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ameltdown's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
If you like mermaids, ghosts, history and mysteries this is definitely the book for you. The audiobook is also delightful and the narrator brings the characters to life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Death, Abandonment, and Gun violence
Minor: Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
betwixt_the_pages's review
4.0
Fierce, seductive mermaid Syrenka falls in love with Ezra, a young naturalist. When she abandons her life underwater for a chance at happiness on land, she is unaware that this decision comes with horrific and deadly consequences.
Almost one hundred forty years later, seventeen-year-old Hester meets a mysterious stranger named Ezra and feels overwhelmingly, inexplicably drawn to him. For generations, love has resulted in death for the women in her family. Is it an undiagnosed genetic defect . . . or a curse? With Ezra’s help, Hester investigates her family’s strange, sad history. The answers she seeks are waiting in the graveyard, the crypt, and at the bottom of the ocean—but powerful forces will do anything to keep her from uncovering her connection to Syrenka and to the tragedy of so long ago.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Quick Reasons: mermaids; folklore; myths/fairy tales; ghosts and other paranormal creatures; well-researched, intriguing narrative; awesome ideas and plot
It is obvious, as soon as you flip open the cover of this book, that the journey you're about to take is going to be a wild one. I fell in love with the cover image--the water overlapping her skin, the way her hair is "floating" across the page. The font is just as gorgeous as the model's pose; everything about this came together in a beautiful, tempting way. I knew, even before I read the premise, that I needed to pick it up.
When I found out what the story was about, the deal was done. I haven't read many novels with mermaids as a focus; I've heard many things about Elizabeth Fama's writing, particularly her book Plus One...and decided I wanted to start my journey into her worlds with something I hadn't heard as much about. I picked this book.
The writing is breath-taking. Both lyrical and scientific, you can tell that Elizabeth Fama has done her share of research for the time periods of the book. Everything comes together so beautifully, you know a lot of hard work, heart, and soul went into the writing. The details are intricate, the story is bursting with mystery and action, and the characters are almost enough to leave you collapsed in a heap.
I wasn't sure, after finishing it, that I was meant to have foreseen so many of the "plot twists" I did. However, having skimmed over the author's notes and answers in the "extras" section, it appears Elizabeth Fama went into this project with a clear goal in mind: to have the readers know, BEFORE the character, each and every plot twist they would be meeting along the way. It's an intriguing spin to the usual "mystery" story; in a sense, it's like what happens on stage during a play--when characters soliloquize, or we see something occur that the main protagonists don't realize is happening. It was an interesting journey, and so well done I didn't really think about it until the very end.
If you're looking for a novel that focuses on a strong-willed, independent woman and gets to the heart of sea myths and folk lore--with mermaids as a primary side-story--this is definitely a book you should pick up! There are some mature themes, though, so take care if violence and/or rape scenes trigger you. I thoroughly enjoyed this first foray into Elizabeth Fama's writing, and will be reading her again in the future!
Almost one hundred forty years later, seventeen-year-old Hester meets a mysterious stranger named Ezra and feels overwhelmingly, inexplicably drawn to him. For generations, love has resulted in death for the women in her family. Is it an undiagnosed genetic defect . . . or a curse? With Ezra’s help, Hester investigates her family’s strange, sad history. The answers she seeks are waiting in the graveyard, the crypt, and at the bottom of the ocean—but powerful forces will do anything to keep her from uncovering her connection to Syrenka and to the tragedy of so long ago.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Quick Reasons: mermaids; folklore; myths/fairy tales; ghosts and other paranormal creatures; well-researched, intriguing narrative; awesome ideas and plot
It is obvious, as soon as you flip open the cover of this book, that the journey you're about to take is going to be a wild one. I fell in love with the cover image--the water overlapping her skin, the way her hair is "floating" across the page. The font is just as gorgeous as the model's pose; everything about this came together in a beautiful, tempting way. I knew, even before I read the premise, that I needed to pick it up.
When I found out what the story was about, the deal was done. I haven't read many novels with mermaids as a focus; I've heard many things about Elizabeth Fama's writing, particularly her book Plus One...and decided I wanted to start my journey into her worlds with something I hadn't heard as much about. I picked this book.
The writing is breath-taking. Both lyrical and scientific, you can tell that Elizabeth Fama has done her share of research for the time periods of the book. Everything comes together so beautifully, you know a lot of hard work, heart, and soul went into the writing. The details are intricate, the story is bursting with mystery and action, and the characters are almost enough to leave you collapsed in a heap.
I wasn't sure, after finishing it, that I was meant to have foreseen so many of the "plot twists" I did. However, having skimmed over the author's notes and answers in the "extras" section, it appears Elizabeth Fama went into this project with a clear goal in mind: to have the readers know, BEFORE the character, each and every plot twist they would be meeting along the way. It's an intriguing spin to the usual "mystery" story; in a sense, it's like what happens on stage during a play--when characters soliloquize, or we see something occur that the main protagonists don't realize is happening. It was an interesting journey, and so well done I didn't really think about it until the very end.
If you're looking for a novel that focuses on a strong-willed, independent woman and gets to the heart of sea myths and folk lore--with mermaids as a primary side-story--this is definitely a book you should pick up! There are some mature themes, though, so take care if violence and/or rape scenes trigger you. I thoroughly enjoyed this first foray into Elizabeth Fama's writing, and will be reading her again in the future!
icygrl7's review
5.0
I have previously read this book sometime after my first child was born (within the first year) and don't remember it so I reread it. I really enjoyed it again and would recommend it to others. I liked the characters and the storyline. There were a lot of twists and turns in it and some of them I didn't see coming while others I did. I think others will enjoy this book as well.
vanessamariebooks's review
4.0
This story was beautifully written and the history and legends involved were intriguing. The curse was definitely an interesting part of the story, it made the story so much better. Without the curse it would have just been another mermaid story where a mermaid falls in love with a human and wants to become human to be with him, but the curse added another interesting layer to the story. The characters were all interesting and I really liked Syranka. The book goes back and forth between Syranka's story which takes place in the 1800's and Hester's story which takes place modern day. I typically don't like it when a story does that because I get so interested in one character's story and then it switches to another character. In this case I was way more interested in Syranka's story and what was happening with her and I keep getting frustrated when they kept going back to Hester's story. I didn't really get into Hester's story until near the end when she started figuring stuff out about her family. Overall I really liked the book and give a 4 out 5 stars.
djohan's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5