Thanks to the Bailey Cove Library for my ARC copy of the book! I'm gonna keep this review pretty vague because the book isn't out yet and I'm sworn to secrecy (by my own moral code), but I'll tell you what I reasonably can.
So apparently, Deep Blue has been under literary construction for a while. Disney's publishing company Hyperion, the people behind this book, included a small little note in my ARC discussing how they went over the details of their mermaid mythology until a well thought out universe came together.
And for the most part, they do a pretty wonderful job. There's a distinct world flavor to Deep Blue, the first in a proposed series. The cultures and societies and the whatnot are well thought. But there are some flaws in logic. Why do mermaids sleep in beds if gravity isn't under the sea? How would they have books if paper can't survive underwater? Boxes of candy underwater? For being well thought out, the details are awfully weird.
That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the book though. Deep Blue shoots for Game of Thrones level world building, even though it doesn't always land there (and certainly doesn't contain the controversial elements), and is consistently entertaining. The word play might take some time to get used to (think the puns in Tera Lynn Child's Fins series), but once you get used to it, the blend of seriousness and humor works.
The characters are all well built. Sera is a princess of the modern world, willing to do what is right for the people, but also yearning to eschew the tradition that has plagued her all of her life. The story mainly revolves around her, however, the supporting characters are all awesome. The ensemble cast of characters are endearing, smart, and so much fun to spend time with. It's going to be a treat to see what will happen next if only to see them interact with each other more.
Deep Blue is an endearing, well-imagined, and sometimes thought provoking start to the series. It's good from middle grade upwards and I'm looking forward to future installments,
Monday, April 28, 2014
Monday, February 17, 2014
Cool Merbooks Coming Out In 2014!
Happy New Year readers! (And Valentines day. We're not gonna talk about how late this post is).
Since I'm feeling so bad about neglecting you lovely people, and not so sure how many posts I'm gonna be able to make in the coming months, let's do a nice little comprehensive, round-up thing, of some cool mer-books coming out this year. We've got a lot of great series that are finishing up this year, and maybe a surprise or two! Take a look!
The Vast and Brutal Sea by Zoraida Cordova
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17933160-the-vast-and-brutal-sea
I literally cannot tell you enough about how much I love love love this series. The Savage Blue is not just one of my favorite mer-books, it's one of my favorite books in general, along with it's predecessor, The Vicious Deep. There is no mer-series on shelves right now that is so funny, perfectly paced, full of mythology, or as flat out fun as these books. And with the last chapter of The Savage Blue promising more greatness to come, I can only expect this book will be pretty much the greatest thing ever.
Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18601430-deep-blue
A lot of crazy stuff has been happening around this series. Hollywood records comissioned a song for the book trailer (which is very fancy by the way) and Disney's publisher, Hyperion, is the one distributing it. Could this mean a movie is on the way already? Who knows, but Donnelly wrote a wonderful book with Revolution, and although I have not read any of her other work, I'm excited to see what she can do with what looks to be a well developed and fresh mythology.
Promise Bound by Anne Greenwood Brown (It's out, by the way).
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17693477-promise-bound?bf=1000&from_search=true
The concluding book in the Lies Beneath series looks to be full of revelations and twists. The dark atmosphere created in these books is unlike any other and it'll be exciting to see the Calder and Lily's romance finally reach a conclusion (I mean that in I hope they stay together for ever and ever).
Of Neptune by Anna Banks
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18525702-of-neptune
I have not yet read the sequel to Of Poseidon, so I really can't say much about this series, but I know a lot of our readers are pretty into it, so I thought it was worth a mention. Anna has been a lovely person on our Goodreads group and I'm pretty sure this is the penultimate book in her series (lots of endings this year!)
Captivate by Vanessa Garden (This one is already out as well!)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18683518-captivate
Here's the goodreads descrip for this one, since I literally just found out about it. The reviews on Goodreads right now are all excellent though!
For the past twelve months since her parents’ death, seventeen-year-old Miranda Sun has harboured a dark secret — a secret that has strained the close relationship she once shared with her older sister, Lauren. In an effort to repair this broken bond, Miranda’s grandparents whisk the siblings away on a secluded beach holiday. Except before Miranda gets a chance to confess her life-changing secret, she’s dragged underwater by a mysterious stranger while taking a midnight swim.
Awakening days later, Miranda discovers that she’s being held captive in a glittering underwater city by an arrogant young man named Marko...the King of this underwater civilisation.
Nineteen-year-old Marko intends to marry Miranda in order to keep his crown from falling into the sinister clutches of his half-brother, Damir. There’s only one problem. Miranda is desperate to return home to right things with her sister and she wants nothing to do with Marko. Trying to secure her freedom, Miranda quickly forms an alliance with Robbie — Marko’s personal guard. However, she soon discovers that even underwater, people are hiding dangerous secrets...
Side note: There's a new film adaptation of Peter Pan coming out this year, directed by Joe Wright of Atonement and Pride and Prejudice. This of course has caused speculation about mermaids, because, well, you know. Not to mention the next Pirates of the Carribean is expected to film this year, which brings questions as to whether the mermaid crew will be back. Just a small note.
