A Dance of Cloaks (Shadowdance #1) by David Dalglish

This review was written by: C

Received: Library

Publication Date of Book: October 2015

Pages: 448

Stars: 3.5/5

Summary of the Story:

"That is the power you must one day command. Let them think every breath of theirs is a gift, not from the gods, but from you. Do this, and you will become a god among them." ~Thren Felhorn, A Dance of Cloaks

Aaron Felhorn lives in a world filled with murder, mayhem, deceit, and darkness. His father, Thren Felhorn, is the most feared man alive. He is the greatest assassin his time has ever seen, and he commands most of Veldaren's underworld. He will stop at nothing to bring the Trifect, a group of filthy rich noblemen, from continuing their reign of wealth and control. He is utterly prepared to unite every thief guild under his command, and he is almost finished with turning his son into the perfect heir, a killer that the world will fear. However, even the greatest schemes never work out as planned.

Aaron must choose sides and decide whether he wants to become the head of his father's criminal empire that was built upon Thren's trail of rotting corpses or choose his own fate. He will learn that every action has its own consequence and that the paths of darkness and light are never quite clear. Aaron's fate will lead him down a road filled with harrowing obstacles, making him learn that redemption may be just out of reach.

My Thoughts:

First off, I have to say that Dalglish completely built a believable and stunning fantasy world fully equipped with its owns religion, systems of power, a stunning society, and a maniacal underworld. Thren and the various thief guilds actually kind of remind me of Assassin's Creed, especially when I first saw the cover of A Dance of Cloaks. The various thief guilds are pretty interesting, too because they are all  killing machines, but they often bicker, only fight for themselves, and are perfectly content with taking one another out to increase their power. Dalglish also formulated a great storyline. His characters were believable, and he gave each one of them interesting morals, perspectives, and skills.

I would have to say, however, that this book was not one of my top favorites mostly due to the fact that I felt that it took me a little too long to actually read it. Perhaps it was because I did not have a lot of time to read while I was tying to finish this book. This made it a bit frustrating to get very far in the story just in one sitting. I also felt that the beginning was a bit slow because it had to lead up to Aaron's current life, but Dalglish had to first establish a bit of Aaron's early childhood in order to establish this character as Thren's heir. 

I do have to commend Dalglish on his ability to write great fight scenes. Some authors have trouble writing action scenes.  They can often become confusing. Dalglish did fairly well with this aspect of the story, creating an in depth criminal underworld of blood and gore. I do have to warn you that this book is not for the lighthearted. It is filled with blood, guts, murder, and all the characteristics associated with struggles for power. Overall, I did enjoy the character of Aaron, but it took a while for him to grow on me. I definitely wish he had been older. This novel is meant for mature audiences, therefore I thought it was a bit strange that the main character was thirteen. But then again, this may have been done to stress the fact that a child could be a harrowing and deadly individual in a world of criminals. It also drew the audience to a character whose innocence had been lost at an extremely early age and who had been groomed to fill a position that he may not have truly desired to fill. 

Aaron had quite a bit of internal conflict. He committed murder before the age of ten and he was groomed to be a fierce assassin that would one day fill his father's shoes. You definitely end up feeling a deep sadness for a character that has a disastrous path chosen for him, especially when that character is only a child. I believe that I will eventually finish this series and am excited that Aaron is much older in the next book. Perhaps more dark themes will be further explored, and I am curious where David Dalglish will take Aaron's story.

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My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

This review was written by: B

Received: Library

Publication Date of Book: February 2015

Pages: 302

Stars: 5/5

Official Summary:

A stunning novel about the transformative power of love, perfect for fans of Jay Asher and Laurie Halse Anderson.

Sixteen-year-old physics nerd Aysel is obsessed with plotting her own death.  With a mother who can barely look at her without wincing, classmates who whisper behind her back, and a father whose violent crime rocked her small town, Aysel is ready to turn her potential energy into nothingness.

