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.
When I first heard of Tangled Tides, by Karen Hooper, my mind immediately went to Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”. However, to say that Tangled Tides is just a fun story about mermaids would be doing it an injustice. Yes, it is a story where the protagonist is a mermaid, but there are other mythical sea creatures weaved tightly into the tale making it more than just another mermaid story.
Tangled Tides follows the story of Yara, as she is transformed from human to mermaid and the complicated web of family secrets that follow. There is mythology, betrayal, mystery and a splash of romance. Written using three different points of view, the reader gets a complete look from all parties involved.
I enjoyed this story immensely, though, in the very end I got a little confused and had to go re-read a few pages. However, the good far outweighed anything else. I loved the way Karen took different pieces of mythology and knitted them together as her own. I loved the world that she created - though I wished we could have seen more of Rathe and life there. I also appreciated the way she worked out communication under water - speaking through eye contact as opposed to voice.
Once I was hooked, I couldn’t put it down. Tangled is a good word to describe the twists and turns that can be found within the pages of this novel. Why do the mermaids want Yara? Why are the selkies fighting for her allegiance? Who is she and why is she important? The story keeps you on your toes, unraveling the secrets of Yara’s past and future.
I can’t wait to see what else lies ahead for Yara and the others. I think anyone who loves mythology and fantasy would enjoy this tale.
No comments:
Post a Comment