Salted by Aaron Galvin

Oh man, you guys, I've got a treat for you.

We've been in a bit of a rut in the merbook business lately. Waiting for sequels, reading some filler in the time between, trying to earn money/find job to acquire said sequels (My Yogurt Mountain application does not need to make me question my purpose in life).

And then Salted waltzes in, and it blew my mind.

A largely romance free thriller and drama, Salted creates a fresh new mythology with a great ensemble cast of characters. 

I don't want to give too much away of the story, but it starts off as a deceptively simple cat and mouse game. Lenny and co., selkies caught in a slave infrastructure are on a mission to find an elusive target. Garrett is a highschool student under fire from bullies, and after a near-drowning experience, his story and that of the selkies is irrevocably intertwined. 

Salted leaves off on somewhat of a cliffhanger, leaving a lot of questions un-answered, but it also feels pretty complete by itself, something that a lot of novels these days don't accomplish. Some storylines are resolved but there is PLENTY of material for a sequel, and it's well warranted. It feels like there's a lot of life in this story and these characters, and a lot of places left to explore in the world Galvin has created.Salted gives the perfect taste of what I certainly hope is to come. The writing itself is fast paced, descriptive, and compliments the story perfectly.

My favorite two storylines were Garrett and Chidi, but I enjoyed everyone's contributions. Having so many perspectives can usually get a little tricky, but everyone's personalities are so distinct that it's pretty easy to keep up.

If I can nitpick, the book can be a little overwhelming what with all the info-dumping. While the approach works with the breakneck intensity of the book, learning a whole new mythology just by osmosis can be pretty tough. 

As far as target audience, I'm gonna say older teens/adults, because Salted is a bit of a downer. It deals with a lot of pretty dark stuff like slavery, bullying, morality.and deals pretty deeply with choices we make and how they affect ourselves and others. 

Anyway, it's a totally fresh take on selkies and merpeople, and definitely one of the best of the newer crop of mer-novels released. Go read it!

-Randi 

Funny or Die's Parody of Sofia Coppola's Little Mermaid Project

As we probably didn't post here on the blog, acclaimed director Sofia Coppola's proposed next project is an adaptation of the only and only Little Mermaid.

Now, this is a dream come true for me. Coppola is one of my favorite directors, and Lost in Translation is one of my all time favorites. Although that will not keep me from saying that this seems like a pretty odd choice.

Anyway, Funny Or Die wasted no time in preparing this parody only a few months after the news broke out. Here's a link: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/517f6607ea/sofia-coppola-s-little-mermaid

The fake-trailer copies some of the director's most famous shots and music, and I'd still go see it.

What do you guys think?

Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly (Waterfire Saga #1)

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,

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

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

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

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