Reviews

A Melody in the Deep by Cara N. Delaney

redhead_haze's review

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3.0

First of all, thank you BookSirens for providing me an ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. The following review has my honest opinion and thoughts.

“Would it be all right to borrow this? I have… not read many stories like this. My father doesn’t like them, so I only could when my- …when my friends would acquire one for me in secret.”
“Oh no!” Anaar pressed a hand to her chest in mock horror. “That is just downright cruel! Every young girl should read sappy romance stories to her heart’s content. Or young boy, for that matter. Anyone, really.”


Looking for a new adventure at sea alongside pirates ( or, well, ex-pirates) in search of mythical treasures, runaway brides that also happen to be mermaid princesses and scorned fiancés? Than this is the book for you. It's fast paced, easy to read and it has a nice romance with a happy ending.

“I had to lose one thing either way. So I chose to leave my magic behind and take my freedom instead.”

》》The Plot《《


Keola is a mermaid princess who has been promised as a bride to the crown prince of a neighbor kingdom. With her magic and tale taken away, the only option is to embark on the ship that will lead her to her new home and her heartless fiancé, in the hope of retrieving her powers. But when she realise that she'll never get her freedom after that, she needs to make a choice: live her life in a golden cage in hope that her stolen gifts will be returned to her or runaway and try to live as a mortal, but true to herself.
Captain Anaar Kahlani is searching for something or someone who can help her read the magic map that will lead her to the lost crown of Ola’Baryt. And when her crew gets a mysterious and extremely beautiful woman out of the sea, she feels more than intrigued. When the woman she has chosen to save also proves to be an extremely skilled wavesinger with knowledge of old languages, she thinks this might be exactly the help she was looking for.

》》Ups and Downs《《

helena_zelin's review

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4.0

I received an advance review copy for free, via BooksSirens and I am leaving honest this review voluntarily.
I started reading this one early September, as a way to stay close to the sea for a little while longer. "A Melody in the deep", at least to me, has a vibe of sailing the ocean mid autumn, thought I cannot recall whether on not the season is mentioned in the script. It also gives off the feeling of longing for freedom and chasing happiness.
The story itself isn't one that hasn't been told before. But it is definately one worth reading, as it has vivid images and character you can easily fall in love with. We follow Annar and Keola as they fall for each other, one becoming each other port after years of not even seeing a single piece of dry land. I would have liked to see a bit more spicy, regarding the falling in love scenes, but I did like the feeling of "falling in love for the first time" that it gives off.
Note that it's one of the few saphic romances I read, so if that's something you're interested in trying to get into, this is a great starter book, in my opinion.

emireads13's review

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

wormlibrary's review

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Mermaids, pirates legitimate businesswomen and a treasure hunt?? Sign me up! This was a treat. Delaney is able to simply paint a vivid and rich word and characters that you'll just fall in love with. The story sucks you in right away and keeps a steady pace of pure enjoyment.

My one gripe was I thought the POVs would've been better switched in a couple places so the action doesn't happen off page. Other than that, chef's kiss.

sas_ram's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

I have to admit that I did not start this book with high expectations.
I found it for free on kindle and often times those books are mediocre at best.
But this book surprised me in a positive way. Sure the cover doesn't exactly reflect the quality inside the book but the story was actually quite good. I enjoyed reading about Keola and Anaar and how there relationship was part of the story but did not overpower everything else. I loved the setting with the "freelancers" aka soft version of pirates. There was everything a good fantasy book needed a quest, loss, love, magical creatures and more.
Books about mermaids tend to be clichee, unmature and kitschy or corny. But that's not the case here.
Sometimes I wished the book would have gotten more emotional and it still can't hold up to my expectations for a book closer to 5 stars. Part of that is the ending that could have been so much more. It was good but sort of rushed and unfulfilling.

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smartie_chan's review

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adventurous emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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chaotic_critique's review

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4.0

The story follows Keola, a mermaid Princess who has had her magic and tail stolen from her, and she has been sent off to be forcibly married to a human prince she neither loves or even really likes for the benefit of her kingdom. Cue Keola getting cold feet and jumping ship, like literally, and ending up on a raiding ship Blue Aurora, captained by ex-Pirate Anaar.

Unable to expose who she really is, and struggling with her identity without her mermaid magic, she poses as a wavesinger, and offers to work on the ship in order to stay near the sea. Keola forms a bond with Anaar, and together they chase an elusive treasure, thought to be a fable. Despite being from immensely different backgrounds, they both share an understanding of struggling with your own identity and fighting for the life you want.

This book has it all. Mermaids, pirates, dragons, a treasure quest, magic and a queer love story which I was completely shipping… see what I did there… sorry I’ll stop. The world building is wonderful and this is a truly unique take on mermaids - written more as shapeshifters who can pass as human on land.

4 ⭐️ because the ending was meh, rushed and anticlimactic.

Huge thank you to BookSirens and to the author Cara N Delaney for the advanced copy in return for my honest opinion.

alexlcriddle's review

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4.0

This was a really fun read that included mermaids, privateers, treasure hunts, magic, and love. Keola and Anaar were both well developed characters and I thoroughly enjoyed reading from both of their perspectives. It was empowering to read about a female captain and a princess who took her fate into her own hands. The world and magic system were so interesting and unique. The writing was descriptive and the pacing was just right. I do, however, wish the ending had been fleshed out more, but maybe that’s just because I didn’t want the story to end. The romance was sweet and realistic and I really appreciated the LGBT representation. This was a breath of fresh air and a truly enjoyable read.

I would definitely recommend this novel if you like mermaids, reading about life on a ship, and searching for mythical treasure.

Content warnings: language, some intimate scenes, violence

(I received a digital ARC from BookSirens in exchange for an honest review.)

geengeenreads's review

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adventurous hopeful mysterious tense 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

4.0

franklywrites's review

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4.0

I think I picked this up after seeing someone mention it on Instagram. It's been a long while since I read anything involving mermaids and it sounded cute. It turned out to be a fun (a little slow in places) adventure/love story nestled within some quite interesting lore (that honestly I wish I could read more about). It just could have done with a more thorough edit, that's all. I can't see it going on to a sequel from where it left off, which is a shame, as it would have been nice to find out more about the merfolk/serpents/dragons/history etc.