LitPick Review
In the first book, Luce is a 14-year-old who turned into a mermaid after having lost everything she ever loved as a human. She soon finds out that there are other girls like her, rejected and unloved, who live in a mermaid tribe near her coastal town in Alaska. To get revenge on the humans that did them so much harm, the mermaids sing to the sailors and enchant their boats, causing them to crash into the coast and die. Luce joins the tribe and forms a new life as a mermaid. In the second book, Luce's tribe, led by a harmful young mermaid, Anais, has turned on Catarina, who is the former leader and Luce's best friend. Catarina leaves Luce near the tribe and tells her that she must get rid of Anais before she destroys the tribe. But Luce has a problem of her own. Against the ancient code of laws set up by the first mermaids, she let a human boy, Dorian, live when he heard her sing, even though she was supposed to kill him. Now, the humans are starting to investigate the tribe's presence because of her relationship with Dorian. Will Luce be able to restore the honor of her tribe and convince the humans that they aren't there?
Opinion:
I really enjoyed this book. The characters are well developed, especially Luce. The narration of the story switches between Luce and Dorian, displaying the strained relationship between humans and mermaids. The setting contributes to the course of the story and is very important. For example, if the tribe were living in open ocean, they would have just faced the challenges from the sea; however, because of their location, the tribe faces the challenges presented by humans, as well as the challenges of the sea. What I especially like are the emotions (love, sadness, etc.) -- they are very deep and bring the reader into a world underwater. Overall, this book is exceptionally good. I would recommend this book to mature readers 11 and up because there is mild romance.