There's only one problem.  She's not sure she has the courage to do it alone.  But once she discovers a website with a section called Suicide Partners, Aysel's convinced she's found her solution - Roman, a teenage boy who's haunted by a family tragedy, is looking for a partner.  Even though Aysel and Roman have nothing in common, they slowly start to fill in each other's broken lives.  But as their suicide pact becomes more concrete, Aysel begins to question whether she really wants to go through with it.  Ultimately, she must choose between wanting to die or trying to convince Roman to live so they can discover the potential of their energy together.  Except that Roman may not be so easy to convince.  

This is a gorgeously written and compulsively readable novel about the transformative power of love, heralding the arrival of an extraordinary new voice in teen fiction, Jasmine Warga.

My Review:

Something inside me clicks.  It's like I've spent my whole life fiddling with a complicated combination only to discover I was toying with the wrong lock.  And now, the vault inside of me that contains all my secrets is swinging open and I feel this rush of blood swell in my chest.

My Heart and Other Black Holes is part beautiful, part sorrowful, and most importantly, part hopeful.  Overflowing with heart, pain, honesty, and truth, Warga weaves an expert tale that no one would be able to guess was her debut.  It's fear.  It's bravery.  It's love.    

While I have never faced depression nor have known anyone with it, it is still a very real and heartbreaking condition that can consume one's existence or overtake a life.  This novel, in my opinion, possesses an extremely real element that, while reading, made me believe that Aysel was a real person.  Her feelings and thoughts overwhelmed my own.  Frighteningly genuine and authentic, her voice rang out to me and traveled through the pages into my heart.  I believed every word she said.  The darkness inside Aysel was real, a "black slug" that she never imagined she could escape.  Her depression was eye-opening, and Warga wrote each and every word found in  My Heart and Other Black Holes sincerely. 

I frequently felt myself feeling intense emotions towards not only Ayself but also towards Roman.  Their stories were profound, taking over my every waking moment.  This book literally consumed me for the two days that I read it.  Both tragic and touching, I can't possibly fathom how Warga's novel could be more perfect.  It's not just about suicide and depression, though.  In fact, this novel is so much more than that.  It's about living for one's self and for others.  It's about trying to see yourself and the world in a completely new and brighter perspective.  It's about love, family, and discovering what it means to live again even though it seems impossible.

I will be stronger than my sadness.

I have never read a book that left me with such strong feelings of optimism, faith, and hope by the end of it.  Warga knows how to make an ending count.  I cannot recall how many times I fell in love with a book only to become deeply disappointed with its ending, inevitably resulting in me "breaking up" with it.  However, I was completely satisfied with My Heart and Other Black Holes's outcome.  I actually sat there and contemplated what I had read for once.  I wasn't even eager to start something else because I knew I would be disappointed with whatever book was placed in my hands after reading this masterpiece. 

I don't know how to thoroughly convey my feelings about Warga's novel without consistently rambling on some more; so, I'll leave you by saying that this book embodies hope.  I actually feel optimistic.  On top of that, her writing is beautiful and deep and her characters are realistically painful yet magnificent.  I highly recommend this book, and I'm eagerly waiting to see what Jasmine Warga puts out next!!!!    

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Bream Gives Me Hiccups by Jesse Eisenberg

This review was written by: H and B

Received: ARC from the Publisher

Publication Date of Book: September 8, 2015

Pages: 256 (Hardcover)

Stars: 4.5/5

 "Everyone’s a geek in some way or other. Everyone’s an outsider.” 

~Jesse Eisenberg

Official Summary:

Taking its title from a group of stories that begin the book, Bream Gives Me Hiccups moves from contemporary L.A. to the dorm rooms of an American college to ancient Pompeii, throwing the reader into a universe of social misfits, re-imagined scenes from history, and ridiculous overreactions.  In one piece, a tense email exchange between a young man and his girlfriend is taken over by the man's sister, who is obsessed with the the Bosnian genocide; in another, a college freshman forced to live with a roommate is stunned when one of her ramen packets goes missing (She didn't have "one" of my ramens.  She had a chicken ramen); in another piece, Alexander Graham Bell has teething problems with his invention (I'be been calling Mabel all day, she doesn't pick up!  Yes, of course I dialed the right number - 2!) 

