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yvo_about_books's review
1.0
Finished reading: May 13th 2017
"Even when two paths spindle off, it doesn't mean they aren't going to meet up, once again, somewhere along the way towards the end."
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Hotkey Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
Spoiler
I admit Aurabel was a coverlove-request, but I was also looking forward to read another mermaid story. Mermaids are without doubt underrated creatures and there just aren't all that many stories about them out there. Aurabel sounded like an fun fantasy read with the mermaids as a bonus, but unfortunately this book turned out to be a quite unpleasant experience. First of all I want to make clear that this book should have been classified as a sequel, because after some investigation I found out most of the worldbuilding is taken from a previous publication (Lorali) and it's almost impossible to fully understand Aurabel with out it. A lot of background AND essential information is missing if you don't read Lorali, and I felt a bit cheated on I didn't know that beforehand. This lack of information might have been part of the reason I basically felt like I was reading a story written in a foreign language I could only barely understand. Things just didn't make sense as all and I had a hard time even getting past the first few pages and chapters. Things only got better towards the ending, but I have to be honest and say I probably wouldn't have reached that point if this wouldn't have been an ARC. It sounds harsh, but somehow not telling the truth doesn't feel right either... Another thing that bothered me is the horrible spelling in the forum interactions bit. I get that this is supposed to portray 'superficial' teenage fans talking, but 1. it was really hard to decipher the meaning of their comments and 2. I literally shuddered the whole time every time the dreaded comments made their appearance. As for the characters: I like how their different personalities are refleccted in their respective dialogues and prose, but I do have to see they felt a bit forced and unnatural. Some characters were also starting to get on my nerves... Furthermore, I had a hard time connecting the different chapters and characters; especially in the beginning they seemed random and didn't make a lot of sense. Things did improve slightly towards the ending and the general plot is interesting enough, but all in all I had a really hard time reading Aurabel. Such a shame, because I was really looking forward to it!
It's been two years since Rory drowned and Lorali has been living the live of a normal (human) teenage girl ever since. Her safe life on land won't last much longer though, as things in The Whirl seem to be getting out of hand. Someone is trying to take the throne from the current king and doesn't hesitate to use unorthodox methods to succeed. Even if that means hurting fellow Mer... And it seems that even Lorali won't be safe.
I really wanted to enjoy Aurabel and I still love the cover, but unfortunately I turned out having a completely different reading experience. I've debated various times whether to just DNF it, because I had a really hard time understanding and making sense of the story; something that doesn't happen often. I'm not exaggerating when I say it felt like I was reading in a different language, but I guess part of this confusion can be explained by the fact that it's necessary to read Lorali first to be able to fully understand the story (which I didn't and won't). All in all a promising premise, but unfortunately I couldn't enjoy the execution.
P.S. Find more of my reviews here.
blurrybug's review
5.0
I'm sad this is over.
I really enjoyed this read, but again I really loved Lorali.
it doesnt follow right after first book but a few years later and it is a nice continuation in my view.
I really enjoyed this read, but again I really loved Lorali.
it doesnt follow right after first book but a few years later and it is a nice continuation in my view.
thebooksareeverywhere's review
3.0
https://thebooksareeverywhere.com/2017/08/24/review-aurabel-by-laura-dockrill/
I read the first book in this series – Lorali – back in May, and you can see from my review that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I would have liked.
But I bring good news – I enjoyed Aurabel more! I still stand by most of the thing I explained in my previous review, but I definitely liked more about this book.
"Some threads are too deep and thick to fray.”
The story was fast paced and definitely not as confusing! Instead of being mainly on land, this one is based mainly underwater and I actually really enjoyed that. Aurabel is a completely new character, and the story is now told by both her and Lorali. I expected that to be confusing, but it actually wasn’t.
This book seamlessly followed on from Lorali, but it felt very much like a standalone too. The story is something completely different – definitely more action than romance based – but I really liked that! The new factors of power, fighting and even cyborg mermaids really worked and helped the unqiue aspects of this novel.
“Some lines, in love, outlive the veins.”
Again, I found Dockrill’s writing very unique and interesting. But this time, it worked. Maybe it’s because I’m more used to her writing after Lorali, or maybe she’s just more experienced after writing a book before…but I actually really liked it. The random poeticness of her writing really worked.