Thanks so much for sticking around with us! Sticking with me updating around holidays, I'll try to get some of these books read so you can have some cool reviews by St. Patrick's Day!
Love you guys!
-Randi
Since I'm feeling so bad about neglecting you lovely people, and not so sure how many posts I'm gonna be able to make in the coming months, let's do a nice little comprehensive, round-up thing, of some cool mer-books coming out this year. We've got a lot of great series that are finishing up this year, and maybe a surprise or two! Take a look!
The Vast and Brutal Sea by Zoraida Cordova
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17933160-the-vast-and-brutal-sea
I literally cannot tell you enough about how much I love love love this series. The Savage Blue is not just one of my favorite mer-books, it's one of my favorite books in general, along with it's predecessor, The Vicious Deep. There is no mer-series on shelves right now that is so funny, perfectly paced, full of mythology, or as flat out fun as these books. And with the last chapter of The Savage Blue promising more greatness to come, I can only expect this book will be pretty much the greatest thing ever.
Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18601430-deep-blue
A lot of crazy stuff has been happening around this series. Hollywood records comissioned a song for the book trailer (which is very fancy by the way) and Disney's publisher, Hyperion, is the one distributing it. Could this mean a movie is on the way already? Who knows, but Donnelly wrote a wonderful book with Revolution, and although I have not read any of her other work, I'm excited to see what she can do with what looks to be a well developed and fresh mythology.
Promise Bound by Anne Greenwood Brown (It's out, by the way).
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17693477-promise-bound?bf=1000&from_search=true
The concluding book in the Lies Beneath series looks to be full of revelations and twists. The dark atmosphere created in these books is unlike any other and it'll be exciting to see the Calder and Lily's romance finally reach a conclusion (I mean that in I hope they stay together for ever and ever).
Of Neptune by Anna Banks
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18525702-of-neptune
I have not yet read the sequel to Of Poseidon, so I really can't say much about this series, but I know a lot of our readers are pretty into it, so I thought it was worth a mention. Anna has been a lovely person on our Goodreads group and I'm pretty sure this is the penultimate book in her series (lots of endings this year!)
Captivate by Vanessa Garden (This one is already out as well!)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18683518-captivate
Here's the goodreads descrip for this one, since I literally just found out about it. The reviews on Goodreads right now are all excellent though!
For the past twelve months since her parents’ death, seventeen-year-old Miranda Sun has harboured a dark secret — a secret that has strained the close relationship she once shared with her older sister, Lauren. In an effort to repair this broken bond, Miranda’s grandparents whisk the siblings away on a secluded beach holiday. Except before Miranda gets a chance to confess her life-changing secret, she’s dragged underwater by a mysterious stranger while taking a midnight swim.
Awakening days later, Miranda discovers that she’s being held captive in a glittering underwater city by an arrogant young man named Marko...the King of this underwater civilisation.
Nineteen-year-old Marko intends to marry Miranda in order to keep his crown from falling into the sinister clutches of his half-brother, Damir. There’s only one problem. Miranda is desperate to return home to right things with her sister and she wants nothing to do with Marko. Trying to secure her freedom, Miranda quickly forms an alliance with Robbie — Marko’s personal guard. However, she soon discovers that even underwater, people are hiding dangerous secrets...
Side note: There's a new film adaptation of Peter Pan coming out this year, directed by Joe Wright of Atonement and Pride and Prejudice. This of course has caused speculation about mermaids, because, well, you know. Not to mention the next Pirates of the Carribean is expected to film this year, which brings questions as to whether the mermaid crew will be back. Just a small note.
Thanks so much for sticking around with us! Sticking with me updating around holidays, I'll try to get some of these books read so you can have some cool reviews by St. Patrick's Day!
Love you guys!
-Randi
Monday, February 3, 2014
Artist Spotlight: Donato Giancola
Hi everyone! Been a while, I know. But I went out to my local art museum today because the aforementioned Donato Giancola's works were on display. Anyway, along with some other pretty amazing stuff (which I'll post), there were three mermaid paintings that were completely beautiful. Just thought you should know, and check out this guy's work if you get a chance. There's sci-fi, superheroes, space, and (most excitingly) Middle Earth.
Check it out!
(Content Note: There are boobs.)
(The above three are the ones that were in the particular gallery I saw, but here's some other cool stuff by the artist!)
Anyway, just thought you guys would think it was cool. I'll be posting some review and such in the forthcoming weeks.
-Randi
Check it out!
(Content Note: There are boobs.)
(The above three are the ones that were in the particular gallery I saw, but here's some other cool stuff by the artist!)
Anyway, just thought you guys would think it was cool. I'll be posting some review and such in the forthcoming weeks.
-Randi
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
We're Still Here
So I realize it's been a solid couple months since anyone's posted to the blog here, but I can assure it's because we're all super busy. I will however have some round-up posts launching in the next couple days so keep an eye out!
