Atlantia by Ally Condie

Genres: Young Adult, Sci-fi, Dystopian, Paranormal, Romance
Publication Date: October 28th 2014
POV: Female - First-person, Present tense
My Rating: 3 out of 5

_______________

Can you hear Atlantia breathing?

For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamt of the sand and sky Above—of life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all her plans for the future are thwarted when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected decision, stranding Rio Below. Alone, ripped away from the last person who knew Rio’s true self—and the powerful siren voice she has long hidden—she has nothing left to lose.

Guided by a dangerous and unlikely mentor, Rio formulates a plan that leads to increasingly treacherous questions about her mother’s death, her own destiny, and the complex system constructed to govern the divide between land and sea. Her life and her city depend on Rio to listen to the voices of the past and to speak long-hidden truths.

_______________

Due to this being set in Atlantis I thought that it would be a fantasy, or a historical set in the times of ancient Greece. But it is not Atlantis, it is Atlantia. It is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where the world Above is poisoned so people moved Below the water.

This is the story of Rio, who dreams of seeing above, and her journey to see her sister again, and to discover the secrets of her world and Above, and what really happened. I read this because I loved Matched so much. And although the writing style is pretty much the same, the characters did not engage me as well. And there was very little romance. Although True helped her along the way, the real struggle was for Rio to find her sister. It had nothing to do with finding a way to be with True. He was a companion and a comfort during her journey, but not a central part of it.

The world of Atlantia was pretty unique and I wish it had focused more on the mythology and history of their world. I would have liked to learn more about the sirens and the gods and the other gifts that some people had. And about the other cities. It could have been much more interesting if it delved deeper I think. The story was not enough to really grab me. It focused too much on Rio's single-minded need to go Above. I felt no connection to her as a heroine. There was really nothing special about any of the characters.

The story was concluded at the end, and although authors can always find an excuse to come back and expand a story if they decide to later, I hope this remains a standalone story. I don't feel the need to come back to this world. We could always see how Rio and Bay are doing later, and how their worlds are faring, how things have changed, but I believe everything will turn out for the best.

“Everyone dies. The don't all have the chance to see what they wanted most. At least I've seen the Above. At least I've known True.”

The Vast and Brutal Sea by Zoraida Córdova (The Vicious Deep #3)

Genres: Young Adult, Adventure, Fantasy/Mythology
Publication Date: July 1st 2014
POV: Male - First-person, Present tense
My Rating: 2 out of 5

_______________

This epic clash of sand and sea will pit brother against brother-and there can only be one winner

In two days, the race for the Sea Court throne will be over-but all the rules have changed. The sea witch, Nieve, has kidnapped Layla and is raising an army of mutant sea creatures to overthrow the crown. Kurt, the one person Tristan could depend on in the battle for the Sea King's throne, has betrayed him. Now Kurt wants the throne for himself. Tristan has the Scepter of the Earth, but it's not enough. He'll have to travel to the mysterious, lost Isle of Tears and unleash the magic that first created the king's powerful scepter. It's a brutal race to the finish, and there can only be one winner.

_______________

I found this series over all rather tedious. It was ok for the most part, but not good enough to keep bringing me back. I got really impatient with it most of the time. I just wanted to find out how it would end and didnt really want to do all the work to get there.

I read two other books on the side during the time it took me to read this one. And I fell asleep on this book on numerous occasions. As I have said in my reviews for both The Vicious Deep and The Savage Blue, I liked Tristan but I never really swoon over guys when the book is from their POV. I have to see them from the POV of a woman, to see them as the woman sees them and loves them, then I start to pick up those feelings myself.

I enjoyed most of the supporting characters, but I don't know if there were too many, or if I just didn't care about them enough, but I could never remember who was who. Who the hell is Kai? She was with Tristan for most of this book, but I have no idea who she is or when he met her. I just cannot remember.

I am glad with how things turned out for everyone. I don't know why, but for some reason I suspected the ending would go down something like it did. No tragic fates are hanging over anyone's heads. And I am glad that this series is over and I can move on.

The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Córdova (The Vicious Deep #1)

Genres: Young Adult, Adventure, Fantasy/Mythology
Publication Date: May 1st 2012
POV: Male - First-person, Present tense
My Rating: 3 out of 5

_______________

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.

