this book like finding out more about both Talia and Snow. I really loved the plot there was never a dull moment once it started it never really stopped. I liked the different take on the little mermaid it was so very different than any other I have ever read. So overall I loved this book and will continue the series at some point.
Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.... NOT the silly, pretty, pretty princesses that Disney led you to believe them to be when you were a kid. Hines takes the old stories and retells them in a what REALLY happens in the Happily Ever After with an adult twist that you should not read to your children.
Just as it says on the jacket cover, according to author Diana Pharaoh Francis: "One of the most entertaining stories I've read all year. You'll never watch The Little Mermaid the same way again." I couldn't say it any better myself.
I may be a little biased toward my own gender in never having read books with female protagonists that I really, really liked, but this story really captivated me anyway. Hines is a masterful storyteller, and he won't disappoint you. He certainly hasn't disappointed me yet. I waited anxiously for this second installment to come out, and now I'm waiting even more anxiously for the third!
Just as it says on the jacket cover, according to author Diana Pharaoh Francis: "One of the most entertaining stories I've read all year. You'll never watch The Little Mermaid the same way again." I couldn't say it any better myself.
I may be a little biased toward my own gender in never having read books with female protagonists that I really, really liked, but this story really captivated me anyway. Hines is a masterful storyteller, and he won't disappoint you. He certainly hasn't disappointed me yet. I waited anxiously for this second installment to come out, and now I'm waiting even more anxiously for the third!