Seventeen-year-old Lily, half-mermaid and half-human, has been living on land and attending high school, where she develops a crush on a boy but is afraid to tell him of her true destiny as the ruler of the undersea kingdom of Thalassinia.
Now that Lily and Quince are together, mer bond or not, she’s almost content to give up her place in the royal succession of Thalassinia. But just when she thinks she has everything figured out, Lily’s father sends a certain whirlpool-stirring cousin to stay with her on land. The seafoam on the raging surf comes when a merboy from Lily’s past shows up—He asks Lily for something that clouds her view of the horizon. There’s a future with Quince on land, her loyalty to the kingdom in the sea. Will she find a way to reconcile her love, her duty, and her own dreams?
When Lily Sanderson decided to remain Crown Princess Waterlily of the mermaid kingdom Thalassinia, she knew she couldn’t just coast along in the current. ButLily’s not sure she has the fins to lead a kingdom.
But Lily has to dive in deep to keep her promise to Tellin, whose kingdom is suffering in the changing ocean climate.They’ll need to create some serious waves to make the mer community aware and get it to join together to make things right. Just when Lily thinks her double life on land and sea can’t get any more complicated, an ancient mer law might separate Lily and Quince after all. It feels as if the pair is up against a solid tsunami wave!
I think that the thing I liked the most about this book series is how much it focuses on the environment and how what we throw away or don't recycle does have an effect on something/one, be it human, animal or plan, which in turn impacts our fragile environment. I know that this sounds heavy, but Childs skilfully manipulated the text to make fun, entertaining books for teens as well as having an underlying purpose which really packs a punch when viewed from the eyes of marine creatures, in this case Mermaids.
Lily Sanderson is a pretty unusual teen in high school, mainly because she is a mermaid and has only been living on land for 3 years. Not only that, but she is also the Princess of her kingdom Thalassinia. All this means that she can be quite naive in some cases but, as Quince says, she is very protective over those she loves. To me, these traits make her a easy character to root for and any opinions she has she will express. I enjoyed her determination to help the oceans and other mer-kingdoms even though she didn't get it right first time, I admired her courage to carry on. However, I did sometimes she over-used the puns and was sometimes so naive I found myself rolling my eyes.
Quince, on the other hand, was my favourite character and I couldn't find a thing to fault him on. He was so cute and sweet throughout and, even though Lily found him annoying, I would love for a guy to pay that much attention to me. He is really deep and really does care although Lily doesn't seem to notice this until the end of book one. He sticks with her throughout and stubbornly refuses for her to do anything which isn't in her best interest, even if this goes against them as a couple.
“Oh, Lily," He says shaking his head. "I know about love. About wanting and dreaming and wishing with every part of your soul. I know enough to recognise the parts that are real and the parts that are only in my fantasy." Ge turns his head slightly to face me,
and I find myself saying,"L-like what?"
"Like when she cries and my heart tears in to little shreds, and all I can think of is making her forget the source of her sadness." His face is blank, emotionless. his words -and the underlying emotion bombarding me through the bond- more than make up for it. "That's real."
my voice is barely a whisper when I ask, "And fantasy?"
"Believing she'll ever feel the same way.”
Overall, although it was a bit fluffy at times, I found these books easy to read and entertaining and (as previously mentioned) I thoroughly enjoyed how it addresses the serious matter of global warming.
“Quince...why didn't you ever tell her? This girl you love. Why didn't you tell her how you feel?"..."Because"- his voice is heavy with a kind of resigned sadness-"She doesn't want to know."
Please comment suggestions on how I can improve my review, what to review next or what you thought. Do you agree? Disagree? Did this inspire you to pick up the book? I want to know xXx