_______________

This was a bit disappointing. It was from a male POV. Tristan was interesting and I mostly liked him. He was a bit of a whore, but he was funny. The story was interesting but not amazing. They spent too much time on land for my liking. And he spend too much time just at school and hanging around with friends when he should have been completing his quest. I would have preferred to be more immersed in the mer world.

But I like Tristan, mostly because he amuses me. Because I am laughing at him, not with him. He is supposed to be so cool and popular and girls are throwing themselves at him, but I find him to be a tad silly and awkward. I guess that's because he's 16 and I'm not. I also really like Layla, Thalia, and Kurt. A great cast of characters. Tristan was pining after Layla for the whole book, but he was so passive about it, it was kinda sad. He thinks he loves her, and he says he always sees her face when he is in trouble, but he doesn't do anything about it. It was a very uneventful romance. All thought, no action. 

And then they introduced the Gwen character to complicate things. Maybe in The Savage Blue Layla will decide she likes Tristan and a love-triangle will be introduced with Gwen. As long as something happens I wont complain. Gwen was interesting but there is no comparing to the bond Tristan and Layla have. I am so Team Layla. I've never had to team with a girl before. Unless I take Kurt into consideration. I am not sure if maybe Kurt likes Layla, or maybe Layla likes Kurt. It's unclear, but if there is something going on there, I am Team Tristan.

Anyway, this was decently entertaining but I am not super excited for more, but I will still read The Savage Blue.

“Our kind, we don't leave many traces behind in this world.”

Tangled Tides by Karen Amanda Hooper (The Sea Monster Memoirs #1)

Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Mythology, Romance
Publication Date: November 25th 2011
POV: Alternating - First-person, Past tense

My Rating: 5 out of 5

_______________

Yara Jones doesn't believe in sea monsters-until she becomes one. When a hurricane hits her island home and she wakes up with fins, Yara finds herself tangled up in an underwater world of mysterious merfolk and secretive selkies. Both sides believe Yara can save them by fulfilling a broken promise and opening the sealed gateway to their realm, but they are battling over how it should be done. The selkies want to take her life. The merfolk want something far more precious.

Treygan, the stormy-eyed merman who turned Yara mer, will stop at nothing and sacrifice everything to protect his people-until he falls for Yara. The tides turn as Yara fights to save herself, hundreds of sea creatures, and the merman who has her heart. She could lose her soul in the process-or she might open the gateway to a love that's deeper than the oceans.

_______________

This was amazing! It was my first mermaid book, but it was so much more! It had mermaids, sirens, selkies, gorgons, water sprites, and even a Greek god. But there was so much to the story, with so much mythology and history, action, and romance! If you love fiery and passionate romances with lots of pledges of undying love and self-sacrifice, this is for you. Even though they were unable to have a physical relationship until near the end, there was never any doubt about their love.

And I was really impressed with the story. I was expecting a simple forbidden romance between a mermaid or merman and a human, and a sacrifice having to be made to be together. But this was so much bigger, their decisions would affect worlds. And neither of them were straightforward merfolk or humans. They had very complicated heritages and very complicated roles in the larger conflict. I never knew what was going to happen next and I was really happy with how things were handled in the end.

I loved the world this book created. I don't know if it was entirely based on mythology, or if it was created by Karen Amanda Hooper. I loved how everything fit together, all the different roles the water creatures played, and the ranking colours of the mermaids sounded so gorgeous. I wish I could have seen them. Treygan, Yara, Karoline, and Nixie all sounded beautiful. They were great characters too. And I loved Pango, he was hilarious. I am a little confused by Rownan though. At first he seemed like a really horrible guy, even after spending time with Yara for months. But then he seemed to change his stance so quickly. Not that I am complaining. I am glad he came around.

With the extremely unique situation Yara and Treygan find themselves in at the end, I am anxious to find out how it works out for them in the future. The few glimpses of their uninterrupted happiness that we got to witness was amazing, and I can't wait to see more, but I know it can't be that easy. I cannot wait to see them fight for each other and their people again in Dangerous Depths, and to see their incredible strength, loyalty and love in action.

“Screw the rules, damn the consequences, and just love. Love until it kills you, because there's nothing better worth dying for.”