-Randi
-Randi
Thursday, September 12, 2013
New Harry Potter Movie Could Mean Mermaids
In case you haven't heard, the one and only J.K. Rowling today that she will be writing the script for a screen version of her spin-off Harry Potter book "Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them".
Nothing much has been confirmed about the movie, but as a fan of the book(s), I can make an educated guess that mermaids will be featured in the film.
Rowling's mermaids are dark and scary AND I'M FREAKING OUT BECAUSE NEW HARRY POTTER STUFF!
Let's face it, this is so much better than Pottermore.
Anyway, what do you think of this tremendous news? Let us know!
-Randi
Nothing much has been confirmed about the movie, but as a fan of the book(s), I can make an educated guess that mermaids will be featured in the film.
Rowling's mermaids are dark and scary AND I'M FREAKING OUT BECAUSE NEW HARRY POTTER STUFF!
Let's face it, this is so much better than Pottermore.
Anyway, what do you think of this tremendous news? Let us know!
-Randi
Friday, August 16, 2013
Summer Post Round Up!
So I realize that we haven't posted since the breaking Ariel news from Comic Con, so I thought I'd give you a nice post round up before I head back to another sure to be awful year of school.
1. The Savage Blue is AMAHZING. Zoraida Cordova strikes again with a sequel that almost overcomes it's predecessor in terms of action, characters, witty dialog, and a sweet romance. I love all the new characters, and our returning favorites are back and better than ever. This book will drop some bombs and make you laugh, cheer, and want to take the next train to Coney Island. Highly recommended and be sure to look for out little blurb for the Vicious Deep in the front of the book!
2. The last book in the Lost Voices trilogy, The Twice Lost, is a beautiful, if mildly disappointing end to a stellar series. I was really disappointed with the ending of the novel, but the entire rest of it is absolutely beautiful and astounding. Again, we get a new cast of characters that add their own unique flavor to the book and make it even better than the last. The action and pacing are also big pluses, and this time, a lot of the conflict takes place on land, with (SPOILER ALERT DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOKS) Luce's father, Dorian, and even some of the relatives and friends of the mermaids. The Twice Lost would be the greatest book in the trilogy were it not for the ending, which feels like such a let down compared to the beautiful rest of the book.
3. We hope you guys are enjoying the new Mako Mermaids series, and the latter half of season 1 will be on Netflix in September.
4. There are rumors of development on Joe Wright's long awaited mermaid film, but nothing is clear as of yet. Keep an eye on it!
Here's hoping that you all have a great rest of summer, work hard in school, and keep us updated on any news this post might have missed. Catch you around!
-Randi
1. The Savage Blue is AMAHZING. Zoraida Cordova strikes again with a sequel that almost overcomes it's predecessor in terms of action, characters, witty dialog, and a sweet romance. I love all the new characters, and our returning favorites are back and better than ever. This book will drop some bombs and make you laugh, cheer, and want to take the next train to Coney Island. Highly recommended and be sure to look for out little blurb for the Vicious Deep in the front of the book!
2. The last book in the Lost Voices trilogy, The Twice Lost, is a beautiful, if mildly disappointing end to a stellar series. I was really disappointed with the ending of the novel, but the entire rest of it is absolutely beautiful and astounding. Again, we get a new cast of characters that add their own unique flavor to the book and make it even better than the last. The action and pacing are also big pluses, and this time, a lot of the conflict takes place on land, with (SPOILER ALERT DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOKS) Luce's father, Dorian, and even some of the relatives and friends of the mermaids. The Twice Lost would be the greatest book in the trilogy were it not for the ending, which feels like such a let down compared to the beautiful rest of the book.
3. We hope you guys are enjoying the new Mako Mermaids series, and the latter half of season 1 will be on Netflix in September.
4. There are rumors of development on Joe Wright's long awaited mermaid film, but nothing is clear as of yet. Keep an eye on it!
Here's hoping that you all have a great rest of summer, work hard in school, and keep us updated on any news this post might have missed. Catch you around!
-Randi
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Ariel WILL Be Joining Once Upon A Time For Season 3!
We can FINALLY confirm that the beloved little mermaid will be making her appearance on ABC's Once Upon A Time this upcoming season!
The character's entrance has been in development for some time. We even were lead to believe her entrance would be in season 2, however it was not so.
Here's a link to the official panel from Comic Con, where season 3 is discussed in depth. Unfortuately, Comic Con attendees weren't allowed to film any extra footage shown. While Ariel does not come into discussion much, it does give fans a good idea of what to expect for season 3.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e99KIZc5Cjs
Do you have any predictions for Ariel's character and arc for season 3 of Once Upon A Time? Leave them in the comments!
-Randi
The character's entrance has been in development for some time. We even were lead to believe her entrance would be in season 2, however it was not so.
Here's a link to the official panel from Comic Con, where season 3 is discussed in depth. Unfortuately, Comic Con attendees weren't allowed to film any extra footage shown. While Ariel does not come into discussion much, it does give fans a good idea of what to expect for season 3.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e99KIZc5Cjs
Do you have any predictions for Ariel's character and arc for season 3 of Once Upon A Time? Leave them in the comments!
-Randi
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