Also can I just say – this includes a bi mermaid! Like…
Need I say more?
So it’s safe to say I really liked Aurabel! If you’re looking for a mermaid themed pre-teen or YA novel, I’d recommend it 🙂
★★★
Beth
May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽
I read the first book in this series – Lorali – back in May, and you can see from my review that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I would have liked.
But I bring good news – I enjoyed Aurabel more! I still stand by most of the thing I explained in my previous review, but I definitely liked more about this book.
"Some threads are too deep and thick to fray.”
The story was fast paced and definitely not as confusing! Instead of being mainly on land, this one is based mainly underwater and I actually really enjoyed that. Aurabel is a completely new character, and the story is now told by both her and Lorali. I expected that to be confusing, but it actually wasn’t.
This book seamlessly followed on from Lorali, but it felt very much like a standalone too. The story is something completely different – definitely more action than romance based – but I really liked that! The new factors of power, fighting and even cyborg mermaids really worked and helped the unqiue aspects of this novel.
“Some lines, in love, outlive the veins.”
Again, I found Dockrill’s writing very unique and interesting. But this time, it worked. Maybe it’s because I’m more used to her writing after Lorali, or maybe she’s just more experienced after writing a book before…but I actually really liked it. The random poeticness of her writing really worked.
Also can I just say – this includes a bi mermaid! Like…
Need I say more?
So it’s safe to say I really liked Aurabel! If you’re looking for a mermaid themed pre-teen or YA novel, I’d recommend it 🙂
★★★
Beth
May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽
jasmine_books342's review
4.0
Liked the different characters and point of views. Started off a bit slow, but overall it was a good read. Loved it.
shanayahreads's review
3.0
Actual rating: 2.5 stars
Full Review Here
Before starting this book, I didn’t really know what to expect besides mermaids. This was also my first time reading anything by Laura Dockrill, so I didn’t have any expectations besides the first impressions from the cover and the blurb on the back. For some reason the cuteness of the cover made me think that Aurabel is a cute, whimsical children’s story. I was very, very wrong. The story itself is relatively dark, and it threw me off a bit. There was also quite a bit of strong language used by various characters throughout, which to me felt out of place among the mermaid-filled world.
Also, I thought that even though the cover of the first book in the series, Lorali, and the character of Lorali herself were mentioned on the back, I could get away with reading this as a standalone. I was also very, very wrong. There are key things that I didn’t fully understand because I didn’t read Lorali, but that was my fault, not the book’s. If you want to give Aurabel a go, I highly recommend reading Lorali first!! There was hardly any world-building in this book, mainly because it’s likely that the author assumed that Lorali would’ve been read first.
The story is narrated from three perspectives, Aurabel’s, Lorali’s and The Sea’s, like the actual ocean speaking about what’s happening. Sounds a little odd? Yeah, I thought that too, especially when I was reading the first page and I didn’t understand why the narrator said “the waves”, but then later said “my waters”. I had to re-read that part a few times before I realised that the little “The Sea” on top of the chapter name wasn’t the location, but the actual narrator. Also, on the topic of The Sea, I found it more insightful than helpful, like these mermaids were struggling and I felt like the ocean just kinda looked on?? 🤔
Some of the parts of the story felt odd, like the forums occasionally placed in between. I’m not too sure what the purpose of that was supposed to be, but it didn’t really have an effect on the story, and instead just really confused me. The comments were supposedly written in ‘chatspeak’, but everything was so difficult to read and it just hurt my brain to look at.
The mermaid world was very female-oriented, which was fun, and I really enjoyed that. Due to the female-oriented nature, there was a beautifully orchestrated queer relationship, but I didn’t like the direction it headed in after one party assumed things about the other. The other characters in the story were nice, but I didn’t really feel like they were well-constructed, and I couldn’t really connect to any of them.
