Year of the Mer

De: L. D. Lewis

Narrado por: Janina Edwards

A dark, bloody epic fantasy reimagining of The Little Mermaid that goes far beyond the fairy tale to explore family legacy, war, and what we will sacrifice for vengeance—the perfect read for fans of The Priory of the Orange Tree and Circe.

The fairy tale mermaid Arielle might have gotten her happily-ever-after, but her granddaughter Yemi is having a much harder time. Her father, the king of Ixia, was assassinated years ago, her mother is slowly dying of a poisoned wound, and she faces whispers and slights from her own people. Yemi has been raised as the shield of the kingdom and is soon to inherit the throne, but she cannot shake her fury at how Ixia has treated her family after all they’ve sacrificed. Only her patient mother and steadfast personal bodyguard (and fiancée), Nova, help Yemi rein in that fury...most of the time.

When the kingdom’s discontented rumblings reach a fever pitch, a coup erupts and Yemi’s throne is usurped, stripping her of her family and forcing her into exile. Now, only one being has the power to help her: Ursla.

Like her grandmother before her, Yemi is tempted by a deal with the sea-witch. With powerful and ancient magic behind her, Yemi could avenge her family, take back her throne, and protect the love of her life. But she should know more than anyone that there is always a price. As much as Yemi wants vengeance, Ursla has been waiting a very, very long time for her own—and it may take more fortune than Yemi possesses to keep her from losing everything all over again.

Pretty good

This story was overall good. It started off slow, and was kind of an information dump, but about 1/3 of the way in the pace picked up and I really enjoyed it! Im a sucker for a fairytale retelling and with Little Mermaid being my favorite I was totally here for it! I loved that you get to see Ariel's descendants while also learning more about Ursula.

I wasn't prepared for this to be a duology, but getting to the end I can see it absolutely needs to be. There was so much emotion throughout this book! There is a huge push/pull of power, and you really get this overall theme of how the right choices aren't always the easy ones. I really liked that because its hard to make choices sometimes, especially when youre unsure. I also liked that another overall theme was that Delf preservation is key. Mind and self matter and sacrificing yourself isnt always the answer. You need to love yourself just as much as you love another and the romantic aspect of this book did that so much justice.

I liked this book and I'm looking forward to the completion of the duology!