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roseytints's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Fast paced to the point it’s at times a detriment to the plot. A fun retelling of the fairytale that did have me invested in what would happen next. Predictable but overall enjoyable.
kebreads's review
4.0
This is a wonderful retelling of The Little Mermaid. I love the characters.
Content: clean - some violence
Content: clean - some violence
toritoot's review
3.0
There are two incredibly frustrating things about this book.
1) Viguie sets up in the first half a truly romantic and compelling story, one about the search for identity against the backdrop of a friendship turning to love with a genuinely deft handling of fairytale tropes. It's not a spectacular fairytale retelling by any means, but it's surprisingly comforting and enjoyable.
And then in the second half, she ruins literally everything she's built. The lovely story-telling, the thoughtful character development, the build-up of this really sweet and likable romance, she ruins it all. Out of nowhere come, not one, but Two mermaids (and I'm not complaining about their existence in the book, just the way they are utilized) to suddenly be like 'I lub you' to both our leads and both of our leads are just like 'Okay.' No. Not okay. More like utterly stupid.
You create two characters who Clearly have feelings for each other and just make Sense together and then you force them apart by two other characters who have next to no personalities and aren't around long enough for us to really come to like them. I'm not against love at first sight stories, but this was not the book to do it in. (Not to mention the entire selling point of Pearl's romance with Kale is that they were Betrothed when she was FOUR YEARS OLD! Ab. Solutely. NOT.)
And 2), the second half of this book is written in such a way that with just some minor tweaks, the story still could have ended with the 'original' OTP that the book felt like it was setting up for us, and it would have not only been genuinely romantic, but it would have been a much better story as well. In truth, the second half almost felt like that was what was originally intended but Viguie changed her mind in a later draft. The wasted potential and the knowledge of what could have been makes your brain and heart hurt.
Outside of the romance and Pearl's search for identity, the only other major plotline is the Duke and his son's attempt at a coup for the throne, but it's so silly and far-fetched and unbelievable that you want to be a character in those scenes just so you can look at the other characters around you and exclaim 'This is so dumb. You are so dumb. Everything is so Dumb.' But fix the romance and give Kale and Faye a more meaningful purpose to be in the story, and the coup plot wouldn't take away too much from the story.
Truthfully, the biggest tragedy of this book is what Viguie's story-telling decisions do to Pearl's adoptive parents, Finneas and Mary, as characters. (And to the blacksmith. The poor, sweet, side-lined, blacksmith.) They go from loving and attentive adoptive parents making every effort to protect Pearl and help her grow to seemingly disinterested in her well-being to the point that they almost aren't characters anymore. They show very little hesitation when the Duke's son shows up out of nowhere and requests to marry their daughter for no real reason at all. And they're incredibly nonchalant about throwing the blacksmith over in favor of this man they've never met. I know the blacksmith is only mentioned a handful of times, and we really don't know anything about him, but the little bit we do learn is all to his credit. (And I just liked him, daggumit.) He and Pearl wouldn't have had a marriage based on mutual love, and it Certainly wouldn't have been my first choice out of all the romantic options presented in the book, but it would have been far better than every Other option. The blacksmith would have loved Pearl and provided for her and Respected her, and that means something.
Now maybe I shouldn't say that Viguie ruins everything in the second half of the book as that is somewhat uncharitable. Outside of the romance and the silly 'murder-the-king' plot, the rest of the story is still fairly decent. Towards the end, Finneas and Mary come to their senses, so to speak, and become active participants in the story again. There's a showdown of sorts between Pearl and a Sea Witch that while not particularly exciting is still meaningful and carries an unexpected twist that serves the story quite nicely. And the way the Sea Witch's spells/curses are fixed is cleverly done, in my opinion.
It just didn't make sense for Pearl Not to end up with the Prince. And based on a lot of the other reviews I've seen here for this book, I'm not the only one who feels that way.
1) Viguie sets up in the first half a truly romantic and compelling story, one about the search for identity against the backdrop of a friendship turning to love with a genuinely deft handling of fairytale tropes. It's not a spectacular fairytale retelling by any means, but it's surprisingly comforting and enjoyable.
And then in the second half, she ruins literally everything she's built. The lovely story-telling, the thoughtful character development, the build-up of this really sweet and likable romance, she ruins it all. Out of nowhere come, not one, but Two mermaids (and I'm not complaining about their existence in the book, just the way they are utilized) to suddenly be like 'I lub you' to both our leads and both of our leads are just like 'Okay.' No. Not okay. More like utterly stupid.
You create two characters who Clearly have feelings for each other and just make Sense together and then you force them apart by two other characters who have next to no personalities and aren't around long enough for us to really come to like them. I'm not against love at first sight stories, but this was not the book to do it in. (Not to mention the entire selling point of Pearl's romance with Kale is that they were Betrothed when she was FOUR YEARS OLD! Ab. Solutely. NOT.)
