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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
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
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced audio copy.
This book has been on my TBR and I was elated to get an audio copy. The narration was great and I really loved the narrator's take on Celeste.
We follow Celeste, a siren princess disgraced for rescuing a human man, and it starts out very much like The Little Mermaid. There are clear comparisons to the Disney version, which I ultimately didn't mind. We got invested in this crew that is on a mission to get to a siren island that was thought to be lost. These lovable misfits help bring Celeste a new sense of self and confidence in who she is as a being. She... finds her voice... (Forgive me. Couldn't resist.) We get some intrigue in the last several chapters that I need to go back and physically read to make sure I fully comprehend all of the things!
This was definitely an enjoyable time and I will be owning the physical copy soon.
Real rating: 3.75, but that will likely be bumped up to a 4 when I read the physical copy.
This book has been on my TBR and I was elated to get an audio copy. The narration was great and I really loved the narrator's take on Celeste.
We follow Celeste, a siren princess disgraced for rescuing a human man, and it starts out very much like The Little Mermaid. There are clear comparisons to the Disney version, which I ultimately didn't mind. We got invested in this crew that is on a mission to get to a siren island that was thought to be lost. These lovable misfits help bring Celeste a new sense of self and confidence in who she is as a being. She... finds her voice... (Forgive me. Couldn't resist.) We get some intrigue in the last several chapters that I need to go back and physically read to make sure I fully comprehend all of the things!
This was definitely an enjoyable time and I will be owning the physical copy soon.
Real rating: 3.75, but that will likely be bumped up to a 4 when I read the physical copy.
adventurous
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
Got me back into reading. Interesting story and concept , especially when it reminds me of my favourite Disney Princess little mermaid.
But some scenes were badly written (couldn’t follow what the author was trying to describe) repetitive, mainstream and flat. Pacing wasn’t good, the story progressed quite slowly only to suddenly picked up at the last part. The part the sirens and human suddenly working together does not make sense.
It seems to be a series but does not entice me to continue reading.
But some scenes were badly written (couldn’t follow what the author was trying to describe) repetitive, mainstream and flat. Pacing wasn’t good, the story progressed quite slowly only to suddenly picked up at the last part. The part the sirens and human suddenly working together does not make sense.
It seems to be a series but does not entice me to continue reading.
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
For being a debut novel, i thought Kelsey did a great job! I haven’t read any little mermaid retellings so it was a very fun premise! I think she did a good job with the world building, and left a little bit of intrigue and mystery to flesh out even more in subsequent books.
Only thing that kind of bothered me was some of the NPC character descriptions, i call them NPC characters because they aren’t necessarily side characters nor tertiary characters, in a video game they’d be called NPCs. But, i noticed in one of the early chapters, the author kept saying “they” for a guard, then gave a vague description and never told us if it was a male or female siren, which made it hard for me to picture in my mind, because while i read a book i picture it like a movie in my head… so i pictured a blob… 😐, but i kinda wrote it off as a beginning of the book error and just accepted the blob guard in my mind movie. 😆 But then it happened again a little over halfway through, when she’s captured by Valencia. The author talks about one of Valencia’s crew members and keeps calling them a “human” but then talks about the other one and calls them a “woman”, so the other one was a man? But Celeste knows what a man is, so why wouldn’t she just say that? It was so confusing, dumb, irritating, and broke my immersion.
Also the romance was ok. I thought they were cute together but i was kinda annoyed whenever she first joined the crew and kept talking about hating him… i don’t remember what reason she had for hating him or being mad at him in the beginning, so i wish the author would’ve went for a different romantic dynamic than the “enemies to lovers” dynamic because i just don’t think it fit for this story. I understand they are innately enemies, with being a human and a siren, but she didn’t have a hatred of humans and vice versa. Also she was already enamored with him from the beginning, so it would’ve had to be something significant to make them “enemies”. Without all the forced “i hate him” stuff in the beginning, this could’ve just been strangers to lovers, which i would’ve liked!
I think this is the longest review I’ve ever written! 😱 But overall, i really enjoyed this book! I think for this being a debut novel, i can’t wait to read your future novels because authors normally get better and this was already really good!
Only thing that kind of bothered me was some of the NPC character descriptions, i call them NPC characters because they aren’t necessarily side characters nor tertiary characters, in a video game they’d be called NPCs. But, i noticed in one of the early chapters, the author kept saying “they” for a guard, then gave a vague description and never told us if it was a male or female siren, which made it hard for me to picture in my mind, because while i read a book i picture it like a movie in my head… so i pictured a blob… 😐, but i kinda wrote it off as a beginning of the book error and just accepted the blob guard in my mind movie. 😆 But then it happened again a little over halfway through, when she’s captured by Valencia. The author talks about one of Valencia’s crew members and keeps calling them a “human” but then talks about the other one and calls them a “woman”, so the other one was a man? But Celeste knows what a man is, so why wouldn’t she just say that? It was so confusing, dumb, irritating, and broke my immersion.
Also the romance was ok. I thought they were cute together but i was kinda annoyed whenever she first joined the crew and kept talking about hating him… i don’t remember what reason she had for hating him or being mad at him in the beginning, so i wish the author would’ve went for a different romantic dynamic than the “enemies to lovers” dynamic because i just don’t think it fit for this story. I understand they are innately enemies, with being a human and a siren, but she didn’t have a hatred of humans and vice versa. Also she was already enamored with him from the beginning, so it would’ve had to be something significant to make them “enemies”. Without all the forced “i hate him” stuff in the beginning, this could’ve just been strangers to lovers, which i would’ve liked!
I think this is the longest review I’ve ever written! 😱 But overall, i really enjoyed this book! I think for this being a debut novel, i can’t wait to read your future novels because authors normally get better and this was already really good!
adventurous
funny
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
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:
No
Too much gay people
Everyone is gay except for our main character ig?
Everyone is gay except for our main character ig?
Voice of the ocean is the perfect YA story for lovers of the little mermaid and pirates.
I loved the found family trope and the friendships that were built throughout the story.
Celeste and Raiden the MFC and MMC are strong lovable characters who are not afraid to show their emotions and who are drawn to each other from the day they first meet. The world building is beautifully descriptive making you feel like you’re on the adventure alongside our main cast of characters.
This book does read on the younger side of YA but overall is a great debut.
3.5 stars
I loved the found family trope and the friendships that were built throughout the story.
Celeste and Raiden the MFC and MMC are strong lovable characters who are not afraid to show their emotions and who are drawn to each other from the day they first meet. The world building is beautifully descriptive making you feel like you’re on the adventure alongside our main cast of characters.
This book does read on the younger side of YA but overall is a great debut.
3.5 stars
adventurous
medium-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