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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
The untold story, the prequel to The Little Mermaid, this is the story behind the antagonist and why she is the way she is. Wonderfully done, but tragically sad.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
My hooo my.....
Where do I start!!!!
Well, first a BIG thank you to NetGalley, the Publisher and the Author!!!
I was HOOKED from the start.
And although you know how it is going to end, you hope for a different outcome.
I do feel like the Epilogue of the book leans more to the Hans Christian Andersen ending instead of the "Happily ever after" Disney gave us....
Which is great. Because Sereia deserves it!
Girl deserves the world, if you ask me!
This book is great if you like a prequel to an story everyone knows. We have betrayal, royal intrigue, true love and heartbreak, sibling rivalry pushed to the extreme, mermaids and ultimate destruction.
I loved it and could not put it down!
Where do I start!!!!
Well, first a BIG thank you to NetGalley, the Publisher and the Author!!!
I was HOOKED from the start.
And although you know how it is going to end, you hope for a different outcome.
I do feel like the Epilogue of the book leans more to the Hans Christian Andersen ending instead of the "Happily ever after" Disney gave us....
Which is great. Because Sereia deserves it!
Girl deserves the world, if you ask me!
This book is great if you like a prequel to an story everyone knows. We have betrayal, royal intrigue, true love and heartbreak, sibling rivalry pushed to the extreme, mermaids and ultimate destruction.
I loved it and could not put it down!
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars rounded down
I enjoyed this fairytale reimagining of the Little Mermaid, but more of a prequel telling the origin story of Ursula.
The main character Sereia is part of a sibling rivalry with her brother Triton, with both of them wanting to be their father's heir, first in line to rule the seas. But Triton curses Sereia to be a human, destined to turn into a monster if she ever touches sea water again. Sereia then ends up in the human islands of Atlantis, living with a herb-seller and healer, trying to figure out how to reverse the curse.
While I enjoyed the story though, I couldn't wrap my head around some, to me, glaring plot holes.
Triton and Sereia's father is Poseidon, an immortal. Why on earth would an immortal ever have need of an heir? And based on that, why would Sereia and Triton ever have need of such an intense rivalry for the position? I just don't get it, and it's such a major part of the plotline.
I also found one annoyance with the under-the-sea portions of the story. They seem to have way too much standard gravity down there, and they seem way too anchored to the ocean floor when they're mermaids who can go anywhere. Especially in the training / fight scenes, they constantly refer to being 'knocked to the floor' or similar statements, and it seems to be a strange phrase when they are beings who literally swim and float, not stand or walk.
But once I overlook those things, I definitely enjoyed the story. The audiobook was well-narrated, and I liked the descriptions of the islands of Atlantis.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance copy of the audiobook!
I enjoyed this fairytale reimagining of the Little Mermaid, but more of a prequel telling the origin story of Ursula.
The main character Sereia is part of a sibling rivalry with her brother Triton, with both of them wanting to be their father's heir, first in line to rule the seas. But Triton curses Sereia to be a human, destined to turn into a monster if she ever touches sea water again. Sereia then ends up in the human islands of Atlantis, living with a herb-seller and healer, trying to figure out how to reverse the curse.
While I enjoyed the story though, I couldn't wrap my head around some, to me, glaring plot holes.
Triton and Sereia's father is Poseidon, an immortal. Why on earth would an immortal ever have need of an heir? And based on that, why would Sereia and Triton ever have need of such an intense rivalry for the position? I just don't get it, and it's such a major part of the plotline.
I also found one annoyance with the under-the-sea portions of the story. They seem to have way too much standard gravity down there, and they seem way too anchored to the ocean floor when they're mermaids who can go anywhere. Especially in the training / fight scenes, they constantly refer to being 'knocked to the floor' or similar statements, and it seems to be a strange phrase when they are beings who literally swim and float, not stand or walk.
But once I overlook those things, I definitely enjoyed the story. The audiobook was well-narrated, and I liked the descriptions of the islands of Atlantis.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance copy of the audiobook!
i’ve read little mermaid retellings before, but never one about Ursula’s backstory, and i LOVED it like so much.
A great story, and a clear line of thought and how the main characters decisions and choices are made is laid out in such a perfect way and it’s so easy to understand how she went from point a to point b.
incredible
A great story, and a clear line of thought and how the main characters decisions and choices are made is laid out in such a perfect way and it’s so easy to understand how she went from point a to point b.
incredible
You ever, early on in a book, notice a certain tendency that a writer has, like types of words or sentence structures or something, and then that's all you can see for the next 270+ pages? Yeah, that happened to me here. I don't know that I think the writing is very *good*, this repetitive style in particular. But damn it if the story and characters (especially Callan and the mersister whose name I've forgotten) didn't still make it a 4⭐ for me anyway! I loved the ending because it didn't play out the way I expected, though I do agree with some other reviewers that pacing of story points could have been reworked to give us a little less training and more world or mythology or ending. Some weird dangling plot threads now that I'm thinking more closely on it, but still, I rate mostly on feeling and I finished the book having really enjoyed it!
adventurous
hopeful
I really love Fairytales retellings and this one didn't disappoint even though it's really more of a prequel slash villain origin story! It was well pace the narrator was great and the love story while predictable was almost realistic (or as realistic as falling for a cursed mermaid can be.)
Well worth read!!
Well worth read!!