The pacing was slightly odd, like I felt things were quite dragged on in the beginning, but then it was like a lever had been pulled and it went into speed overdrive, and by the end of it I just got lost. New characters were introduced that made no sense to me, and the ending was a little too perfect for my liking, everything was wrapped up neatly in a bow. EXCEPT for a few unfortunate characters, my heart went out to them instead of the main crew ☹
All in all, the premise was good, but you really need to have read Lorali beforehand to grasp the full story. I definitely do not recommend this book for young readers, BUT for YA readers, I suppose if you’ve read Lorali, it wouldn’t be too bad. I might read Lorali and then re-read Aurabel afterwards just to see how much of a difference it makes 😊
I received a review copy from the publisher
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Full Review Here
Before starting this book, I didn’t really know what to expect besides mermaids. This was also my first time reading anything by Laura Dockrill, so I didn’t have any expectations besides the first impressions from the cover and the blurb on the back. For some reason the cuteness of the cover made me think that Aurabel is a cute, whimsical children’s story. I was very, very wrong. The story itself is relatively dark, and it threw me off a bit. There was also quite a bit of strong language used by various characters throughout, which to me felt out of place among the mermaid-filled world.
Also, I thought that even though the cover of the first book in the series, Lorali, and the character of Lorali herself were mentioned on the back, I could get away with reading this as a standalone. I was also very, very wrong. There are key things that I didn’t fully understand because I didn’t read Lorali, but that was my fault, not the book’s. If you want to give Aurabel a go, I highly recommend reading Lorali first!! There was hardly any world-building in this book, mainly because it’s likely that the author assumed that Lorali would’ve been read first.
The story is narrated from three perspectives, Aurabel’s, Lorali’s and The Sea’s, like the actual ocean speaking about what’s happening. Sounds a little odd? Yeah, I thought that too, especially when I was reading the first page and I didn’t understand why the narrator said “the waves”, but then later said “my waters”. I had to re-read that part a few times before I realised that the little “The Sea” on top of the chapter name wasn’t the location, but the actual narrator. Also, on the topic of The Sea, I found it more insightful than helpful, like these mermaids were struggling and I felt like the ocean just kinda looked on?? 🤔
Some of the parts of the story felt odd, like the forums occasionally placed in between. I’m not too sure what the purpose of that was supposed to be, but it didn’t really have an effect on the story, and instead just really confused me. The comments were supposedly written in ‘chatspeak’, but everything was so difficult to read and it just hurt my brain to look at.
The mermaid world was very female-oriented, which was fun, and I really enjoyed that. Due to the female-oriented nature, there was a beautifully orchestrated queer relationship, but I didn’t like the direction it headed in after one party assumed things about the other. The other characters in the story were nice, but I didn’t really feel like they were well-constructed, and I couldn’t really connect to any of them.
The pacing was slightly odd, like I felt things were quite dragged on in the beginning, but then it was like a lever had been pulled and it went into speed overdrive, and by the end of it I just got lost. New characters were introduced that made no sense to me, and the ending was a little too perfect for my liking, everything was wrapped up neatly in a bow. EXCEPT for a few unfortunate characters, my heart went out to them instead of the main crew ☹
All in all, the premise was good, but you really need to have read Lorali beforehand to grasp the full story. I definitely do not recommend this book for young readers, BUT for YA readers, I suppose if you’ve read Lorali, it wouldn’t be too bad. I might read Lorali and then re-read Aurabel afterwards just to see how much of a difference it makes 😊
I received a review copy from the publisher
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brooke0_0's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
theocollins's review
3.0
I liked this book but I feel like the plot was a bit rushed and it should be slowed down, give us time to connect with the characters and set up the climax before diving straight into it. I guess I just wanted a longer book because I loved it so much I wanted more. :)
chloejb89's review against another edition
This book is obviously a magical realism book, but there's a point in the story that just it went too far into the impossible for me to carry on with. I enjoyed it and part of me wants to know how it finishes but not right now.
th3oc's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book but I feel like the plot was a bit rushed and it should be slowed down, give us time to connect with the characters and set up the climax before diving straight into it. I guess I just wanted a longer book because I loved it so much I wanted more. :)
deadgoodbookreviews's review against another edition
4.0
Full review up on my blog: http://bit.ly/2qq2HNo
(Note, I did not read the first of Dockrill’s books set in this world Lorali but I don’t think this book counts as a sequel in the strictest sense as much of the action concerns an entirely new character) however, it is possible that I missed some of the more interesting elements of the plot this way, in which case I apologise for misleading you…
Setting! A setting is very important and that is the same case for this book. We have the underwater world of mermaids and we have the human (or walker) world above. It would appear that humans can be made into mermaids and vice versa though, in this book, that process wasn’t entirely explained. You get the perspective from both worlds as the writing is multi-perspective. My interests mostly lay in the underwater story, since that had much more of the ‘new’ plot where the outside world was a continuation of the characters from Lorali. I did like that the connection between the two world and the two beings, however tenuous, was established.
