Synopsis:
Ashlyn and Fin have been apart for only a short time but it feels like forever and just as they had thought Fin's house has been re-taken by his uncle and his annoying cousin. As the danger surrounding Ash's family increases, Fin gets more and more irritable about being away his family refusing return. With the biggest choice of their lives on the line, the decision of a Human or Mer life hangs over their heads. Time is running out.
Review:
4.5/5
What the hell happened here?! There is a drastic change between the writing in book one and the writing in book two. With the first book hanging on Middle Grade I wasn't sure what kind of action was going to happen in this one, I just hoped it would be good. I was not disappointed! This one definitely pings Young Adult right on the head. This book was drastically better than the first.
First, the actual writing itself, the first one seemed to be geared towards a younger audience which had taken me by surprise with it's YA tag on it. The characters were quite shallow and well... fluffy and just seemed childish. There really wasn't much to the book, it had been a nice quick read and left a nice little hanger at the end that suggested things would happen in the next book. So I read on. Pandos seems to have evolved tremendously between book one and book two, the level of writing increased dramatically. The characters got a bit more substance, the story flushed out more, the details of the world became more real and I felt a lot more connected to the characters in this one than in the last one. I don't know what she did between books but whatever it was she needs to share.
Let me talk about the suspense in this book. I read this on my phone, and I have to say that I'm surprised how many times I found myself squeezing my phone as hard as I could while reading. It's a good thing it wasn't an iPhone... Unlike the first book, this one was packed with action. Rather than the moping on one side and action on the other, there was action in Fin's world and in Ashlyn's world which kept me excited to keep reading. The twists, oh lordy the twist that was in there! I wondered a little but didn't expect it to actually happen. I won't say more 'cause spoilers but let's just say I was guessing what was going to happen all the way through the book. I enjoyed that even the fall from the climax of this book involved more action.
The characters - a little fluffy and shallow in the last book I was impressed by the character development that happened in this one. We learn about Fin's mysterious family, we learn about Ashlyn and her family. I'm happy things focused down for her, I wouldn't continue if she carried on with her fluff and whining she did in the first one. Plus there's a good handful of characters that are introduced in this one, the world is getting bigger!
The first book proved to me that everything wasn't like The Little Mermaid in Mer people stories. It also proved that Mermaid stories are fluffy in general. This one though proved me wrong, Mermaid stories can have substance. I would recommend this to someone that likes a suspenseful book with a touch of fantasy. I applaud Brenda Pandos and I will be reading the next in the series. Also, I would like to note that I would love this series to join my physical collection soon, e-books are great but I can't stare at the covers all day.
The next book has me a little anxious as I read the excerpt at the end of this one and found it in Tatchi's point of view. Though I'm interested in what's happening there, I'm afraid it might take a step back and we'll have to bear through another character developing. I will probably start that one tomorrow so be on the lookout for the review!
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