SPOTLIGHT: Waking Storms by Sarah Porter

Lost Voices was one of my favorite merbooks to recently come out, so naturally, Waking Storms, it's sequel, was high on my to-read list. However, I managed to score an ARC of the book from my local library. I can now assure you guys, it was a-ma-zing.
I'll write a fuller review closer to the date, but I'll do the spotlighting business right now.



Do you need to read Lost Voices before Waking Storms are can you skip book 1? No. I actually had to read Lost Voices before I could fully understand what was going on in WS. It's almost mandatory to go back  on this one.
Are there any new characters? Yes, and they're pretty darn interesting.
Does it hold up to Lost Voices?  Yes. This is a bit slower admittedly, but it has so much payoff and excitement when that action does get going.


The ending will hit you out of nowhere, and there were literally moments where I was leaping up and down in my room in excitement and joy. Bookmark this series guys, it's amazing.

-Randi

REVIEW! Lucy by Kathryn Lasky (Daughters of the Sea #3)

(If you want to read a shorter review of the book by me, I'll link my Goodreads review at the end).


Kathryn Lasky's Daughters of the Sea series is consistently the best mermaid series for young adults. It has a certain feel to it that hasn't been mirrored anywhere else.
The best aspect of this installment in particular is the close attention to detail and research that Lasky has put into all three of the books. Book 1 focused on the servants, two on the a lighthouse keeper's daughter, and three on a preacher's daughter entering high society. All three settings were written so well, showing a lot of diversity on the author's part.
As far as characters, tons of new people are introduced in Lucy, and to be honest it gets quite confusing sometimes. But we also get to go back and visit the previous characters like Hannah and May, as well as the mysterious Aunt who may or may not be the focus of the next book.
If there is one thing to complain about, it's the pacing. I had a hard time initially getting through Hannah because the middle, while enjoyable, stretches out longer than it should. May didn't have that problem, but Lucy does however. It's literally the only think I can think of complaining about for this series.
Unlike a lot of sequels that have been released in young adult this year, stuff actually happens in Lucy. Whereas such promising series have fallen flat in the plot area recently (I'm looking at you Chemical Garden and Matched) Daughters of the Sea keeps going even if the plot points aren't incredibly action filled. Lots of the important bits in this particular book are woven with the complex high class setting.
This series is aimed more towards middle grade than young adult, but it's a sweet reprieve from all the over-the-top romance and faux complicated stories of the older young adult genre books. Definitely recommended.
(Here's my shortened and slightly less in depth review of the book on Goodreads)
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12246388-lucy

Thoughts?
-Randi

Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine

If you've stuck around this blog long enough, you know I'm totally in love with Florence + The Machine, a British rock/soul/alternative/magical woodland band, led by red headed goddess Florence Welch.
Their music is very reminiscent of the ocean and especially merpeople, and I've recommended it be used in mer-films many times,  but the band themselves had not put that imagery into their videos.
Anyway, the video for new single Never Let Me Go premiered on MSN yesterday (it'll be on youtube officially tomorrow morning. You can watch it here: http://video.uk.msn.com/watch/video/florence-and-the-machine-never-let-me-go-video-premiere/2t6mw8gg


Ok, so there's no mermaids in the video right? I was a bit disappointed with the video when it first premiered myself. But now that it's had some time to grow on me, I think the video might be a messed up retelling of The Little Mermaid, and I mean the original one and not the Disney one (both are cool though!).

Florence's character is the mermaid figure, while the boy (that's Jamie Campbell Bower by the way, best known for his role in Tim Burton's beloved remake of Sweeney Todd) is the human. The general idea is that Florence is some creature from the sea that can't stay on land too long, and randomly wanders into this skating rink  and there's a boy and they have a weird little romance, but her time runs out and she turns to sea foam, MUCH like the original Hans Christian Anderson telling of The Little Mermaid.
This is all fan speculation of course. The great thing about Florence + The Machine's music is that it can mean something different to every person who hears it. Never Let Me Go might be a song of hope and surrender to some, or a sad and sweet anthem of being lost.

Anyway, the song reflects beautifully on ocean themes and I think I'm starting to like the video a lot more.
What are your thoughts?

-Randi