And 2), the second half of this book is written in such a way that with just some minor tweaks, the story still could have ended with the 'original' OTP that the book felt like it was setting up for us, and it would have not only been genuinely romantic, but it would have been a much better story as well. In truth, the second half almost felt like that was what was originally intended but Viguie changed her mind in a later draft. The wasted potential and the knowledge of what could have been makes your brain and heart hurt.
Outside of the romance and Pearl's search for identity, the only other major plotline is the Duke and his son's attempt at a coup for the throne, but it's so silly and far-fetched and unbelievable that you want to be a character in those scenes just so you can look at the other characters around you and exclaim 'This is so dumb. You are so dumb. Everything is so Dumb.' But fix the romance and give Kale and Faye a more meaningful purpose to be in the story, and the coup plot wouldn't take away too much from the story.
Truthfully, the biggest tragedy of this book is what Viguie's story-telling decisions do to Pearl's adoptive parents, Finneas and Mary, as characters. (And to the blacksmith. The poor, sweet, side-lined, blacksmith.) They go from loving and attentive adoptive parents making every effort to protect Pearl and help her grow to seemingly disinterested in her well-being to the point that they almost aren't characters anymore. They show very little hesitation when the Duke's son shows up out of nowhere and requests to marry their daughter for no real reason at all. And they're incredibly nonchalant about throwing the blacksmith over in favor of this man they've never met. I know the blacksmith is only mentioned a handful of times, and we really don't know anything about him, but the little bit we do learn is all to his credit. (And I just liked him, daggumit.) He and Pearl wouldn't have had a marriage based on mutual love, and it Certainly wouldn't have been my first choice out of all the romantic options presented in the book, but it would have been far better than every Other option. The blacksmith would have loved Pearl and provided for her and Respected her, and that means something.
Now maybe I shouldn't say that Viguie ruins everything in the second half of the book as that is somewhat uncharitable. Outside of the romance and the silly 'murder-the-king' plot, the rest of the story is still fairly decent. Towards the end, Finneas and Mary come to their senses, so to speak, and become active participants in the story again. There's a showdown of sorts between Pearl and a Sea Witch that while not particularly exciting is still meaningful and carries an unexpected twist that serves the story quite nicely. And the way the Sea Witch's spells/curses are fixed is cleverly done, in my opinion.
It just didn't make sense for Pearl Not to end up with the Prince. And based on a lot of the other reviews I've seen here for this book, I'm not the only one who feels that way.
hnbb's review
3.0
The first page; you know, the description one with a blurb from the book; in my book gave a lot away. I would recommend not reading it. So, pretending I didn't read that particular page: The story did not progress as you thought it should, but was somehow still a bit predictable. I did enjoy it.
debbiebarr's review
3.0
I liked this book pretty well, but elements of it bothered me. Some of the writing sounded like it wasn't edited right, and bits of the way the story went kind of bothered me. All in all, though, I thought it went well. Would have liked to see more of the bad guy.
thebookishnook's review
3.0
It was a good book, I enjoyed it. Though it had a lot of plot drop offs. It seemed too short, and convenient. But I enjoyed it as a quick read!
meaganmart's review
2.0
This was a retelling of The Little Mermaid that started with a great deal of promise and then went completely off the rails. We had a lot of love at first sight, agreeing to marry each other after knowing the other person for less than a week, a convoluted murder plot, and the most anticlimactic defeat of a villain that has ever been written.
janeeyre_914716's review
4.0
I really liked this one! it was a very good story/twist for the Little Mermaid and the ending was pretty good. A little slow here and there, but other than that, it was good. interesting, but good.
sqeeker's review against another edition
3.0
- There a few things that were under developed. This book had a lot of potential, and I think if it had been longer and had more content, it would have been really great.
- I enjoyed most of the characters. Pearl lived a simple life, and I think a lot of girls could relate to her. I feel like James's character could have been better. He was kinda fickle and I couldn't figure him out.
- I really liked that it was the classic Little Mermaid story, but with a few twists in it. It also has a happy ending. No one ends up as seas foam!
- I wish there had been more about Pearl's past, and more of a foundation for her relationship with Kale.
- Overall, this was a cute and fun read, but I just wanted more info.
- I enjoyed most of the characters. Pearl lived a simple life, and I think a lot of girls could relate to her. I feel like James's character could have been better. He was kinda fickle and I couldn't figure him out.
- I really liked that it was the classic Little Mermaid story, but with a few twists in it. It also has a happy ending. No one ends up as seas foam!
- I wish there had been more about Pearl's past, and more of a foundation for her relationship with Kale.
- Overall, this was a cute and fun read, but I just wanted more info.