What this plot does magnificently is dramatic irony. At almost every point the reader is completely aware of what is going on (due to the multiple perspectives) while the characters are none the wiser. With a villain like this one that really works as trust and instinct are key themes and key motivators in this story. I think this is an excellent story, it has moments of pain, of sadness, of overcoming hardship, anger, joy, love, unrequited love-you name it, it’s there. There is, strangely, a humanity to these non-human characters that shines through in Dockrill’s writing.
I adored the character of Aurabel. ‘Queer, badass, half metal mermaid’ would be a business card I would willingly carry. Lorali wasn’t quite as amazing in my eye but that might just be because Aurabel’s brashness (she is a mermaid from the ‘wrong side of the tracks’ after all) was so refreshing given how normally you only ever encounter beautiful, graceful and eloquent mermaids.
My absolute favourite element, and that which made me actually laugh out loud, was the fake facebook group. Dockrill perfectly captures the inane facebook arguments that we all know and love to hate from fan groups all over social media and actually uses it to drive the plot of the book from yet another perspective. It’s so simple but it could have so easily felt fake, on the contrary, this makes absolute sense in the context of this book and the internet as it currently is.
I didn’t think I’d like it. I certainly didn’t think I would like it as much as I did. If I had one critique it’s that I don’t think all the plots were tied off as neatly as they could have been, but perhaps we are leaving room for another sequel. Who knows?
My rating: 4/5 stars.
Aurabel publishes on the first of June so there’s still time to order your copy if the fancy takes you!
I received a digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher (Bonnier Zaffre) in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
(Note, I did not read the first of Dockrill’s books set in this world Lorali but I don’t think this book counts as a sequel in the strictest sense as much of the action concerns an entirely new character) however, it is possible that I missed some of the more interesting elements of the plot this way, in which case I apologise for misleading you…
Setting! A setting is very important and that is the same case for this book. We have the underwater world of mermaids and we have the human (or walker) world above. It would appear that humans can be made into mermaids and vice versa though, in this book, that process wasn’t entirely explained. You get the perspective from both worlds as the writing is multi-perspective. My interests mostly lay in the underwater story, since that had much more of the ‘new’ plot where the outside world was a continuation of the characters from Lorali. I did like that the connection between the two world and the two beings, however tenuous, was established.
What this plot does magnificently is dramatic irony. At almost every point the reader is completely aware of what is going on (due to the multiple perspectives) while the characters are none the wiser. With a villain like this one that really works as trust and instinct are key themes and key motivators in this story. I think this is an excellent story, it has moments of pain, of sadness, of overcoming hardship, anger, joy, love, unrequited love-you name it, it’s there. There is, strangely, a humanity to these non-human characters that shines through in Dockrill’s writing.
I adored the character of Aurabel. ‘Queer, badass, half metal mermaid’ would be a business card I would willingly carry. Lorali wasn’t quite as amazing in my eye but that might just be because Aurabel’s brashness (she is a mermaid from the ‘wrong side of the tracks’ after all) was so refreshing given how normally you only ever encounter beautiful, graceful and eloquent mermaids.
My absolute favourite element, and that which made me actually laugh out loud, was the fake facebook group. Dockrill perfectly captures the inane facebook arguments that we all know and love to hate from fan groups all over social media and actually uses it to drive the plot of the book from yet another perspective. It’s so simple but it could have so easily felt fake, on the contrary, this makes absolute sense in the context of this book and the internet as it currently is.
I didn’t think I’d like it. I certainly didn’t think I would like it as much as I did. If I had one critique it’s that I don’t think all the plots were tied off as neatly as they could have been, but perhaps we are leaving room for another sequel. Who knows?
My rating: 4/5 stars.
Aurabel publishes on the first of June so there’s still time to order your copy if the fancy takes you!
I received a digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher (Bonnier Zaffre) in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.