United by Eisenberg's gift of humor and character, and grouped into chapters that each open with an illustration by award-winning cartoonist Jean Jullien, the witty pieces collected in Bream Gives Me Hiccups explore the various insanities of the modern world, and mark the arrival of a fantastically funny, self-ironic, and original voice.

Our Thoughts:

This book was an ingenious combination of satire, hilarity, and life lessons. From the viewpoint of an innocent nine-year-old to that of a mad man obsessed with killing his ex-fiancé, this widely amusing and attention-grabbing book has everything any person with a sense of humor could ask for. Jesse Eisenberg successfully makes any circumstance that would normally be completely and utterly embarrassing or mortifying into the type of situation that anyone can laugh at, regardless of where you are at in life.

While my sister and I were reading this book, we both found different parts to be our favorites. My favorite was the first story Bream Gives Me Hiccups, Restaurant Reviews from a Privileged Nine-Year-Old. The child in this story has such depth to his thoughts that one would assume he was much older than only nine. It was very easy to believe that this is how children think. The little boy saw both the ups and downs of life and accepted them as truth, all while looking beyond for something more, something lurking just below the surface of life itself. This story is an example of how Eisenberg is not only a gifted comedic presence, but also someone who has the talent to go beyond laughs and really make a person question both themselves and the world around them. To put it more simply, he is a touching writer who implements heart, laughing the whole way. Not to mention, Eisenberg is a very relatable author, appearing to have lived through at least a handful of the experiences written about in his book. I (H) also found My Roommate Stole My Ramen, Letters from a Frustrated Freshman to be very amusing, given the fact that I had a roommate similar to the one the main character writes about (of course without the nickname and the craziness of the girl writing the letters but still, I found that part to be very relevant to my own life).

My sister’s (B) favorite story was Separation Anxiety Sleepaway Camp because of the confusion surrounding the story that finally made sense in the last portion, causing her to go back and reread it four more times (even our mother found it drop-dead hilarious). Trust me, this is one that you need to read, especially when you are having a bad day. Two other favorites were My Little Sister Texts Me with Her Problems and My Nephew Has Some Questions. Both of these stories are ones that can be revisited several times, without the laughs ever ending.

What really makes this book diverse is the different mediums used by Eisenberg. Not only is it written in short story format, but also in text form, which allows for an almost play-write feel. Plus, the footnotes were awesome (a little frustrating to read, but it only added to the amusement we felt during that particular story). Not only is Eisenberg a great actor who we both love to watch, but he has proven himself to be more than that. Admittedly we were hesitant to read this book, but we can proudly say that Jesse Eisenberg has seriously proven us wrong and for that we are grateful. If you have not seen any of his movies or did not even know he was an actor (shame on you! ☺), you will definitely be a fan by the end of Bream Gives Me Hiccups.

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The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan

This review was written by: H

Received: ARC from Publisher

Publication Date of Book: May 2015

Pages: 320 (Hardcover)

Stars: 3.25/5

“Little islands are all large prisons; one cannot look at the sea without wishing for the wings of a swallow.” 

~Richard Francis Burton

Summary 

The oceans have risen and there is barely enough land for even a handful of the population to live on. As a result, most people live on ships while religious and military fanatics live on land. Land is very expensive and only sold to those willing to give up their claims to the sea. The book follows the story of two young women. The first is named North. She has grown up as part of a traveling circus. Her job is to take part in the bear act every time this ragged group of individuals docks on another island. She does not understand the land people and their mysterious ways of life, as the sea is all she has ever known. As the fiancé to the captain’s son, she is expected to live on land once they are married, which is something she absolutely refuses to do, even though the captain threatens the life of her bear and herself if she does not comply.

The second main protagonist is Callanish, who committed a crime when she was much younger, leading to her eventual job as a gracekeeper. Gracekeepers are responsible for burying all the dead at sea. She is haunted by what she did, and seeks to redeem herself in the eyes of her mother for being who she is and for what she did, for Callanish was born with webbed feet and hands. These abnormalities needed to be covered up her entire life in order to prevent her mother from publicly experiencing the shame and truth that Callanish was not her father’s child, but that of another, more mysterious “man.”

