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blurrypetals's review against another edition
2.0
This was partway to okay. It was also halfway to awful.
I don't know what the whole obsession is with mermaids and having really weird monarchies, but I can't seem to escape it. The only one that's done it well that I've read is To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo, and I think that's only because it was set in a world that had other monarchies, other kingdoms, and it was set in a time period that fit. This and so many other mermaid books that I've read have these really weird, hamfisted monarchies that are never written well and never seem to feel fleshed out or fitting for the time period nor the way their mermaids are socialized.
Another trope I can't seem to escape in this genre is the whole mating for life thing. I really do not care for the way these young people make lifelong commitments (which are often longer than normal human lives because they're magical creatures) when they barely know each other. It reads as creepy and uncomfortable to me, not sweet and romantic like the authors want it to read.
My other issue with this book is that it's supposed to be about this big, grand romance between Emma and Galen—sorry, wrong bad mermaid book again, between Gabe and Kate—whoops again, I mean between Ash and Fin (could you think of a more clichéd fish boy name?) and it's weird. The two of them see each other very briefly at the very beginning of the novel and then we're told (not shown) very adamantly that they have been harboring secret crushes on one another for years before they are very promptly separated for something like two thirds of the book. They have two completely different storylines, one where Ash is dealing with the drama of a school dance, and the other where Fin is navigating the politics of his fish people, and they scarcely mention or think about one another the entire time. It was like I was feverishly switching back and forth between two completely unrelated books for that first chunk of the book. It was so weird and jarring and made it difficult for the novel as a whole to find a distinctive voice, especially since it was already downing in so many other overdone mermaid tropes and clichés.
I've said this in other reviews, but I'm still just so shocked that I can't find another mermaid book that's like Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown, or as exciting and classically romantic as To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo. Why are those the only outliers I can find? Hopefully I'll be able to find more someday, but today was certainly not that day.
I don't know what the whole obsession is with mermaids and having really weird monarchies, but I can't seem to escape it. The only one that's done it well that I've read is To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo, and I think that's only because it was set in a world that had other monarchies, other kingdoms, and it was set in a time period that fit. This and so many other mermaid books that I've read have these really weird, hamfisted monarchies that are never written well and never seem to feel fleshed out or fitting for the time period nor the way their mermaids are socialized.
Another trope I can't seem to escape in this genre is the whole mating for life thing. I really do not care for the way these young people make lifelong commitments (which are often longer than normal human lives because they're magical creatures) when they barely know each other. It reads as creepy and uncomfortable to me, not sweet and romantic like the authors want it to read.
My other issue with this book is that it's supposed to be about this big, grand romance between Emma and Galen—sorry, wrong bad mermaid book again, between Gabe and Kate—whoops again, I mean between Ash and Fin (could you think of a more clichéd fish boy name?) and it's weird. The two of them see each other very briefly at the very beginning of the novel and then we're told (not shown) very adamantly that they have been harboring secret crushes on one another for years before they are very promptly separated for something like two thirds of the book. They have two completely different storylines, one where Ash is dealing with the drama of a school dance, and the other where Fin is navigating the politics of his fish people, and they scarcely mention or think about one another the entire time. It was like I was feverishly switching back and forth between two completely unrelated books for that first chunk of the book. It was so weird and jarring and made it difficult for the novel as a whole to find a distinctive voice, especially since it was already downing in so many other overdone mermaid tropes and clichés.
I've said this in other reviews, but I'm still just so shocked that I can't find another mermaid book that's like Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown, or as exciting and classically romantic as To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo. Why are those the only outliers I can find? Hopefully I'll be able to find more someday, but today was certainly not that day.
yerawizard_kristen's review against another edition
3.0
Great concept and storyline, but the writing style makes it a little tedious to read. I'll continue reading the series for the characters and story because it's worth it.
sienaro's review against another edition
1.0
I was so excited to read this book, but it fell short. The whole mermaid/mermen just trying to be teenagers while associating with other teenagers who cannot know is brilliant. Secret identity plots can be so fun and frustrating. I was also excited because I'm kinda into this whole multiple POV trend that is currently going on.
Sadly, anything interesting that could have happened in this book didn't. I couldn't get into it (it took me over a month to read!) and it was so slow moving until the very very end.
I think this book perhaps was trying to be romance-centric, but the romances were all poorly done. From synonymous crushes that eventually discover the other likes them only to find out they can't be together and just send letters/text. To being accidentally promised to a girl that is totally awful, and the 'hottest guy in the school' suddenly asking the girl out to a dance even tho they hadn't spoken before then. Everything in this book had potential to be interesting but was poorly executed and honestly boring.
