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A review by naiapard
Beneath Cruel Fathoms by Anela Deen
3.0
Disclaimer: I received this book from BookSirens in exchange for an honest review.
Shall we dive straight in? (yes, the pun was intended)
There are two main characters. The reader gets to see the perspective of both Isaura and Leonel as they intermediately appear, one chapter after the other.
The book opens with Isaura`s POV as she is crossing the sea. She is a healer (I got some serious vibes of the Outlander season four) that behaves more than well with the crew (there is a serious description on that part, on how nice she is and how everybody likes her to the moon and back).
And then, the storm happens. Their ship submerges. But, Isaura is the only survivor. How? Was she an exceptionally good swimmer? Or had she had the sense to wear something lighter than a full skirt and petticoats on a boat, so she wouldn`t drown in case of falling into the water?
No to all of the above.
She was rescued by the guardian of the sea, the one and only Leonel. He was the last one of his kind. He had a trident. He was the son of the sea goddess that was married to the sea king. He had a conflictual relationship with his stepfather, needlessly to say after you get to hear the way he addressed to Leonel:
“You fuss over waves and wind, son of my wife?” King Ægir had asked, his smile slight, his silver eyes hard beneath his coral crown. “Do you not have enough to do as the guardian of our sea?”
Now, that the main love interested has been identified, let`s see what is the conflict that shall keep us on the edge of our boats--->
Apparently, Leonel got into his head that the storms that kept appearing were not natural. The cause is of mystery, but he feels that something is off. He needs proof to convince the rulers that this is bad and happening.
So, he founds in Isaura a witness. He saves her, gets her to the shore where she is taken into the care of her brother, that held a conveniently high post in that port-town.
After that, he comes back to claim his “debt”. Let`s say that he is not that into subtle because this is the dialogue that goes between those two:
“Is no matter,” he said, terse in a way that suggested the opposite was true. “I am here for the debt.” “What debt?” “I saved your life. Repayment is owed. You will—” “Wait a moment,” she jutted a hand forward. “What do you mean I owe you? I mean, yes, obviously I do owe you my gratitude, but I would’ve died out there.” “Precise.
Somehow, Isaura draws the conclusion that she owns him nothing because her life is priceless (as if). Somehow, the reader is made to buy the part in which she is innocent and he is being a rude “fish” for not being more respectful. But, cmon! He saved her life! The least she could do it was to gather some info for this mystery to be elucidated.
With this point in mind I can enter deeper into the book. The premise, the sketch of the novel is not bad, the cover is really grate, but would I recommend this as the ultimate bombastic siren/mermaid love book?
No. It lacks details that could have made so much more out of it. For example, the two main characters are well contoured, but there is no one else beside them in the book. No other character was high-lightened or given a serious persona, maybe Isaura`s brother got a moment with Leonel`s sister, but that was more of a sloppy execution than a praised manifesto in the craft of writing.
At first sight the characters seem too beguiling. It will be too easy for the lead to prove her superiority by comparison to their background dialogue and unassumed actions. Even the love that was pushed between Isaura and Leonel seemed off:
“I feel…” He wanted to admit that he felt the connection she’d spoken of, but even thinking the words make his skin clammy with fear. “I feel…I should kiss you.” She breathed a laugh. “That’s a good idea.”
There are little tidbits, that should make the characters more, but they end up to be questionable. Why would be of any importance that Isaura had had a fiance previously to meeting Leonel? She could has been as well as, married with other seven people and it wouldn`t have mattered in here.
Isaura’s thumb rubbed at the indent on her finger where her wedding band had rested. She wondered if Jan had retrieved the ring from the floorboards after she’d chucked it at him, if he’d dredged up more emotion than that infuriating calm he had used to tell her it was over.
Over all, please try it if you feel like reading a cute story with a girl that is not a pirate but ends up on ships and a boy that is not the king of the sea, but holds a trident and is its guardian.
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Shall we dive straight in? (yes, the pun was intended)
There are two main characters. The reader gets to see the perspective of both Isaura and Leonel as they intermediately appear, one chapter after the other.
The book opens with Isaura`s POV as she is crossing the sea. She is a healer (I got some serious vibes of the Outlander season four) that behaves more than well with the crew (there is a serious description on that part, on how nice she is and how everybody likes her to the moon and back).
And then, the storm happens. Their ship submerges. But, Isaura is the only survivor. How? Was she an exceptionally good swimmer? Or had she had the sense to wear something lighter than a full skirt and petticoats on a boat, so she wouldn`t drown in case of falling into the water?
No to all of the above.
She was rescued by the guardian of the sea, the one and only Leonel. He was the last one of his kind. He had a trident. He was the son of the sea goddess that was married to the sea king. He had a conflictual relationship with his stepfather, needlessly to say after you get to hear the way he addressed to Leonel:
Now, that the main love interested has been identified, let`s see what is the conflict that shall keep us on the edge of our boats--->
Apparently, Leonel got into his head that the storms that kept appearing were not natural. The cause is of mystery, but he feels that something is off. He needs proof to convince the rulers that this is bad and happening.
So, he founds in Isaura a witness. He saves her, gets her to the shore where she is taken into the care of her brother, that held a conveniently high post in that port-town.
After that, he comes back to claim his “debt”. Let`s say that he is not that into subtle because this is the dialogue that goes between those two:
Somehow, Isaura draws the conclusion that she owns him nothing because her life is priceless (as if). Somehow, the reader is made to buy the part in which she is innocent and he is being a rude “fish” for not being more respectful. But, cmon! He saved her life! The least she could do it was to gather some info for this mystery to be elucidated.
With this point in mind I can enter deeper into the book. The premise, the sketch of the novel is not bad, the cover is really grate, but would I recommend this as the ultimate bombastic siren/mermaid love book?
No. It lacks details that could have made so much more out of it. For example, the two main characters are well contoured, but there is no one else beside them in the book. No other character was high-lightened or given a serious persona, maybe Isaura`s brother got a moment with Leonel`s sister, but that was more of a sloppy execution than a praised manifesto in the craft of writing.
At first sight the characters seem too beguiling. It will be too easy for the lead to prove her superiority by comparison to their background dialogue and unassumed actions. Even the love that was pushed between Isaura and Leonel seemed off:
There are little tidbits, that should make the characters more, but they end up to be questionable. Why would be of any importance that Isaura had had a fiance previously to meeting Leonel? She could has been as well as, married with other seven people and it wouldn`t have mattered in here.
Over all, please try it if you feel like reading a cute story with a girl that is not a pirate but ends up on ships and a boy that is not the king of the sea, but holds a trident and is its guardian.
my Blog