Will Callanish be able to redeem herself in her mother’s eyes, or will she be forced to accept her role as gracekeeper and live the rest of her days in solitude on her own island? Will North be forced to give up her bear, the only remaining family she has, or will she able to find freedom on the wide-open seas?

My Thoughts 

This was one of the weirdest books I have ever read, but in a good kind of way. It was actually quite beautifully written, with amazing descriptions that allowed me to visibly see in my mind’s eye what was going on, especially concerning the strange, dystopian world that these two characters live in. I found the religious fanatics to be especially disturbing, as they supposedly buried a child alive who was born with webbed fingers. These peculiar individuals also worship trees, as they are one of the oldest and most stagnant things left in the world. This is one of the main reasons that I marked this book with such a low rating. If I could have avoided this portion of the story, I would have enjoyed the book much more, but I understand why the author included such imagery in order to show just how messed up the world had become. Reading this book, I was very curious as to what exactly Callanish did in order to be forced into the position of gracekeeper, but it was never explicitly stated. I was quite annoyed by this, especially after I got to the end of the book and it was only alluded to.

Overall, I thought that this book was very thought provoking and positively interesting. It was much more depressing than I had originally anticipated, but I was glad that most things worked out in the end, especially concerning North, who was an extremely strong female lead. For a debut novel, this is very original and well written, even though I did not particularly love it. The atmosphere of the novel was dark, with the two main characters being the beacons of hope that most other characters relied on. I found the “mermen” to be an interesting element, especially concerning how wonderfully it connected both North and Callanish. I would recommend this book to those who love dystopian or post-apocalyptic stories with heart, specifically those who enjoy reading novels that make them think.

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Delicate Monsters by Stephanie Kuehn

This review was written by: B

Received: ARC from Publisher

Publication Date of Book: June 2015

Pages: 240

Stars: 4.5/5

The things that we love tell us what we are.

-St. Thomas Aquinas

GoodReads' Summary:

From the Morris-Award winning author of Charm and Strange, comes a twisted and haunting tale about three teens uncovering dark secrets and even darker truths about themselves.

When nearly killing a classmate gets seventeen-year-old Sadie Su kicked out of her third boarding school in four years, she returns to her family's California vineyard estate.  Here, she's meant to stay out of trouble.  Here, she's meant to do a lot of things.  But it's hard.  She's bored.  And when Sadie's bored, the only thing she likes is trouble.

Emerson Tate's a poor boy living in a rich town, with his widowed mother and strange, haunted little brother.  All he wants his senior year is to play basketball and make something happen with the girl of his dreams.  That's why Emerson's not happy Sadie's back.  An old childhood friend, she knows his worst secrets. The things he longs to forget.  The things she won't ever let him.

Haunted is a good word for fifteen-year-old Miles Tate.  Miles can see the future, after all.  And he knows his vision of tragic violence at the school will come true, because his visions always do.  That's what he tells the new girl in town.  The one who listens to him.  The one who recognizes the darkness in his past.  

But can Miles stop the violence? Or has the future already been written?  Maybe tragedy is his destiny.  Maybe it's all of theirs.

My thoughts:

I think that I can safely say that I'm in shock over Delicate Monsters; I literally have no idea what to say.  I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised that Stephanie Kuehn wrote another stunningly prodigious novel that managed to leave me speechless, an occurrence that rarely happens.  However, I will try my best to form coherent sentences as I attempt to describe Kuehn's gripping new release.    