The multiple point of views is something that I usually like, but in this case it disrupted the flow of the story and felt choppy. The cliffhangers at the end of chapters weren't answered until three or four chapters later and at that point I didn't even care about them anymore. At some points I just skipped chapters from one point of view and read them later in order to keep reading the story. That's a very bad sign.
1.5/5 stars
Could have been awesome, but wasn't.
Sadly, anything interesting that could have happened in this book didn't. I couldn't get into it (it took me over a month to read!) and it was so slow moving until the very very end.
I think this book perhaps was trying to be romance-centric, but the romances were all poorly done. From synonymous crushes that eventually discover the other likes them only to find out they can't be together and just send letters/text. To being accidentally promised to a girl that is totally awful, and the 'hottest guy in the school' suddenly asking the girl out to a dance even tho they hadn't spoken before then. Everything in this book had potential to be interesting but was poorly executed and honestly boring.
The multiple point of views is something that I usually like, but in this case it disrupted the flow of the story and felt choppy. The cliffhangers at the end of chapters weren't answered until three or four chapters later and at that point I didn't even care about them anymore. At some points I just skipped chapters from one point of view and read them later in order to keep reading the story. That's a very bad sign.
1.5/5 stars
Could have been awesome, but wasn't.
gator468's review against another edition
2.0
I've never read a mermaid book before and I liked that aspect of the story but the rest wasn't for me.
read2menow's review
3.0
The beginning of this book had a lot of promise and a great concept to it, when it came to mermaids. But once you get to the last 10 chapters, I felt like the story was rushed and just way to unrealistic with the language. I get that the main character loses part of her soul and doesn't really have the same personality, because she is overwhelmed by her new persona, but I found the dialogue to be awful and really made me lose interest and wished the book was over. I would like to read the second one and see if it changes my thought process.
laura_devouring_books_crumpets's review
2.0
It as ok......
Some stuff didn't make sense...
How Ashlyn diddn't really know Fin and Tatianna's parents even though they were childhood friends who grew up together and neighbors...... she got introduced to them after kissing Fin.....
Finn who supposedly it nuts over Ashlyn has a meet With Lilly and is ready to consider being with a pure Mer.....
Like i said it was ok.... it wasn't until about 80 percent of the book that the couple actually spend any time together.... The plot had some good moments, but it took a while to get to anything, the writing was nice and descriptive i would pull it down middle and say a 2 - 2.5.... i would have given it a 3 if it wasn't for the gaping inconsistencies.
Like i said the writing was really nice..... Just the story itself let it down.
Some stuff didn't make sense...
How Ashlyn diddn't really know Fin and Tatianna's parents even though they were childhood friends who grew up together and neighbors...... she got introduced to them after kissing Fin.....
Finn who supposedly it nuts over Ashlyn has a meet With Lilly and is ready to consider being with a pure Mer.....
Like i said it was ok.... it wasn't until about 80 percent of the book that the couple actually spend any time together.... The plot had some good moments, but it took a while to get to anything, the writing was nice and descriptive i would pull it down middle and say a 2 - 2.5.... i would have given it a 3 if it wasn't for the gaping inconsistencies.
Like i said the writing was really nice..... Just the story itself let it down.
jbarr5's review
4.0
Everblue by Brenda Pandos
When I first saw the cover of this book I wanted to read it and then found out it was about mermaids and I thought that it'd make for an interesting read.
I know nothing of mermaids and I'm not sure I believe in them. This young adult story is about Ash and she's human and in high school on the swim team which she excels at.
Alternating chapters are about Fin and his family who are mermaids and mermen.They have rituals which you learn about and the father is sent away on a mission. The others in the family go through other rituals
which the children were told they'd be able to choose when the time was right. Ash's best friend is Tatiana who is Fin's sister but she goes missing and nothing can explain where she is. The whole family just vanished.
One day she rows their boat to the island and claims their longtime friendship buried capsule and something happens to make her go overboard and almost drown. She is rescued and she learns other things. She is able to go to her prom
and she loves telling Tat about the drama at school as Tat is homeschooled.
Love how the 'promising' works and they pledge to get revenge on the empire to get their daughter back.
Love where this story leaves off and the next one takes up which I've also started reading today.
I received this book from the author in a book giveaway.
When I first saw the cover of this book I wanted to read it and then found out it was about mermaids and I thought that it'd make for an interesting read.
I know nothing of mermaids and I'm not sure I believe in them. This young adult story is about Ash and she's human and in high school on the swim team which she excels at.
Alternating chapters are about Fin and his family who are mermaids and mermen.They have rituals which you learn about and the father is sent away on a mission. The others in the family go through other rituals
which the children were told they'd be able to choose when the time was right. Ash's best friend is Tatiana who is Fin's sister but she goes missing and nothing can explain where she is. The whole family just vanished.
One day she rows their boat to the island and claims their longtime friendship buried capsule and something happens to make her go overboard and almost drown. She is rescued and she learns other things. She is able to go to her prom
and she loves telling Tat about the drama at school as Tat is homeschooled.
Love how the 'promising' works and they pledge to get revenge on the empire to get their daughter back.
Love where this story leaves off and the next one takes up which I've also started reading today.
I received this book from the author in a book giveaway.
guylou's review
4.0
I got a free copy of this book on Amazon. The cover is gorgeous! The story is interesting and I can see how this could possibly become a series of movies. I did not know much about mermaids and mermen, but after reading this book I am interested to know more. It was a fun read and I hope to get to the next book soon.
bookishvice's review against another edition
5.0
This has become my top favorite mermaid story of this summer. Just when I thought I´d give up on them, in comes Everblue and sweeps me away with its amazingly wrought world, creative mer-cursing, and captivating plot.
I really liked Natatoria and the mer culture. The descriptions of the city and houses were really amazing. I almost wanted to go and live there myself! Of course, I didn’t like the King being an evil overlord restricting his people, especially the mermaids! He wants to maintain the utopia they have created at the cost of cutting his people off from the surface. I really grew to hate Azor, the King’s son, an arrogant little ^#%$... Anyways, I liked the idea of the ‘curse,’ how they always change at night, but during the day they can retain their human form and change at will. I also liked how the myth of the mermaid song was incorporated, giving them a very useful supernatural power. They also have other powers but I won’t spoil it here. Oh! Can’t forget about the mermen’s fighting school. Very cool indeed!
The story is told from Ashlyn and Fin´s POV in alternating chapters. Fin is just a gorgeous merman; he has blonde hair, broad shoulders, and intense blue eyes with long lashes. He is very protective of his twin sister and strong believer of his father’s way of life which differs a lot from that of the King and the residents of Natatoria. Fin secretly loves Ashlyn, but knows that she, as a human, is off limits. When he goes to Natatoria he even finds someone else he might like. However that doesn’t change the fact that he has strong feelings for Ashlyn, and nothing can erase them.
Ashlyn also has a secret crush on Fin, but she’s too shy to have ever spoken up. Besides, her best friend is Fin’s twin sister Tatiana. Like Fin, at one point Ashlyn also tries to move on by giving Callahan (another hot guy) a chance, but it just doesn’t work. The whole time she’s with him, thoughts of Fin keep popping up in her head!
I loved how the kiss was the most intimate act between the mer people. A kiss is just such a sweet thing and they give it a whole deeper meaning. I can’t wait for the next book in this series to see how Fin and Ashlyn manage their newly promised lives together! How much longer will the mer people swim quietly to their King’s decrees? And will Ashlyn join Fin in rescuing Tatiana? *squeals*
I really liked Natatoria and the mer culture. The descriptions of the city and houses were really amazing. I almost wanted to go and live there myself! Of course, I didn’t like the King being an evil overlord restricting his people, especially the mermaids! He wants to maintain the utopia they have created at the cost of cutting his people off from the surface. I really grew to hate Azor, the King’s son, an arrogant little ^#%$... Anyways, I liked the idea of the ‘curse,’ how they always change at night, but during the day they can retain their human form and change at will. I also liked how the myth of the mermaid song was incorporated, giving them a very useful supernatural power. They also have other powers but I won’t spoil it here. Oh! Can’t forget about the mermen’s fighting school. Very cool indeed!
The story is told from Ashlyn and Fin´s POV in alternating chapters. Fin is just a gorgeous merman; he has blonde hair, broad shoulders, and intense blue eyes with long lashes. He is very protective of his twin sister and strong believer of his father’s way of life which differs a lot from that of the King and the residents of Natatoria. Fin secretly loves Ashlyn, but knows that she, as a human, is off limits. When he goes to Natatoria he even finds someone else he might like. However that doesn’t change the fact that he has strong feelings for Ashlyn, and nothing can erase them.
Ashlyn also has a secret crush on Fin, but she’s too shy to have ever spoken up. Besides, her best friend is Fin’s twin sister Tatiana. Like Fin, at one point Ashlyn also tries to move on by giving Callahan (another hot guy) a chance, but it just doesn’t work. The whole time she’s with him, thoughts of Fin keep popping up in her head!
I loved how the kiss was the most intimate act between the mer people. A kiss is just such a sweet thing and they give it a whole deeper meaning. I can’t wait for the next book in this series to see how Fin and Ashlyn manage their newly promised lives together! How much longer will the mer people swim quietly to their King’s decrees? And will Ashlyn join Fin in rescuing Tatiana? *squeals*