Delicate Monsters is equally dark, mysterious, eerie, and bizarre. Throughout the book, we gradually get to know three deeply troubled individuals: Sadie Su, Emerson Tate, and Miles Tate.  Sadie is an agitator who loves to create trouble, inflicting suffering and pain upon whoever crosses her path.  She's an unfiltered manipulator who doesn't listen to anyone.  Emerson is almost like the "golden boy" of this story.  He loves his mother, is a decent basketball player, and is a seemingly overall good teen, but he possesses a darkness within himself that's hidden and buried deep beneath his skin.  No one has any idea about who he really is or exactly what he did during his childhood, except Sadie.  Miles, my personal favorite, is small, sickly, and frightened.  Under constant bullying, Miles is always alone; no one would protect him even if they wanted to.  Together, these unsettling individuals create three separate perspectives that intertwine and unfold before your very eyes into something terribly distressing.     

This psychological contemporary kept me engaged; I never wanted to put it down.  The further into the story I got, the darker it became, an aspect that I truly loved about Delicate Monsters.  Nothing was held back.  I was shocked time and time again by unveiled revelations.  Mysteries were built upon mysteries until they all came tumbling down, releasing an avalanche of despair on my heart.  I do have to warn you, now, that this book is not for the weak of heart.  It's gritty and consuming.  It also delves into mental illnesses and social issues that are sometimes hard to deal with.

Kuehn's characters are undoubtedly enthralling and uniquely distinct.  They have layers that are slowly pealed back, chapter by chapter, so that we can see who they truly are little by little.  You think that you know them, but you don't.  It's unimaginable to even fathom the depths of their souls.  Mixing up who they are is impossible because the author does such a fantastic job of inserting an exceptional sharpness to each one of them.  Her writing is also dreadfully beautiful.  Kuehn is not afraid to think outside the box.  She is willing to tell a story like no other, no matter how traumatic or disturbing it is.

I have to admit, I've been having a hard time accepting the ending to Delicate Monsters, but I'm slowly coming to terms with it.  It definitely fits the story, but I'm left with an ever wondering mind.  However, I highly recommend this book to YA psychological fans everywhere!  It's beautiful, memorable, addicting, and haunting.           

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Black Moon by Kenneth Calhoun

This review was written by: B

Received: Blogging for Books

Publication Date of Book: January 2014

Pages: 277 (Paperback Edition)

Stars: 3.5/5

Summary found on the paperback version of the book:

Insomnia has claimed everyone Biggs knows. Even his beloved wife, Carolyn, has succumbed to the telltale red-rimmed eyes, slurred speech, and cloudy mind before disappearing into the quickly collapsing world. Yet Biggs can sleep, and dream, so he sets out to find her.

He ventures out into a world ransacked by mass confusion and desperation, where he meets others struggling against the tide of sleeplessness.  Chase and his buddy Jordan are devising a scheme to live off their drug-store lootings; Lila is a high school student wandering the streets in an owl mask, no longer safe with her insomniac parents; Felicia abandons the sanctuary of a sleep research center to try to protect her family and perhaps reunite with Chase, an ex-boyfriend.  All around, sleep has become an infinitely precious commodity.  Money can't buy it, no drug can touch it, and there are those who would kill to have it.

Kenneth Calhoun has written a brilliantly realized and utterly riveting depiction of a world gripped by madness, one that is vivid, and strange, and profoundly moving.

My review:

Black Moon is a novel riddled with insomnia, survival, and insanity.  Calhoun's engrossing writing stunningly depicts a beautiful yet horrifically frightening reality of life without sleep, shedding a dark light on the possibility of a world gone mad from something entirely different than the common Robert Frost theory of fire and ice.  Life has become a constant struggle.  Not many people are able to sleep, and the ones who can are hunted and murdered by the ones who cannot.  Each chapter took me on a wild journey that was captivating to read through even though it was mentally straining.  Happy endings are not always possible, and Black Moon definitely proved that sentiment time and time again.

The cast of characters in this novel were plentiful and equally their own persons.  Calhoun went out of his way to mold different ages, genders, and psyches into his story so that everyone was evenly represented. I especially enjoyed when specific characters unexpectedly crossed paths with one another.  The constant back and forth chapters between the different characters’ story lines were also welcomed; it effectively added to the suspense of the entire novel.  However, I was greatly discouraged when a specific character was dropped.  I had no idea what had happened to them and no way of ever finding out what became of them.  In fact, there were quite a bit of unanswered questions by the end of   Black Moon, and I felt as though not enough closure was given to me.  For this reason, I did not feel fully satisfied with the novel itself.  

For me, one of the more appealing aspects of Black Moon was the reading experience.  Many times the author dove into the psyches of insomniacs and wrote from their perspectives.  In fact, it was almost as if I was actually looking into the mind and stream of consciousness of an actual individual suffering from sleep deprivation.  This exposure was both spellbinding and haunting.  However, even though I enjoyed this novel, I felt as though it drug on at times, and I believe that quite a few sections felt similar to each other and were almost repeats but from another character's perspective.  Also, some of the insomniacs’ story lines become muddled and confusing to follow due to countless incoherent thoughts; however, I realize that this was definitely part of the author’s intent.  In the end, I believe this book to be a worthy read, but it was admittedly not the best that I have ever come by.  

Please note that I received a free copy of this book from Blogging for Books for this review review.

Other Information:
Author Bio: http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/177469/kenneth-calhoun/
More Info: http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/228170/black-moon-by-kenneth-calhoun/

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April and May: Merfolk

Merfolk

April and May's Topic of the Month is officially Merfolk!  To kick it off, we have posted a few merfolk based books that may interest you.  If you have any suggestions let us know!  Hope you enjoy!  (Click on the covers to go to the books' GoodReads pages!)

Ready by: H and C

Here is the GoodReads summary of the book:

For Tristan Hart, everything changes with one crashing wave.

He was gone for three days.  Sucked out to sea in a tidal wave and spit back ashore at Coney Island with no memory of what happened.  Now his dreams are haunted by a terrifying silver mermaid with razor-sharp teeth.

His best friend Layla is convinced something is wrong.  But how can he explain he can sense emotion like never before?  How can he explain he's heir to a kingdom he never knew existed?  That he's suddenly a pawn in a battle as ancient as the gods.

Something happened to him in those three days.  He was claimed by the sea . . . and now it wants him back.

Other Book(s) in the Series:

    

Here is the GoodReads summary of the book:

Shea MacNamara's life just got complicated.

After a freak tornado devastates his Oklahoma farm, the fifteen-year-old orphan is whisked away to Cape Cod.  Struggling to make sense of his new surroundings, he's trying hard to deal with feelings of abandonment . . . and the emotions stirred by a girl he meets along  the shore.

Kara belongs to an undersea world hidden from drylanders.  The daughter of royal servants, she knows the planned marriage of her Princess to the foreign King should put an end to the war between the clans.  But two things stand in the way of the lasting peace: the ambitions of the foreign King's regent, and rumors of the Princess's bastard child.

Sparks fly when she meets Shea, but could the cute drylander really be the Son of a Mermaid?

Other Book(s) in the Series:

Read by: B and C

Here is the GoodReads summary of the book:

Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids.  To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans and absorb their positive energy.  Usually, they select their victims at random, but this time around, the underwater clan chooses its target for a reason: revenge.  They want to kill Jason Hancock, the man they blame for their mother's death.

It's going to take a concerted effort to lure the aquaphobic Hancock onto the water.  Calder's job is to gain Hancock's trust by getting close to his family.  Relying on his irresistible good looks and charm, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter Lily.  Easy enough, but Calder screws everything up by falling in love - just as Lily starts to suspect there's more to the monster-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined, and just as the mermaids threaten to take matters into their own hands, forcing Calder to choose between them and the girl he loves.

One thing's for sure: whatever Calder decides, the outcome won't be pretty.

Other Book(s) in the Series: 

    

Ready by: B

Here is the GoodReads summary of the book:

What happens to the girls nobody sees - the ones who are ignored, mistreated, hidden away?  The girls nobody hears when they cry for help?  Fourteen-year-old Luce is one of those lost girls.  After her father vanishes in a storm at sea, she is stuck in a grim, gray Alaskan fishing village with her alcoholic uncle.  When her uncle crosses an unspeakable line, Luce reaches the depths of despair.  Abandoned on the cliffs near her home, she expects to die when she tumbles to the icy, churning waves below.  Instead, she undergoes an astonishing transformation and becomes a mermaid.  A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in - all of them, like her, lost girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives.  The mermaids are beautiful, free, and ageless, and Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: they feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks.

Luce's own talent at singing captures the attention of the tribe's queen, the fierce and elegant Catarina, and Luce soon finds herself pressured to join in committing mass murder.  Luce's struggle to retain her inner humanity puts her at odds with her friends; even worse, Catarina seems to regard Luce as a potential rival.  But the appearance of a devious new mermaid brings a real threat to Catarina's leadership and endangers the very existence of the tribe.  Can Luce find the courage to challenge the newcomer, even at the risk of becoming rejected and alone once again?  

Other Book(s) in the Series:

    









Here is the GoodReads summary of the book:

No one understands the fury of the ocean like Zoey.

Ten years ago, she lost her leg in a freak shark attack.  The night after her sixteenth birthday, she has yet to accept her awkward prosthetic limb or the fact she will always be different.  Wary of the sea, and its hidden threats, she ventures to a bonfire at the beach.  She's mesmerized by its awesome power, wondering what she ever had to fear, until a rogue wave sweeps her into the cool, salty water.

Zoey believed mermaids were creatures of legend, characters in silly children's stories, but it's hard to ignore the captivating tail that's suddenly appeared, or the sense of finally being whole.  She abandons her life on land in search of answers about who she really is and where she came from.

What she discovers is a kingdom full of intrigue and danger, as well as a royal father she never knew existed.  Settling into her role as a mermaid princess, she learns her family is under attack, both on land and in the water.  Raging storms swell up, threatening coastal cities, and sea levels rise practically overnight, endangering the lives of everyone she loves.  Determined to stop the strange phenomena, Zoey becomes caught up in the race to track down what, or who, is responsible for the catastrophic events.  

But Zoey possesses another secret, one born of legend and more powerful than an mer or human can imagine.

Here is the GoodReads summary of the book:

Tempest Maguire wants nothing more than to surf the killer waves near her California home, continue her steady relationship with her boyfriend, Mark, and take care of her brothers and surfer dad.  But Tempest is half mermaid, and as her seventeenth birthday approaches, she will have to decide whether to remain on land or give herself to the ocean like her mother.  The pull of the water becomes as insistent as her attraction to Kai, a gorgeous surfer whose uncanny abilities hint at an otherworldly identity as well.  And when Tempest does finally give in to the water's temptation and enters a fantastical underwater world, she finds that a larger destiny awaits her -- and that the entire ocean's future hangs in the balance.

Other Book(s) in the Series:

    

Here is the GoodReads summary of the book:

A mermaid haunts Adrianne's dreams . . . is she coming to warn her, save her, or drag her down into the depths of the briny sea forever?

When Adrianne comes face-to-face with the mermaid of Windwaithe Island, of whom she has heard terrible stories all her life, she is convinced the mermaid means to take her younger sister. Adrianne, fierce-willed and courageous, is determined to protect her sister from the mermaid, and her family from starvation.  However, the mermaid continues to haunt Adrianne in her dreams and with her song.

Here is the GoodReads summary of the book:

At the ripe age of 21, happily single Mericle Edwards discovers that her body -- her human body -- is only a temporary fix.  Born in the Deep as a princess with fins and gills, she was hidden amongst the humans, so her father -- a corrupt sea king -- could not use her to his advantage, or worse, destroy her in order to keep his position as ruler of a kingdom in the North Atlantic.  

A visit from a crystal-eyed stranger, along with the onset of startling abilities brings Meri to a realization that her life is in for a drastic change.  Expectations are high and duties aren't taken lightly in the Deep.  Thankfully, Meri's true form knows exactly what's expected of it.

With the guidance of her mentor and his unmatched 'charm', and a few others along the way, Meri will have to make some tough decisions.  Will she fulfill her dream of becoming a small town veterinarian or give it all up to save a world and a lifestyle she remembers nothing about?  Is there someone she's destined to be with after all?

Will her deadly fear of water be a problem?